The Erckmann-Chatrian Novels,
Friend Fritz: A Tale of the Batiks o/ the Lanier.
The Miller's Story of the War.
The Conscript: A Tale of the French IVar of 1813
Waterloo: A Story of the Hundred Days.
The Blockade of Phalsburg.
Invasion of France in 1814.
Madame Therese ; or, The Volunteers 0/ '92.
Each 1 vol. small 12010. Cloth. Price. $1.25.
Sent post-faid on receipt of pri.e by the publishers,
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO.,
743 & 745 Broadway, New York.
MM. Erekmann-Chatrian.
THLE
Blockade of Phalsbubg:
s
AIT EPISODFOAffiHArrOF THE EMPIRE.
TRANSLATED FROM TILE FRENCH OF
EROKM ANN-CHAT HI AN,
Authors of " The Conscript"Waterloo," "Madame TliMse
etc., etc.
SCEIBNEE,
NEW YORK:
ARMSTRONG &
1877.
COMPANY.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 137i,
By CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of CongresB, at Washiagtoa.
CONTENTS.
OIIAP. PAGE
I. Father Moses and nis Family 5
II. Father Moses' Speculation 22
III. A Circumcision Feast 33
IV. Father Moses compelled to bear Arms. . 41
V. Father Moses receives Welcome News. . CI
VI. A Disagreeable Guest 72
VII. Sergeant Trubert in a New Light 85
VIII. Father Moses' First Encounter 93
IX. Approach of the Enemy 108
X. An Engagement with the Cossacks 120
XI. Father Moses Returns in Triumph 134
XII. The Enemy Repulsed 145
XIII. A Deserter Captured ICC
XIV. Burguet's Visit to the Deserter 190
XV. Trial of the Deserter 202
XVI.' A Sortie of tne Garrison 221
XVII. Famine and Fever 251
XVIII. Death of Little David# 202
XIX. The Passover 270
XX. Peace 288
XXI 307
THE BLOCKADE:
AN EPISODE OF THE END OF THE EMPIRE.
I.
father moses and his family.
Since you wish to know about the blockade of
Phalsburg in 1814,1 will tell you all about it, said
father Moses of the Jews' street.
I lived then in the little house on the corner, at
the right of the market. My business was selling
iron by the pound, under the arch below, and I lived
above with my wife Sorle (Sarah) and my little Sa-
fel, the child of my old age.
My two other boys, Itzig and Fromel, had gone
to America, and my daughter Zeffin was married to
Baruch, the leather-dealer, at Saveme.
Besides my iron business, I traded in old shoes,
6
THE BLOCKADE.
old linen, and all tlie articles of old clothing which
conscripts sell on reaching the depot, where they
receive their military outfit. Travelling pedlers
bought the old linen of me for paper-rags, and the
other things I sold to the country people.
This was a profitable business, because thou¬
sands of conscripts passed through Plialsburg from
week to week, and from month to month. They
were measured at once at the mayoralty, clothed,
and filed off to Mayence, Strasburg, or wherever
it might be.
This lasted a long time; but at length people
were tired of war, especially after the Russian cam¬
paign and the great recruiting of 1813.
You may well suppose, Fritz, that I did not
wait till this time before sending my two boys
beyond the reach of the recruiting officers' clutches.
They were boys who did not lack sense. At
twelve years old their heads were clear enough,
and rather than go and fight for the King of
Prussia, they would see themselves safe at the
ends of the earth.
At evening, when we sat at supper around the
lamp with its seven burners, their mother would
sometimes cover her face and say:
" My poor children! My poor children"!* When
THE BLOCKADE.
7
I think that the time is near when ) on will go in
the midst of muslcet and bayonet lire—in the midst
of thunder and lightning !—oh, how dreadful!"
And I saw them turn pale. I smiled at myself
and thought: "You are no fools. You will hold
on to your life. That is right!"
If I had had children capable of becoming sol¬
diers, I should have died of grief. I slioidd have
said, " These are not of my race !"
But the boys grew stronger and handsomer.
When Itzig was fifteen he was doing a good busi¬
ness. He bought cattle in the villages on his own
account, and sold them at a profit to butcher Bo-
rich at Mittelbronn; and Frhmel was not behind
him, for he made the best bargains of the old mer¬
chandise, which we had heaped in three barracks
under the market.
I should have liked well to keep the boys with
me. It was my delight to see them with my little
Safel—the curly head and eyes bright as a squir¬
rel's—yes, it was my joy ! Often I clasped them in
my arms without a word, and even they wondered
at it; I frightened them; but dreadful thoughts
passed through my mind after 1812. I knew that
whenever the Emperor had returned to Paris, he
had demanded four hundred millions of francs and
8
TEE BLOCKADE.
two or three hundred thousand men, and I said
to myself:
" This time, everybody must go, even children
of seventeen and eighteen !"
As the tidings grew worse and worse, I said
to them one evening:
" Listen! you both understand trading, and
what you do not yet know you can learn. Now,
if you wait a few months, you will be on the con¬
scription list, and be like all the rest; they will
take you to the square and show you how to load
a gun, and then you will go away, and I never
shall hear of you again !"
Sorle sighed, and we all sighed together. Then,
after a moment, I continued :
" But if you set out at once for America, by the
way of Havre, you will reach it safe and sound; you
will do business there as well as here; you will make
money, you will marry, you will increase according
to the Lord's promise, and you will send me back
money, according to God's commandment, ' Honor
thy father and thy mother's. I will bless you as
Isaac blessed Jacob, and you will have a long life.
Choose!"
They at once chose to go to America, and I
went with them myself as far as Sorreburg. Each
THE BLOCKADE.
9
of tliem had made twenty louis in his own busi¬
ness, so that I needed to give them nothing but
my blessing.
And what I said to them has come to pass;
they are both living, they have numerous children,
who are my descendants, and when I want anything
they send it to me.
Itzig and Fromel being gone, I had only Safe]
left, my Benjamin, dearer even, if possible, than
the others. And then, too, I had my daughter
Zeffen, married at Saverne to a good respectable
man, Baruch; she was the oldest, and had already
given me a grandson named David, according to
the Lord's will that the dead should be replaced in
his own family, and David was the name of Ba-
ruch's grandfather. The one expected was to be
called after my father, Esdras.
You see, Fritz, how I was situated before the
blockade of Phalsburg, in 1814. Everything had
gone well up to that time, but for six weeks every¬
thing had gone wrong in town and country. We
had the typhus; thousands of wounded soldiers
surrounded the houses; the ground had lacked la¬
borers for the last two years, and everything was
dear—bread, meat, and drink. The people of Al¬
sace and Lorraine did not come to market; our
1*
10
THE BLOCKADE.
stores of merchandise did not sell; and when mer¬
chandise does not sell, it might as well be sand or
stones; we are poor in the midst of abundance.
Famine comes from every quarter.
Ah, well! in spite of it all, the Lord had a
great blessing in store for me, for just at this time,
early in November, came the news that a second
son was born to Zeffen, and that he was in tine
health. I was so glad that I set out at once for
Saverne.
You must know, Fritz, that if I was very glad,
it was not only on accomit of the birth of a grand¬
son, but also because my son-in-law would not be
obliged to leave home, if the child lived. Baruch
had always been fortunate; at the moment when
the Emperor had made the Senate vote that unmar¬
ried men must go, he had just married Zeffen ; and
when the Senate voted that married men without
children must go, he had his first child. Now,
after the bad news, it was voted that married men
with only one child should go, all the same, and
Baruch had two.
At that time it was a fortunate thing to have
quantities of children, to keep you from being mas¬
sacred; no greater blessing could be desired! This
is why I took my cane at once, to go and find out
TEE BLOCKADE.
11
whether the child were sound and healthy, and
whether it would save its father.
But for long years to come, if God spares my
life, I shall remember that day, and what I met
upon my way.
Imagine the road-side blocked, as it were, with
carts filled with the sick and wounded, forming a
line all the way from Quatre-Yents to Saveme.
The peasants who, in Alsace, were required to
transport these poor creatures, had unharnessed
their horses and escaped in the night, abandoning
their carts; the hoar-frost had passed over them;
there was not motion or sign of life—all dead, as it
were one long cemetery ! Thousands of ravens cov¬
ered the sky like a cloud; there was nothing to be
seen but wings moving in the air, nothing to be
heard but one murmur of innumerable cries. I
would not have believed that heaven and earth
could produce so many ravens. They flew down to
the very carts; but the moment a living man ap¬
proached, all these creatures rose and flew away
to the forest of La Bonne-Fontaine, or the ruins of
the old convent of Dann.
As for myself, I lengthened my steps, feeling
that I must not stop, that the typhus was march¬
ing at my heels.
12
TEE BLOCKADE.
Happily the winter sets in early at Phals-
burg. A cold wind blew from the Schneeberg,
and these strong draughts of mountain air disperse
all maladies, even, it is said, the Black Plague
itself.
What I have now told you is about the re¬
treat from Leipsic, in the beginning of Kovember.
When I reached Saverne, the city was crowd¬
ed with troops, artillery, infantry, and cavalry,
pell-mell.
I remember that, in the principal street, the
windows of an inn were open, and a long table
with its white cloth was seen, all laid, within. All
the guard of honor stopped there. These were
young men of rich families, who had money in
spite of their tattered uniforms. The moment they
saw this table in passing, they leaped from their
horses and rushed into the hall. But the innkeep¬
er, Hannes, made them pay five francs in advance,
and just as the poor things began to eat, a serv¬
ant ran in, crying out, " The Prussians! the Prus¬
sians !" They sprang up at once and mounted their
horses like madmen, without once looking back,
and in this way Hannes sold his dinner more than
twenty times.
I have often thought since that such scoundrels
THE BLOCKADE.
13
deserve hanging; yes, this way of making money
is not lawful business. It disgusted me.
But if I should describe the rest—the faces of
the sick, the way in which they lay, the groans
they uttered, and, above all, the tears of those
who tried in vain to go on—if I should tell you
this, it would be still worse, it would be too much.
I saw, on the slope of the old tan-house bridge,
a little guardsman of seventeen or eighteen years,
stretched out, with his face flat upon the stones.
I have never forgotten that boy; he raised him¬
self from time to time, and showed his hand as
black as soot: he had a ball in the back, and his
hand was half gone. The poor fellow had doubt¬
less fallen from a cart. Nobody dared to help him
because they heard it said, " He has the typhus!
he has the typhus." Oh, what misery! It is too
dreadful to think of!
Now, Fritz, I must tell you another thing about
that day, and that is how I saw Marshal Victor.
It was late when I started from Phalsburg,
and it was dark when, on going up the principal
street of Saverne, I saw all the windows of the
Hotel du Soleil illuminated from top to bottom.
Two sentinels walked to and fro under the arch,
officers in full uniform went in and out, magnifi-
14
THE BLOCKADE.
cent horses were fastened to rings all along the
walls; and, within the court, the lamps of a calasli
shone like two stars.
The sentinels kept the street clear, but I must
pass, because Baruch dwelt further on. I was going
through the crowd, in front of the hotel, and the
first sentinel was calling out'to me, "Back! back!"
when an officer of hussars, a short, stout man, with
great red whiskers, came out of the arch, and as he
met me, exclaimed,
" Ah ! is it you, Moses! I am glad to see you!"
He shook hands with me.
I opened my eyes with amazement, as was nat¬
ural : a superior officer shaking hands with a plain
citizen is not an every-day occurrence. I looked at
him in astonishment, and recognized Commandant
Zimmer.
Thirty years before we had been at Father
Genaudet's school, and we had scoured the city,
the moats, and the glacis together, as children.
But since then Zimmer had been a good many
times in Phalsburg, without remembering his old
comrade, Samuel Moses.
" Ho!" said he, smiling, and taking me by the
arm " come, I must present you to the marshal."
And, in spite of myself, before I had said a
THE BLOCKADE.
15
■word, I went in under the arch, into a large room
where two long tables, loaded with lights and
bottles, were laid for the staff-officers.
A number of superior officers, generals, colo¬
nels, commanders (if hussars, of dragoons and of
chasseurs, in plumed hats, in helmets, in red shakos,
their chins in their huge cravats, their swords drag¬
ging, were walking silently back and forth, or talk¬
ing with each other, while they waited to be called
to table.
It was difficult to pass through the crowd, but
Zimmer kept hold of my arm, and led me to the
end of the room, to a little lighted door.
We entered a high room, with two windows
opening upon the gardens.
The marshal was there, standing, his head un¬
covered ; his back was toward us, and he was
dictating orders which two staff-officers were writ¬
ing.
This was all which I noticed at the moment,
in my confusion.
Just after we entered, the marshal turned; I
saw that he had the good face of an old Lorraine
peasant. He was a tall, powerful man, with a gray¬
ish head; he was about fifty years old, and very
heavy for his age.
16
TEE BLOCKADE.
" Marshal, here's our man!" said Zimmer.
" He is one of my old schoolmates, Samuel Moses,
a first-rate fellow, who has been traversing the
country these thirty years, and knows every vil¬
lage in Alsace and Lorraine.
The marshal looked at me a few steps off. I
held my hat in my hand in great fear. After
looking at me a couple of seconds, he took the
paper which one of the secretaries handed him,
read and signed it, then turned back to me :
"Well, my good man," said he, "what do they
say about the last campaign ? What do the people
in your village think about it ?"
On hearing him call me " my good man," I
took courage, and answered "that the typhus had
made bad work, but the people were not disheart¬
ened, because they knew that the Emperor with
his army was at hand."
And when he said abruptly: "Yes! But will
they defend themselves?" I answered: "The Al¬
satians and the Lorraines are people who will de¬
fend themselves till death, because they love their
Emperor, and they would all be willing to die for
him !"
I said that by way of prudence; but he could
plainly see in my face that I was no fighting man.
THE BLOCKADE.
17
for he smiled good-humoredly, and said: " That
will do, Commandant, that is enough !"
The secretaries had kept on writing. Zimmer
made a sign to me and we went out together.
When we were outside he called out:
" Good-by, Moses, good-by!"
The sentinels let me pass, and still trembling,
I continued my journey.
I was soon knocking at the little door of Da¬
rnell's house at the end of the lane where the
cardinal's old stables were.
It was pitch dark.
What a joy it was, Fritz, after having seen all
these terrible things, to come to the place where
those I loved were resting! How softly my heart
beat, and how I pitied all that power and glory
which made so many people miserable!
After a moment I heard my son-in-law enter
the passage and open the door. Baruchand Zefl'en
had long since ceased expecting me.
" Is it you, my father ?" asked Baruch.
" Yes, my son, it is I. I am late. I have been
hindered."
" Come!" said he.
And we entered the little passage, and then
18
THE BLOCKADE.
into the chamber where Zeffen, my daughter, lay
pale and happy, npon her bed.
She had recognized my voice. As for me, my
heart beat with joy; I could not speak; and I em¬
braced my daughter, while I looked around to find
the little one. Zeffen held it in her arms under the
coverlet.
" There he is!" she said.
Then she showed him to me in his swaddling-
clothes. I saw at once that he was plump and
healthy, with his little hands closed tight, and I
exclaimed:
" Baruch, this is Esdras, my father! Let him
be welcome!"
I wanted to see him without his clothes, so I
undressed him. It was warm in the little room
from the lamp with seven burners. Trembli ugly
I undressed him; he did not cry, and my daugh¬
ter's white hands assisted me :
"Wait, my father, wait!" said she.
My son-in-law looked 011 behind me. We all
had tears in our eyes.
At last I had him all undressed; he was rosy,
and his large head tossed about, sleeping the sleep
of centuries. Then I lifted him above my head;
' He will be the joy of our old age."
THE BLOCKADE.
19
I looked at his round thighs all in creases, at his
little drawn-up feet, his broad chest and plump
back, and I wanted to dance like David before the
ark ; I wanted to chant: " Praise the Lord ! Praise
him ye servants of the Lord ! Praise the name of
the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from
this time forth and forever more! From the rising
of the sun, unto the going down of the same, the
Lord's name is to be praised! The Lord is high
above all nations, and his glory above the heavens !
Who is like unto the Lord our God, who raiseth
up the poor out of the dust, who maketli the bar¬
ren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful moth¬
er of children? Praise ye the Lord!"
Yes, I felt like chanting this, but all that I
could say was: He is a fine, perfect child! He
is going to live! He will be the blessing of our
race and the joy of our old age!"
And I blessed them all.
Then giving him back to his mother to be
covered, I went to embrace the other who was
sound asleep in his cradle.
We remained there together a long time,
to see each other, in this joy. Without, horses
were passing, soldiers shouting, carriages rolling
20
THE BLOCKADE.
by. Here all was quiet: the mother nursed her
infant.
Ah! Fritz, I am an old man now, and these
far-off things are always before me, as at the first;
my heart always heats in recalling them, and I
thank God for His great goodness,—I thank Him
lie has loaded me with years, he has permitted
me to see the third generation, and I am not weary
of life; I should like to live on and see the fourth
and the fifth—Ilis will be done!
I should have liked to tell them of what had
just happened to me at the Hotel du Soleil, but
everything was insignificant in comparison with
my joy; only after I had left the chamber, while I
was taking a mouthful of bread and drinking a
glass of wine in the side hall so as to let Zetfen
sleep, I related the adventure to Ifaruch, who was
greatly surprised.
" Listen, my son," said I, " this man asked me
if we want to defend ourselves. That shows that
the allies are following our armies, that they are
marching by hundreds of thousands, and that they
cannot be hindered from entering France. So von
see that, in the midst of our joy, there is danger
of terrible evils ; you see that all the harm which
THE BLOCKADE.
21
we have been doing to others for these last ten
years may return upon us. I fear so. God grant
that I may be mistaken P
After this we went to bed. It was eleven
o'clock, and the tumult without still continued.
II.
father moses' speculation.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, I took
my cane to return to Phalsburg. ZefFen and Ba-
rucli wanted to keep me longer, but I said :
"You do not think of your mother, who is ex¬
pecting me. She does not keep still a minute;
she keeps going up stairs and down, and looking
out of the window. No, I must go. Sorle must
not be uneasy while we are comfortable."
ZefFen said no more, and tilled my pockets with
apples and nuts for her brother Sal'el. I embraced
them again, the little ones and the big; then Ba-
ruch led me far back of the gardens, to the place
where the roads to Schlittenbach and Lutzelburjr
divide.
The troops had all left, only stragglers and the
sick remaining. But we could still see the line of
carts in the distance, 011 the liill, and bands of day-
THE BLOCKADE.
23
laborers who had been set to work digging graves
back of the road.
The very thought of passing that way disturbed
me. I shook hands with Barucli at this fork of the
road, promising to come again with grandmother
to the circumcision, and then took the valley road,
which follows the Zorn through the woods.
This path was full of dead leaves, and for two
hours I walked on thinking at times of the Hotel
du Soleil, of Ziminer, of Marshal Victor, whom I
seemed to see again, with his tall figure, his square
shoulders, his gray head, and coat covered with em¬
broidery. Sometimes I pictured to myself Zeffen's
chamber, the little babe and its mother; then the
war which threatened us—that mass of enemies ad¬
vancing from every side!
Several times I stopped in the midst of these
valleys sloping into each other as far as the eye can
reach, all covered with firs, oaks and beeches, and
I said to myself:
" Who knows ? Perhaps the Prussians, Aus-
trians and Russians will soon pass along here !"
But there was comfort in this thought; " Moses,
your two boys, Itzig and Fromel, are in America
far from the reach of cannon ; they are there with
their packs 011 their shoulders, going from village
24
THE BLOCKADE.
to village without danger. And your daughter
Zeffen, too, may sleep in quiet; Baruch has two
tine children, and will have another every year
while the war lasts. lie will sell leather to make
hags and shoes for those who have to go, but, for
his part, he will stay at home."
I smiled as I thought that I was too old to he
conscripted, that I was a gray-head, and the con-
scriptors could have none of us. Yes; I smiled as
I saw that I had acted very wisely in everything,
and that the Lord had, as it were, cleared my path.
It is a great satisfaction, Fritz, to see that every¬
thing is working to our advantage.
o o o
In the midst of these thoughts I came quietly to
Lutzelburg, and I went to Brestefs at the Swan
Hotel to take a cup of coffee.
There I found Bernard, the soap merchant,
whom you do not know—a little man, bald to the
very nape of the neck, with great wens on his
head — and Donadieu, the Ilarberg forest-keeper.
One had laid his dosser and the other his gun
against the wall, and they were emptying a bottle
of wine between them. Brestel was helping.
" Ha! it is Moses," exclaimed Bernard. " Where
the devil dost thou come from, so early in the
morning!"
THE BLOCKADE.
25
Christians in those days were in the habit of
thou-ing the Jews—even the old men. I answered
that I had come from Saverne, by the valley.
" Ah ! tlion hast seen the wounded," said the
keeper. " What thinkest thou of that, Moses !"
" I have seen them," I replied sadly, " I saw
them last evening. It is dreadful!"
"Yes, it is; everybody has gone up there to¬
day, because old Gredal of Quatre-Vents found her
nephew under a cart — Joseph Bertha, the little
lame watchmaker who worked last year with father
Goulden ; so the people from Dagsberg, Iloupe,
and Garburg, expect to find their brothers, or sons,
or cousins in the heap."
He shrugged his shoulders compassionately.
" These things are dreadful," said Brestel, " but
they must come. There has been no business these
two years ; I have back here, in my court, three
thousand pounds' worth of planks and timber.
That would formerly have lasted me for six weeks
or two months ; but now it is all rotting on the
spot; nobody wants it on the Sarre, nobody wants
it in Alsace, nobody orders anything or buys any¬
thing. It is just so with the hotel. Nobody has
a sous; everybody stays at home, thankful if they
have potatoes to eat and cold water to drink. Mean
2
OC, THE BLOCKADE.
while my wine and heer turn sour in the cellar, and
are covered with mildew. And all that does not
keep otl' the duties; you must pay, or the officer
will he upon you."
"Yes," cried Bernard, "it is the same thing
everywhere. But what is it to the Emperor whether
planks and soap sell or not, provided the contribu¬
tions come in and the conscripts arrive?"
Donadieu perceived that his comrade had taken
a glass too much; he rose, put hack his gun into
his shoulder-belt, and went out, calling to us.
"Good-by to voir all, good-by! We will talk
about this another time."
A few minutes afterward, I paid for my cup of
coffee, and followed his example.
I had the same thoughts as Brestel and Ber¬
nard; I saw that my trade in iron and old clothe®
was at an end; and as I went up the Barracks' hill
I thought, "Try to find something else, Moses,
Everything is at a stand-still. But one cannot use
up his money to the last farthing. I mint turn to
something else—I must lind an article which is al¬
ways salable. But what is always salable ? Every
trade has its day, and then it comes to an end."
While thus meditating, I passed the Barracks
of the Bois-dc-Chenes. I was on the plateau from
TITE BLOCKADE.
27
which I could see the glacis, the line of ramparts,
and the bastions, when the firing of a cannon gave
notice that the marshal was leaving the place. At
the same time I saw at the left, in the direction of
Mittelbronn, the line of sabres flashing like light¬
ning in the distance among the poplars of the high¬
way. The trees were leafless, and I conld see, too,
the carriage and postilions passing like the wind
through the plumes and caps.
The cannon pealed, second after second; the
mountains gave back peal after peal, from the
very depths of their valleys; and as for myself, I
was quite carried away by the thought of having
seen this man the day before; it seemed like a
dream.
Then, about ten o'clock, I passed the bridge of
the French gate. The last cannon sounded upon
the bastion of the powder-house; the crowd of men,
women and children descended the ramparts, as if
it were a festival; they knew nothing, thought of
nothing, while cries of " Vive I'Empereur!" rose
in every street.
I passed through the crowd, well pleased at
bringing good news to my wife; and I was saying
to m\ self beforehand, " The little one is doing well,
Sorle!" when, at the corner of the market, I saw
28
THE BLOCKADE.
lier at our door. I raised my cane at once, and
smiled, as much as to say " Baruch is safe—we may
laugh!"
Slie understood me, and went in at once; but
I overtook her on the stairs, and embraced her,
saying:
" It is a good, hearty little fellow—there ! Such
a baby—so round and rosy ! And Zeften is doing
well. Baruch wished me to embrace you for him.
But where is Safel ?"
"Under the market, selling."
"Ah, good!"
We went into our room. I sat down and began
to praise Zeffen's baby. Sorle listened with de¬
light, looking at me with her great black eyes, and
wiping my forehead, for I had walked fast, and
could hardly breathe.
And then, all of a sudden, our Safel came in.
I had not time to turn my head before he was on
my knees, with his hands in my pockets. The
child knew that his sister Zeffen never forgot him;
and Sorle, too, liked to bite an apple.
You see, Fritz, when I think of these things,
everything comes back to me; I could talk to you
about it forever.
It was Friday, the day before the Sabbath;
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29
the Schahles-Gtiie* was to come in the afternoon.
While we were still alone at dinner, and I related
for the fifth and sixth time how Zimmer had recog¬
nized me, how he had taken me into the presence
of the Duke of Bellune, my wife told me that the
marshal had made the tour of our ramparts on
horseback, with his staff-officers; that he had ex¬
amined the advanced works, the bastions, the glacis,
and that he had said, as he went down the college
street, that the place would hold out for eighteen
days, and that it must be fortified immediately.
I remembered at once that he had asked me if
we wished to defend ourselves, and I exclaimed:
" He is sure that the enemy is coming; since he is
going to put cannon upon the ramparts, it is be¬
cause there will be need of them. It is not nat-
tural to make preparations which are not to be
used. And, if the allies come, the gates will be
shut. What will become of us without our bus¬
iness ? The country people can neither go in nor
out, and what will become of us ?"
Then Sorle showed her good sense, for she said:
" I have already thought about this, Moses; it
* Woman, not Israelite, who on Saturday performs in a
Jewi.su household the labors forbidden by the law of Moses.
30
THE BLOCKADE.
is only the peasants who buy iron, old shoes, and
onr other tilings. AVe must undertake a city
business for all classes—a business which will oblige
citizens, soldiers and workmen to buy of us. That
is what we must do."
I looked at her in surprise. Safel, with his
elbow on the table, was also listening.
"It is all very well, Sorle," I replied, "but
what business is there which will oblige citizens,
soldiers, everybody to buy of us—what business
is there ?"
" Listen," said she; " if the gates are shut and
the country people cannot enter, there will be no
eggs, butter, fish, or anything in the market.
People will have to live on salt meats and dried
vegetables, flour, and all kinds of preserved articles.
Those who have bought up these can sell them at
their own price ; they will grow rich."
As I listened I was struck with astonishment.
" Ah, Sorle ! Sorle !" I exclaimed, " for thirty-
years you have been my comfort. Yes, yTou have
crowned me with all sorts of blessings, and I have
said a hundred times, ' A good wife is a diamond
of pure water, and without flaw. A good wife is
a rich treasure for her husband.' I have repeated
it a hundred times. But now I know still better
THE BLOCKADE.
31
what you are worth, and esteem you still more
highly."
The more I thought of it, the more I percei ved
the wisdom of this advice. At length I said:
" Sorle, meat and flour, and everything which
can be kept, are already in the storehouses, and the
soldiers will not need such things for a long time,
because their officers will have provided them.
But what will be wanted is brandy, which men
must have to massacre and exterminate each other
in war, and brandy we will buy! We will have
plenty of it in our cellar, we will sell it, and no¬
body else will have it. That is my idea!"
"It is a good idea, Moses!" said she; "your
reasons are good ; I approve of them."
" Then I will write," said I, " and we will in¬
vest everything in spirits of wine. We will add
water ourselves, in proportion as people wish to
pay for it. In this way the freight will be less
than if it were brandy, for we shall not have to
pay for the transportation of the water, which we
have here."
" That is well, Moses," she said.
And so we agreed.
Then I said to Safel:
" You must not speak of this to any one."
32 the blockade.
i
She answered for him :
" There's no need of telling him that, Mosefl,
Safel knows very well that this is between our¬
selves, and that our well-being depends upon it."
The child for a long time resented my words:
"You must not speak of this to any one." He
was already full of good sense, and said to himself:
" So my father thinks I am an idiot."
This thought humiliated him. Some years af¬
terward he told me of it, and I perceived that I had
been wrong.
Everybody has his notions. Children should
not be humiliated in theirs, but rather upheld by
their parents.
III.
A CIRCUMCISION FEAST.
So I wrote to Pezenas. This is a southern city,
rich in wools, wines, and brandies. The price of
brandies at Pezenas controls that of all Europe.
A trading man ought to know that, and I knew it,
because I had always liked to read the list of prices
in the newspapers. I sent to M. Quataya, at Peze¬
nas, for a dozen pipes of spirits of wine. I calcu¬
lated that, after paying the freight, a pipe would
cost me a thousand francs, delivered in my cellar.
As I had sold no iron for a year, I disposed of
my merchandise without asking anything for it;
the payment of the twelve thousand francs did not
trouble me. Only, Fritz, those twelve thousand
francs were half my fortune, and you may suppose
that it required some courage to risk in one venture
the gains of fifteen years.
As soon as my letter was gone, I wished I could
2*
34:
THE BLOCKADE.
bring it back, but it was too late. I kept a good
face before my wife, and said, " It will all do well!
"We shall gain double, triple, etc."
She, too, kept a good face, but we both had
misgivings; and during the six weeks necessary for
the receipt of the acknowledgment and acceptance
of my order, and the arrival of the spirits of wine,
every night I lay awake, thinking, "Moses, you
have lost everything! You are ruined from top to
toe!"
The cold sweat would cover my body. Still, if
any one had come to me and said, " Be easy, Moses,
I will relieve you of this business," I should have
refused, because my hope of gain was as great as
my fear of loss. And by this you may know who
are the true merchants, the true generals, and all
who accomplish anything. Others are but ma¬
chines for selling tobacco, or idling glasses, or fir¬
ing guns.
It all comes to the same thing. One man's
glory is as great as another's. This is why, when
we speak of Austerlitz, Jena, or Wagram, it is not
a question of Jean Claude or Jean Nicholas, but
of Napoleon alone; he alone risked everything, the
others risked only being killed.
I do not say this to compare myself with Napo-
TEE BLOCKADE.
3?
leon, but the buying of these twelve pipes of spirits
of wine was my battle of Austerlitz.
And when I think that, on reaching Paris,
Napoleon had demanded four hundred and forty
millions of money, and six hundred thousand
men! and that then everybody, understanding
that we were threatened with an invasion, under¬
took to sell and to make money at any cost, while
I bought, unhampered by the example of others,
—when I think of this, I am proud of it still and
congratulate myself.
It was in the midst of these disquietudes that
the day for the circumcision of little Esdras ar¬
rived. My daughter Zeften had recovered, and Ba-
rucli had written to us not to trouble ourselves,
for they would come to Phalsburg.
My wife then hastened to prepare the meats
and cakes for the festival: the bie-kougrt, the ha-
man, and the schlachmoness, which are great del¬
icacies.
On my part, I had tested my best wine on the
old Pabbi Heymann, and I had invited my friends,
Leiser of Mittelbronn and his wife Boune, Sen-
terle Ilirsch, and Professor Burguet. Burguet was
not a Jew, but he was worthy of being one on ac¬
count of his genius and extraordinary talents.
36
THE BLOCKADE.
AVI 1 en a speech was wanted in the Emperor's
progress, Burguet made it; when songs were need¬
ed for a national festival, Burguet composed them
between two sips of beer; when a young candi¬
date for law or medicine was perplexed in writ¬
ing his thesis, he went to Burguet, who wrote
it for him, whether in French or in Latin; when
fathers and mothers were to be moved to tears
at the distribution of school prizes, Burguet was
the man to do it; he would take a blank sheet
of paper, and read them a discourse on the spot,
such as nobody else could have written in ten
years; when a petition was to be made to the
Emperor or prefect, Burguet was the first man
thought of; and when Burguet took the trouble
to defend a deserter before the court-martial at the
mayoralty, the deserter, instead of being shot on
the bastion of the barracks, was pardoned.
After all this, Burguet would return and take
his part in piquet with the little Jew, Solomon,
at which he always lost; and people troubled
themselves no more about him.
I have often thought that Burguet must have
greatly despised those to whom he took off his
hat. Yes, to see the fellows putting on import¬
ant airs becanse they were rural guard or secre-
THE BLOCKADE
37
tary of the mayoralty, must have made a man like
him laugh in his sleeve. But he never told me
so ; he knew the ways of the world too well.
He -was an old constitutional priest, a tall
man, with a noble figure and very fine voice;
the very tones of it would move you in spite of
yourself. Unfortunately, he did not take care of
his own interests; he was at the mercy of the
first comer. How many times I have said to
him:
" Burguet, in heaven's name, don't get mixed
up with thieves! Burguet, don't let yourself be
robbed by simpletons! Trust me about your col¬
lege expenses. When anybody comes to impose
upon you I will be on the spot; I will pay the
bills and hand you the account.
But he did not think of the future, and lived
very carelessly.
I had thus invited all my old friends for the
morning of the twenty-fourth of November, and
they all came to the festival.
The father and mother, with the little infant,
and its godfather and godmother, came early, in
a large carriage. By eleven the ceremony had
taken place in our synagogue, and Ave all, in great
joy and satisfaction, for the child had not uttered
38
THE BLOCKADE.
a cry, returned together to my house, which had
been made ready beforehand—the large table on
the first floor, the meats in their pewter dishes,
the fruits in their baskets—and we had begun in
great glee to celebrate the happy day.
The old Rabbi Heymann, Leiser, and Burguet
sat at my right, my little Safe!, Hirsch, and Ba-
ruch at my left, and the women Sorle, Zefien,
Jetele, and Boune, facing us on the other side,
according to the command of the Lord, that men
and women should be separate at festivities.
Burguet, with his white cravat, his handsome
maroon coat and his ruffled shirt, did me honor.
He made a speech, raising his voice and making
fine gestures like a great orator—telling of the an¬
cient customs of our nation, of our religious cer¬
emonies, of Paeqach (the feast of Passover), of
1?o$chhaschannah (the Hew Year), of Kippour
(the day of expiation), like a true led (Jew),
thinking our religion very beautiful and glorify¬
ing the genius of Moses.
He knew the Lochene Koidech (Chaldaic) as
well as a bal-lceiole (cabalistic doctor).
The Saverne people turned to their neighbors
and asked in a whisper:
" Pray, who is this man who speaks with au-
THE BLOCKADE.
39
thority, and says sucli line things? Is he a rab
bi ? Is he a schamess (Jewish beadle) ? or is he
th eparness (civil head) of your community?"
And when they learned he was not one of us,
they were astonished. The old Rabbi Heymann
alone was able to answer him, and they agreed
on all points, like learned men talking on familiar
subjects and conscious of their own learning.
Behind us, on its grandmother's bed, inside
of the curtains, slept our little Esdras, with his
sweet face and little clenched hands—slept so
soundly, that neither our shouts of laughter, nor
the talking, nor the sound of the glasses could
wake him. Sometimes one, sometimes another,
went to look at him, and everybody said:
" What a beautiful child! lie looks like his
grandfather Moses!"
That pleased me, of course; and I would go
and look at him, bending over him for a long
while, and finding a still stronger resemblance to
my father.
At three o'clock, the meats having been re¬
moved and the delicacies spread upon the table,
as we came to the dessert, I went down to find a
bottle of better wine, an old bottle of Rousillon
which I dug out from under the others, all cov-
D
40
THE BLOCKADE.
ered with dust and cobwebs. I took it up care¬
fully and placed it among the flowers on the table,
saying: ;
" You thought the other wine very good; what
will you say to this?"
Then Burguet smiled, for old wine was his
special delight; he stretched up his hand and ex¬
claimed :
" Oh! noble wine, the consoler, the restorer
and benefactor of poor men in tbis vale of misery!
Oh, venerable bottle, thou bearest all the signs of
old nobility!"
He said this with his mouth full, and every¬
body laughed.
I asked Sorle to bring the corkscrew.
As she was rising, suddenly trumpets sounded
without, and we all listened and asked, "What
is that ?"
At the same time the sound of many horses'
steps came up the street, and the earth and the
houses trembled under an enormous weight.
Everybody sprang up, throwing down their
napkins and rushing to the windows.
And from the French gate to the little square
we saw trains of artillerymen advancing, with
their great shakos covered with oil-cloth, and their
TUE BLOCKADE.
41
saddles in sheepskins and driving caissons full of
round shot, shells and intrenching tools.
Imagine, Fritz, my thoughts at that mo¬
ment?
This is war, my friends!" said Burguet.
" This is Avar! It is coming! Our turn has come,
at the end of tAventy years!"
I stood leaning doAvn Avith my hand on the
stone, and thought:
" Now the enemy cannot delay coming. These
are sent to fortify the place. And Avhat if the
Allies surround us before I have received my
spirits of wine ? "What if the Austrians or Rus¬
sians should stop the Avagons and seize tliem ? I
should have to pay for it all the same, and I
should not have a farthing left!"
I turned pale at the thought. Sorle looked
at me, undoubtedly having the same fears, but she
said nothing.
We stood there till they all passed by. The
street was full. Some old soldiers, Desmarets the
Egyptian, Paradis the gunner, Rolfo, Faisard the
sapper, of the Beresina, as he was called, and some
others, cried " Yive l'Empereur !"
Children ran beliind the Avagons, repeating the
cry, " Yive l'Empereur!" But the greater num-
42
THE BLOCKADE.
ber, with closed lips and serious faces, looked on in
silence.
When the last carriage had turned the Fouquet
corner, all the crowd returned with bowed heads;
and we in the room looked at each other, with no
wish to continue the feast.
"You are not well, Moses," said Burguet.
" What is the matter ?"
" I am thinking of all the evils which are com¬
ing to the city."
" Bah ! don't be afraid," he replied. "We shall
be strongly defended! And then, God help us!
what can't be cured must be endured! Come!
cheer up ; this old wine will keep up our spirits."
We resumed our places. I opened the bottle,
and it was as Burguet said. The old Bousillon
did us good, and we began to laugh.
Burguet called out:
"To the health of the little Esdras! May the
Lord cover him with his right hand!"
And the glasses clinked. Some one exclaimed :
" May he long rejoice the hearts of his grandfa¬
ther Moses and his grandmother Sorle ! To their
health!"
We ended by looking at everything in rose-
color, and glorifying the Emperor, who was has-
THE BLOCKADE.
4b
tening to defend us, and was soon going to crush
all the beggars beyond the Rhine.
But it is equally true that, when we separated
about live o'clock, everybody had become serious,
and Burguet himself, when he shook hands with
me at the foot of the stairs, looked anxious.
" We shall have to send home our pupils," said
he, " and we must sit with our arms folded."
The Saverne people, with Zeffen, Barach, and
Lt.e children, got into their carriage, and started
silently for home.
IV.
fatiiee moses compelled to bear arms.
All this, Fritz, was but the beginning c*
troubles.
You should have seen the city the next morn¬
ing, at about eleven o'clock, when the engineering
officers had finished inspecting the ramparts, and
the tidings suddenly spread that there were need¬
ed seventy-two platforms inside the bastions, three
bomb-proof block-houses, for thirty men each, at
the right and left of the German gate, ten palankas
with battlements forming stronghold intrenchments
for forty men, and four blindages upon the great
square of the mayoralty to shelter each a hundred
and ten men; and when it was known that the
citizens would be obliged to work at all these, to
provide themselves with shovels, pickaxes, and
wheelbarrows, and the peasants to bring trees with
their own horses!
TEE BLOCKADE.
45
As for Sorle, Safel, and myself, we did not even
know what blindages and palankas were; we asked
our neighbor Bailly, an old armorer, what they were
for, and he answered with a smile :
" Yon will find out, neighbor, when you hear
the balls roar and the shells hiss. It would take too
long to explain. You will see, by and by; never
too late to learn."
Imagine how the people looked ! I remember
that everybody ran to the square, where our mayor,
Baron Parmentier, made a speech. We ran there
with all the rest.
Sorle held me by the arm, and Safel by the
skirt of my coat.
There, in front of the mayoralty, the whole city,
men, women, and children, formed in a semicircle,
and listened in the deepest silence, now and then
crying all together, " Yive l'Empereur !"
Parmentier, a tall, thin man, in a sky-blue
dress-coat, a white cravat, and the tri-colored sash
around his waist, stood on the top of the steps of
the guard-house, with the members of the munic¬
ipal council behind him, under the arch, and shout¬
ed out:
" Phalsburgians! The time has come in which
to show your devotion to the Empire. A year ago
46
TTJE BLOCKADE.
all Europe was with us, now all Europe is against
us. We should have everything to fear without
the energy and power of the people. He who
will not do his duty now will be a traitor to his
country! Inhabitants of Phalsburg, show what
you are ! Remember that your children have per¬
ished through the treachery of the allies. Avenge
them ! Let every one be obedient to the mil¬
itary authority, for the sake of the safety of
France," etc.
Only to hear him made one's flesh creep, and I
said to myself:
" Now there will not be time for the spirits of
wine to get here—that is plain ! The allies are on
their way!"
Elias the butcher, and Kalmes Levi the ribbon-
merchant, were standing near us. Instead of crying
" Yive rEmpereur!" with the rest, they said to
each other;
" Good! we are not barons, you and I! Barons,
counts, and dukes have but to defend themselves.
Are we to think only of their interests ?"
But all the old soldiers, and especially those of
the Republic, old Goulden, the clockmaker, Desma-
rels, the Egyptian—creatures with not a hair left on
their heads, nor as much as four teeth to hold their
THE BLOCKADE.
47
pipes—these creatures fell in with the major, and
cried out:
" Yive la France! TVe must defend ourselves
to the death!"
I saw several looking askance at Kalmes Levy,
and I whispered to him:
" Keep still, Kalmes! For heaven's sake, keep
still! They will tear you in pieces !"
It was true. The old men gave him terrible
looks ; they grew pale, and their cheeks shook.
Then Kalmes stopped talking, and even left the
crow7d to return home. But Elias stayed till the
end of the speech, and, as the whole mass of people
were going down the main street, shouting " Yive
l'Empereur!" he could not help saying to the old
clockmaker:
" "What! you, Mr. Goulden, a reasonable man,
who have never wanted anything of the Emperor,
you are now going to take his part, and cry out
that we must defend ourselves till death ! Is it our
business to be soldiers? Have not we furnished
enough soldiers to the Empire these last ten years ?
Have not enough men been killed ? Must we give,
besides, our own blood to support barons, counts,
and dukes ?"
But old Goulden did not let him finish, and
4-g THE BLOCKADE.
replied, as if indignant: " Listen, Elias! try to
keep still! Tlie thing now to be done is not
to know what is right or wrong — it is to save
France. I warn you, that if you try to dis¬
courage others, it will be bad for you. Believe
me—go!"
Already a number of superannuated soldiers
were gathered round us, and Elias had only time
to retreat by the opposite lane.
From this time public notices, requisitions,
forced labors, domiciliary visits for tools and wheel¬
barrows, came one after another, incessantly. A
man was nothing in his own house; the officers of
the place assumed authority over everything: only
to be sure, they gave receipts.
All the tools from my storehouse of iron were
in use on the ramparts. Fortunately I had sold a
good many beforehand, for these tickets in place
of my wares would have ruined me.
From time to time the mayor made a speech,
and the governor, a fat man, covered with pimples,
expressed his satisfaction to the citizens; that made
up for their money !
"When my time came to take the pickaxe and
draw the wheelbarrow, I arranged with Carabin,
the wood-sawyer, to take my place for thirty sous.
TEE BLOCKADE.
49
All, what misery ! Such a time ■wall never come
again.
While the governor commanded us within the
city, the soldiers were always outside to superintend
the peasants. The road to Lutzelburg was but one
line of carts, laden with old oaks for building block¬
houses. These are large sentry-boxes, or turrets,
built up of solid trunks of trees, laid crosswise one
upon another, and then covered with earth. These
are more solid than an arch. Shells and bombs
might rain upon them without disturbing anything
within, as I found afterward.
These trees were also used to make lines of
enormous palisades, pointed and pierced with holes
for firing; these are what they call palankas.
I seem still to hear the shouts of the peasants,
the neighing of the horses, the strokes of the whips,
and all the other noises, which never stopped, day
or night.
My only consolation was in thinking, " If the
spirits of wine comes now, it will be well defended;
the Austrians, Prussians, and Russians will not
drink it here !"
Every morning Sorle expected to receive the
invoice.
One Sabbath day we had the curiosity to go and
3
50
TILE BLOCKADE.
see the works of the bastions. Everybody was talk¬
ing about it, and Safel kept coining to me, saying:
" The work is going on; they are tilling the shells
in front of the arsenal; they are taking out the
cannon; they are mounting them on the ram
parts!"
We could not keep the child away. He had
nothing to sell now under the market, and it would
be too tedious for him to stay at home. He scoured
the city, and brought us back the news.
On this day, then, having heard that forty-two
pieces were ranged in battery, and that they were
continuing the work upon the bastion of the in¬
fantry-barracks, I told Sorle to bring her shawl,
and we would go and see.
We first went down to the French gate. Hun¬
dreds of wheelbarrows were going up the ramparts
of the bastion, from which could be seen the road
to Metz on the right and the road to Paris on the
left.
There, above, crowds of laborers, soldiers and
citizens, were heaping up a mass of earth in the
form of a triangle, at least twenty-five feet in height,
and two hundred in length and breadth.
An engineering officer had discovered with his
spy-glass that this bastion was commanded by the
THE BLOCKADE.
51
hill opposite, and so everybody was set to work to
place two pieces on a level with the hill.
It was the same everywhere else. The interiors
of these bastions, with their platforms, were shut
in all aronnd, for seven feet from the ground, like
rooms. Nothing could fall into them except from
the sky. In the turf, however, were dug narrow
openings, larger without, like funnels; the mouths
of the cannon, which were raised upon immense
carriages, were drawn out through these apertures;
tliey could be pushed forward and backward, and
turned in all directions, by means of great levers
passed in rings over the hind wheels of the car¬
riages.
I had not yet heard the sound of these forty-
eight pounders. But the mere sight of them on
their platforms gave me a terrible idea of their
power. Even Sorle said: " It is fine, Moses; it is
well done!"
She was right, for within the bastions all was in
complete order; not a weed remained, and upon
the sides were piled great bags filled with earth to
protect the artillerymen.
But what lost labor! and to think that every
firing of these large guns costs at least a louis—
money spent to kill our fellow-men!
52
THE BLOCKADE.
In fine the people worked at these tilings with
more enthusiasm than if they were gathering in
their own harvests. I have often thought that if
the French bestowed as much pains, good sense,
and courage upon matters of peace, they would be
the richest and happiest people in the world.
Yes, they would long ago have surpassed the En¬
glish and Americans. But when they have toiled
and economized, Avlren they have opened roads ev¬
erywhere, built magnificent bridges, dug out har¬
bors and canals, and riches come to them from all
quarters, suddenly the fur}- of war possesses them,
and in three or four years they ruin themselves
with grand armies, with cannon, with powder,
with bullets, with men, and become poorer than
before. A few soldiers are their masters, and look
down upon them. This is all it profits them !
In the midst of all this, news from Mavence,
from Strasburg, from Paris, came by the dozens;
we could not go into the street without seeing a
courier pass. They all stopped before the Bock-
hold house, near the German gate, where the gov¬
ernor lived. A circle formed around the house,
the cornier mounted, then the news spread through
the city that the allies were concentrated at Frank¬
fort, that our troops guarded tire islands of the
THE BLOCKADE.
53
Rhine; that the conscripts from 1803 to 1814 were
recalled; that those of 1815 would form, the re¬
serve corps at Metz, at Bordeaux, at Turin; that
the deputies were going to assemble; then, that
the gates had been shut upon them, etc., etc.
There came also smugglers of all sorts from
Graufthal, Pirmasens, and Kaiserslautern, with
Franz Sepel, the one-armed man, at their head, and
others from the villages around, who secretly scat¬
tered the proclamations of Alexander, Francis Jo¬
seph and Frederic William, saying "that they did
not make war upon France, but upon the Emperor
alone, to prevent his further desolation of Europe."
They spoke of the abolition of duties, and of taxes
of all sorts. The people at night did not know
what to think.
But one fine morning it was all explained. It
was the eighth or ninth of December. I had just
risen, and was putting on my clothes, when I heard
the rolling of a drum at the corner of the main
street.
It was cold, but nevertheless I opened the win¬
dow and leaned out to hear the announcements.
Parmentier opened his paper, young Engelheider
kept up his drum-beating, and the people assembled.
Then Parmentier read that the governor of
54 THE BLOCKADE.
the place ordered all citizens to present themselves
at the mayoralty between eight in the morning
and six in the evening, without fail, to receive
their muskets and cartridge-boxes, and that those
who did not come, would be court-martialed.
There was the end at last! Every one who was
able to march was on his way, and the old men
were to defend the fortifications; sober-minded
men—citizens—men accustomed to living quietly
at home, and attending to their own affairs! now
they must mount the ramparts and every day run
the risk of losing their lives!
Sorle looked at me without a word, and in¬
dignation made me also speechless. Not till af¬
ter a quarter of an hour, when I was dressed, did
I say:
" Make the soup ready. I am going to the
mayoralty to get my musket and cartridge-box. "
Then she exclaimed : " Moses, who would have
believed that you would have to go and fight at
your age ? Oh ! what misery!"
And I answered : " It is the Lord's will."
Then I started with a sad heart. Little Safe!
followed me.
As I arrived at the corner of the market, Bur-
guet was coming down the mayoralty steps, which
THE BLOCKADE.
55
6warmed with men; he had his musket on his
shoulder, and said with a smile :
, " Ah, well, Moses! We are going to turn Mac
eabees in our old age ?"
Ilis cheerfulness encouraged me, and I re¬
plied :
" Burguet, how is it they can take rational
men, heads of families, and make them destroy
themselves ? I cannot comprehend it; no, there is
no sense in it!"
" Ah," said he, " what would you have ? If
they can't get thrushes, they must take blackbirds."
I could not smile at his pleasantries, and he
said:
" Come, Moses, don't be so disconsolate ; this
is only a formality. We have troops enough for
active service; we shall have only to mount guard.
If sorties are to be made, or attacks repulsed, they
will not take you; you are not of an age to run, or
to give a bayonet stroke! You are gray and bald.
Don't be troubled!"
"Yes," I said, "that is very true, Burguet,
I am broken down—more so, perhaps, than you
think.
" That is well," said he, " but go and take youi
musket and cartridge-box."
56
THE BLOCKADE.
"And are we not going to stay in the bar
racks ?"
" No, no !" he cried, langhing aloud, " we are
going to live quietly at home."
lie shook hands with me, and I went under
the arch of the mayoralty. The stairway was
crowded with people, and we heard names call¬
ed out.
And there, Fritz, you should have seen the
looks of the Itobinots, the Gourdiers, the Marin¬
ers, that mass of tilers, knife-grinders, liouse-paint-
ers, people who, every day, in ordinary times, would
take otf their caps to you to get a little work—
you should have seen them straighten themselves
up, look at you pityingly over the shoulder, blow
in their cheeks, and call out:
" Ah, Moses, is it thou ? Thou wilt make a
comical soldier. He! he! he! They will cut thy
mustaches according to regulation !"
And such-like nonsense.
Yes, everything was changed; these former
bullies had been named in advance sergeants,
sergeant-majors, corporals, and the rest of us were
nothing at all. War upsets everything; the tirst
become last, and the last tirst. It is not good sense
but discipline which carries the day. The man
THE BLOCKADE.
57
who scrubbed jour floor yesterday, because he
was too stupid to gain a living any other way, be¬
comes your sergeant, and if he tells you that
white is black, you must let it be so.
At last, after waiting an hour, some one called
out, " Moses!" and I went up.
The great hall above was full of people. They
all exclaimed:
"Moses! Milt thou come, Moses? Ah, see
him! He is the old guard! Look now, how he
is built! Thou slialt be ensign, Moses! Thou
shalt lead us on to victory!"
And the fools laughed, nudging each others'
elbows. 1 passed on, without answering or even
looking at them.
In the room at the farther end, where the names
were drawn at conscriptions, Governor Moulin,
Commandant Petitgenet, the mayor, Frichard, sec¬
retary of the mayoralty, Rollin, captain of apparel,
and six or seven other superannuated men, crip¬
pled with rheumatism, brought from all parts of
the world, were met in council, some sitting, the
rest standing.
These old ones began to laugh as they saw me
come in. I heard them say to one another: " He
is strong yet! Yes, he is all right."
3*
58
THE BLOCKADE.
So they talked, one after another. I thought
to myself: " Say what you like, you will not make
me think that you are twenty years old, or that
you are handsome."
13ut I kept silence.
Suddenly the governor, who was talking with
the mayor in a corner, turned around, with his great
cliapeau awry, and looking at me, said:
" What do you intend to do with such a patri¬
arch ? You see very well that he can hardly stand."
I was pleased, in spite of it all, and began te
cough.
"Good, good!" said he, "you may go home
take care of your cold 1"
I had taken four steps toward the door, when
Frichard, the secretary of the mayoralty, called out:
"It is Moses! The Jew Moses, Colonel, who
has sent his two boys off to America ! The oldest
should be in the service."
This wretch of a Frichard had a grudge against
me, because we had the same business of selling old
clothes under the market, and the country people
almost always preferred buying of me; he had a
mortal grudge against me, and that is why he began
to inform against me.
The governor exclaimed at once: " Stop a min
THE BLOCKADE.
50
ute! All lia, old fox! You send your boys to
America to escape conscription! Very well! Give
liim his musket, cartridge-box, and sabre."
Indignation against Frichard choked me. I
would have spoken, but the wretch laughed and
kept on writing at the desk; so I followed the gen¬
darme Werner to a side room, which was tilled with
muskets, sabres, and cartridge-boxes.
Werner himself hung a cartridge-box crosswise
on my back, and gave me a musket, saying:
" Go, Moses, and try always to answer to the
call."
I went down through the crowd so indignant
that I heard no longer the shouts of laughter from
the rabble.
On reaching home I told Sorle what had hap¬
pened. She was very pale as she listened. After
a moment, she said : " This Frichard is the enemy
of our race; he is an enemy of Israel. I know it;
he detests us! But just now, Moses, do not say a
word; do not let him see that you are angry; it
would please him too much. By and by you can
have your revenge! Yon will have a chance. And
if not yourself, your children, your grandchildren;
they shall all know what this wretch has done to
their grandfather—they shall know it!"
60
TI1E BLOCKADE.
She clenched her hand, and little Safel listened
This was all the comfort she could give me. I
thought as she did, but I was so angry that I would
have given half my fortune to ruin the wretch. All
that day, and in the night, too, I exclaimed more
than twenty times:
" Ah, the scoundrel!—I was going—they had
said to me, ' You may go!'—He is the cause of all
my misery!"
You cannot imagine, Fritz, how I have always
hated that man. Xever have my wife and I forgot¬
ten the harm he did us—never shall my children
forget it.
V.
fattier moses receives welcome news.
The next day we must answer to tlie call before
the mayoralty. All the children in town surround¬
ed us and whistled. Fortunately, the blindages of
the Place d'Armes were not finished, so that we
went to learn our exercises in the large court of the
college, near the chemin de ronde at the corner of
the powder-house. As the pupils had been dis¬
missed for some time, the place was at liberty.
Imagine to yourself this large court filled with
citizens in bonnets, coats, cloaks, vests, and breeches,
obliged to obey the orders of their former tinkers,
chimney-sweeps, stable-boys, now turned into corpo¬
rals, sergeants, and sergeant-majors. Imagine these
peaceable men, in fours, in sixes, in tens, stretching
out their legs in concert, and marching to the step,
"One—two! One—two! Halt! Steady!" while
others, marching backward, frowning, called out in-
62
TEE BLOCKADE.
solentl v : "Moses, dress thy' shoulders 1" "Moses,
bring, thy nose into line!'' "Attention, Moses!
Carry arms! Ah, old shoe, thou'lt never be good
for anything! Can any one he so stupid at his age ?
Look—-justlook! Thunder! Canst thou not do
that ? One—two ! What an old blockhead! Come,
begin again ! Carry arms!"
This is the way my own cobbler, Monborne, or¬
dered me about. I believe he would have beaten
me if it had not been for Captain Yigneron.
All the rest treated their old patrons in the
same way. You would have said that it had
always been so—that they had always been ser¬
geants and we had always been soldiers. I heap¬
ed up gall enough against this rabble to last fifty
years.
They in fine were the masters! And the only
time that I remember ever to have struck my own
son, Safel, this Monborne was the cause of it. All
the children climbed upon the wall of the clunnhi
j<? ronde to look at us and laugh at us. On look¬
ing up, I saw Safel among them, and made a sign
of displeasure with my linger. He went down at
once; but at the close of the exercise, when we
were ordered to break ranks before the town house,
I was seized with anger as I saw him coming to-
THE BLOCKADE.
C3
■ward me, and I gave htm two good boxes on the
ear, and said: " Go—hiss and mock at your father,
like Skein, instead of bringing a garment to cover
his nakedness—go !"
He wept bitterly, and in this state T went home.
Sorle seeing me come in looking very pale, and
the little one following me at a distance, sobbing,
came down at once to the door, and asked what was
the matter. I told her how angry I was, and went
up stairs.
Sorle reproved Safel still more severely, and he
came and begged my pardon. I granted it with
all my heart, as you may suppose. But when I
thought that the exercises were to be repeated
every day, I would gladly have abandoned every¬
thing if I could possibly have taken with me my
house and wares.
Yes, the worst thing I know of is to be or¬
dered about by bullies who cannot restrain them¬
selves when chance sets them up for a moment,
and who are not capable of receiving the idea that
in this life everybody has his turn.
I should say too much if I continued on this
head. I would rather go on.
The Lord granted me a great consolation. I
had scarcely laid aside my cartridge-box and mus-
64
THE BLOCKADE.
ket, so as to sit at the table, when Sorle smilingly
handed me a letter.
"Read that, Moses," said she, "and you will
fe el better."
I opened and read it. It was the notice from
Pczenas that my dozen pipes of spirits were on
their way. I drew a long breath.
"Ah! that is good, now!" I exclaimed; "the
spirits are coming by the ordinary conveyance;
they wall be here in three weeks. Me hear noth¬
ing from the direction of Strasburg and Sarre-
bruck; the allies are collecting still, but they do
not move; my spirits of wine are safe ! They will
sell well! It is a grand thing !"
I smiled, and was quite myself again, when
Sorle pushed the arm-chair toward me, saying;
" And what do you think of that, Moses ?"
She gave me, as she spoke, a second letter, cov¬
ered with large stamps, and at the first glance I
recognized the handwriting of my two sons, Fro-
mel and Itzig.
It was a letter from America ! My heart swell¬
ed with joy, and I silently thanked the Lord, deep¬
ly moved by this great blessing. I said: "The
Lord is good. His understanding is infinite. He
delighteth not in the strength of a horse; he tak-
THE BLOCKADE.
05
etli not pleasure in the legs of a man. He taketh
pleasure in those that hope in his mercy."
Thus I spoke to myself while I read the letter,
in which my sons praised America, the true land
of commerce, the land of enterprising men, where
everything is free, where there are no taxes or im¬
positions, because people are not brought up for
war, but for peace; the land, Fritz, where every
man becomes, through his own labor, his intelli¬
gence, his economy, and his good intentions, what
he deserves to be, and every one takes his proper
place, because no important matter is decided 'with¬
out the consent of all;—a just and sensible thing,
for where all contribute, all should give their opin¬
ions.
This was one of their first letters. Fromel and
Itzig wrote me that they had made so much money
in a year, that they need no longer carry their own
packs, but had three fine mules, and that they had
just opened at Catskill, near Albany, in the State
of New York, an establishment for the exchange
of European fabrics with cowhides, which were
very abundant in that region.
Their business was prospering, and tliey were
respected in the town and its vicinity. "While Fro¬
mel was travelling on the road with their three
66
THE BLOCKADE.
mules, ltzig staid at home, and when Itzig went
in his turn his brother had charge of the shop.
They already knew of our misfortunes, and
thanked the Lord for having given them such pa
rents, to save them from destruction. They would
have liked to have us with them, and after what
had just happened, in being maltreated by a Mon-
bome, you can believe that I should have been
very glad to be there. But it was enough to re¬
ceive such good news, and in spite of all our mis¬
fortunes, I said to myself, as I thought of Frichard:
" But -it is only to me that you can be an ass!
You may harm me here, but you can't hurt my
boys. You are nothing but a miserable secretary
of mayoralty, while I am going to sell my spirits
of wine. I shall gain double and treble. I will
put my little Safel at your side, under the market,
and he will beckon to everybody that is going into
your shop; and he will sell to them at cost-price
rather than lose their custom, and he will make
you die of anger."
The tears came into my eyes as I thought of it,
and 1 ended by embracing Sorle, who smiled, full
of satisfaction.
We pardoned Safel over again, and he prom¬
ised to go no more with the cursed race. Then,
THE BLOCKADE. 67
after dinner, I went down to my cellar, one of the
finest in the city, twelve feet high and thirty-five
feet long, all built of hewn stone, under the main
street. It was as dry as an oven, and even im¬
proved wine in the long run.
As my spirits of wine might arrive before the
end of the month, I arranged four large beams to
hold the pipes, and saw that the well, cut in the
rock, had enough water for mixing it.
On going up about four o'clock, I perceived the
old architect, Kromer, who was walking across the
market, his measuring-stick under his arm.
" Ah!" said I, " come down a minute into my
cellar; do you think it will be safe against the
bombs V
We went down together. lie examined it, meas¬
ured the stones and the thickness of the arch with
his stick, and said: "You have six feet of earth
over the key-stone. When the bombs enter here,
Moses, it will be all over with all of us. You may
sleep with both ears shut."
We took a good drink of wine from the spout,
and went up in good spirits.
Just as we set foot on the pavement, a door in
the main street opened with a crash, and there was
a sound of glass broken. Kromer raised his nose,
68
THE BLOCKADE.
and said: "Look yonder, Moses, at Camus' steps!
Something is going on."
We stopped and saw at the top of the railed
staircase a sergeant of veterans, in a gray coat, with
his musket dangling, dragging Father Camus by
the collar. The poor old man clung to the door
with both hands to keep himself from falling; he
succeeded at last in getting loose, by tearing the
collar from his coat, and the door shut with a noise
like thunder.
"If Avar begins now between citizens and sol¬
diers," said Kromer, " the Germans and Eussians
will have fine sport."
The sergeant, seeing the door shut and bolted
within, tried to force it open with blows from the
butt-end of his musket, which caused a great up¬
roar; the neighbors came out, and the dogs barked.
We were watching it all, when we saw Burguet
come along the passage in front, and begin to talk
vehemently with the sergeant. At first the man
did not seem to hear him, but after a moment he
raised his musket to his shoulder with a rouch
movement, and went down to the street, with his
shoulders up and his face dark and furious. He
passed by us like a wild boar. lie was a veteran
with three chevrons, sunburnt, with a gray mus-
THE BLOCKADE.
69
tache, large straight wrinkles the whole length of
his cheeks, and a square chin. He muttered as he
passed us, and went into the little inn of the Three
Pigeons.
Burguet followed at a distance, with his broad
hat down to his eyebrows, wrapped in his beaver-
cloth great coat, his head thrown back, and his
hands in his pockets. He smiled.
"Well," said I, "what has been going on at
Camus' ?"
"Oh!" said he, "it is Sergeant Trubert, of the
fifth company of veterans, who had just been play¬
ing his tricks. The old fellow wants everything to
go by rule and measure. In the last fortnight he
has had five different lodgings, and cannot get along
with anybody. Everybody complains of him, but
he always makes excuses which the Governor and
Commandant think excellent."
"And at Camus' house?"
" Camus has not too much room for his own
family. He wished to send the sergeant to the
inn; but the sergeant had already chosen Camus'
bed to sleep in, had spread his cloak upon it, and
said, ' My billet is for this place. I am very com¬
fortable here, and do not wish to change.' Old
Camus was vexed, and finally, as you have just
70
THE BLOCKADE.
seen, the sergeant tried to pull him out, and heat
him."
Burguet smiled, but Ivromer said: "Yes, all
that is laughable. And yet when we think of
what such people must have done on the other side
of the Pdiine!"
" Ah!" exclaimed Burguet, " it was not very
pleasant for the Germans, I am sure. But it is
time to go and read the newspaper. God grant
that the time for paying our old debts may not
have come ! Good-evening, gentlemen."
He continued his walk on the side of the square.
Kromer went toward his own house, while I shut
the two doors of my cellar; after which I went
home.
This was the tenth of December. It was al¬
ready very cold. Every night, after five or six
o'clock, the roofs and pavements were covered with
frost. There was no more noise without, because
people kept at home, around their stoves.
I found Sorle in the kitchen, preparing our
supper. The red flame flickered upon the hearth
around the sauce-pan. These things are now be¬
fore my eyes, Fritz — the mother, washing the
plates at the stone sink, near the gray window; lit¬
tle Safel blowing in his big iron pipe, his cheeks
THE BLOCKADE.
71
round as an apple, his long curly hair all disorder¬
ed, and myself sitting on the stool, holding a coa*
to light my pipe. Yes, it all seems here present!
We said nothing. We were happy in think¬
ing of the spirits of wine that were coming, of the
boys who were doing so well, of the good supper
that was cooking. And who would ever have
thought, then, that twenty-five days afterwards the
city would be surrounded by enemies, and shells
hissing in the air ?
VI.
A DISAGREEABLE GUEST.
Now, Fritz, I am going to toll you something
which has often made me think that the Lord takes
an interest in our affairs, and that he orders every¬
thing for the best. At first it seems dreadful, and
we exclaim, "Lord have mercy on us!" and after¬
ward we are surprised to find that it has all been
for our good.
You know that Frichard, the secretary of the
mayoralty, disliked me. lie was a little, yellow,
dried up old man, with a red wig, fiat ears, and hol¬
low cheeks. This rascal was bent on doing me an
injury, and he soon found an opportunity.
As the time of the blockade drew nearer, people
were more and more anxious to sell, and the day
after I received the good news from America—it
was Friday, a market-day—so many of the Alsacian
and Lorraine people came with their great dossers
and panniers of fruit, eggs, butter, cheese, poultry,
etc., that the market-place was crowded with them.
THE BLOCKADE.
Everybody wanted money, to hide it in his cellar,
or under a tree in the neighboring wood. You
know that large sums were lost at that time; treas¬
ures which are now discovered from year to year,
at the foot of oaks and beeches, hidden because it
was feared that the Germans and Russians would
pillage and destroy everything, as we had done to
them. The men died, or perhaps could not find the
place where they had hidden their money, and so it
remained buried in the ground.
This day, the eleventh of December, it was very
cold ; the frost penetrated to the very marrow of
your bones, but it had not yet begun to snow. Very
early in the morning, I went down, shivering, with
my woollen waistcoat buttoned up to my throat,
and my seal-skin cap drawn down over my ears.
Both the little and the great squares were already
swarming with people, shouting and disputing about
prices. I had only time to open my shop, and to
hang up my large scales in the arch, before a crowd
of country people stood about the door, some asking
for nails, others iron for forging ; and some bringing
their own old iron with the hope of selling it.
They knew that if the enemy came there would
be no way of entering the city, and that was what
brought the crowd, some to sell and others to buy.
I opened shop and began to weigh. We heard
4
74 THE BLOCKADE.
the patrols passing without; the g i»ard was every¬
where doubled, the drawbridges in good condition,
and the outside barriers fortified anew. We were
not yet declared to be in a state of siege, but we
were like the bird on the branch ; the last news front
Mayence, Sarrebruck, and Strasburg announced the
arrival of the allies on the other bank of the Rhine.
As for me, I thought of nothing but my spirits of
wine,"and all the time I was selling, weighing, and
handling money, it was never out of my mind. It
had, as it were, taken root in my brain.
This had lasted about an hour, when suddenly
Burguet appeared at my door, under the little arch,
behind the crowd of country people, and said to
me :
" Moses, come here a minute, I have something to
say to you."
I went out.
" Let us go into your passage," said he.
I was much surprised, for he looked very grave.
The peasants behind called out:
" We have no time to lose. Make haste, Moses !"
But I paid 110 attention. In the passage Burguet
said to me :
" I have just come from the mayoralty, where
they are busy in making out a report to the prefect
in regard to the state of feeling among our popula-
THE BLOCKADE.
75
tion, aurl I accidentally heard that they are going
to send Sergeant Trubert to your house."
This was indeed a blow for me. I exclaimed:
" I don't want him ! I don't want him! I have
lodged six men in the last fortnight, and it isn't my
turn."
lie answered:
"Be quiet, and don't talk so loud. You will only
make the matter worse."
I repeated:
" Never, never shall this sergeant enter rny house !
It is abominable! A quiet man like myself, who
has never harmed any one, and who asks nothing
but peace!"
"While I was speaking, Sorle, on her way to mar¬
ket, with her basket on her arm, came down, and
asked what was the matter.
"Listen, Madame Sorle," said Burguet to her:
"be more reasonable than your husband ! I can un¬
derstand his indignation, and yet for all that, when
a thing is inevitable we must submit to it. Frichard
dislikes you; he is secretary of the mayoralty; he
distributes the billets for quartering soldiers accord¬
ing to a list. Very well; he sends you Sergeant
Trubert, a violent, bad man, I allow, but he needs
lodging- as well as the others. To everything which
I have said in your favor, Frichard has always re-
76 the blockade.
plied : 'Moses is rich. lie lias sent away his boys
to escape conscription. lie ought to pay for them.'
The mayor, the governor, everybody thinks he is
right. So, you see, I tell you as a friend, the more
resistance you make, so much the more the sergeant
will affront you, and Frichard laugh at you, and
there will be 110 help for it. Be reasonable !"
I was still more angry 011 finding that I owed
these misfortunes to Frichard. I would have ex¬
claimed, but my wife laid her hand on my arm, and
said :
" Let me speak, Moses. Monsieur Burguet is
right, and I am much obliged to him for telling us
beforehand. Frichard has a spite against us. Very
well; he must pay for it all. and we will settle with
him by-and-bye. Now, when is the sergeant com¬
ing ?"
" At noon," replied Burguet.
"Very well," said my wife; "he has a right to
lodging, fire, and candles. We can't dispute that;
but Frichard shall pay for it all."
She was pale, and I listened, for I saw that she
was right.
" Be quiet, Moses," she said to me afterward,
"and don't say a word ; let me manage it."
"This is what I had to say to you," said Burguet,
" it is an abominable trick of Frichard's. I will see,
THE BLOCKADE.
bv-and-bye, if it is possible to rid you of the ser
geant. Now I must go buck to my post."
Sorle had just started for the market. Burguet
pressed my hand, and as the peasants grew more
impatient in their cries, I had to go back to my
scales.
I was full of rage. I sold that day more than two
hundred francs' worth of iron, but my indignation
against Frichard, and my fear of the sergeant, took
away all pleasure in anything. I might have sold
ten times more without feeling any better.
" Ah ! the rascal!" I said to myself; " he gives
me no rest. I shall have no peace in this city."
As the clock struck twelve the market closed,
and people went away by the French gate. I shut
up my shop and went home, thinking to myself:
"Now I shall be nothing in my own house; this
Trul.ert is going to rule everything. He will loot
down upon us as if we were Germans or Spar,
iards."
I was in despair. But in the midst of my despair
on the staircase, I suddenly perceived an odor of
good things from the kitchen, and I went up in sur¬
prise, for I smelt fish and roast, as if it were a feast
day.
I was going into the kitchen, when Sorle appeared
and said:
78
THE BLOCKADE.
" Go into your chamber, shave yourself, and put
on a clean shirt."
I saw, at the same time, that she was dressed in
her Sabbath clothes, with her ear-rings, her green
skirt, and her red silk neckerchief.
"But why must I shave, Sorle ?" I exclaimed.
" Go quick; you have no time to lose!" replied
she.
This woman had so much good sense, she had so
many times set things right by her ready wit, that
I said nothing more, and went into my bedroom to
shave myself and put on a clean shirt.
As I was putting on my shirt I heard little Safel
cry out:
" Here he is, mama ! here he is !"
Then steps were heard on the stairs, and a rough
voice called :
"Holla! you folks. Ho!"
I thought to myself: " It is the sergeant," and I
listened.
" Ah ! here is our sergeant!" cried Safel, triumph¬
antly.
" Oh ! that is good," replied my wife, in a cheer¬
ful tone. " Come in, Mr. Sergeant, come in ! We
were expecting you. I knew that we were to have
the honor of having a sergeant; we were glad to
hear it, because we have had only common soldiers
THE BLOCKADE,
79
before. Be so good as to come in, Mr. Ser¬
geant."
She spoke in this way as if she were really pleased,
and I thought to myself:
"0 Sorle, Sorle! You shrewd woman! You
sensible woman ! I see through it now. I see your
cunning. You are going to mollify this rascal !
Ah, Moses ! what a wife you have ! Congratulate
yourself! Congratulate yourself!"
I hastened to dress myself, laughing all the while;
and I heard this brute of a sergeant say :
" Yes, yes! It is all very well. But that isn't
the point! Show me my room, my bed. You
can't pay me with fine speeches; people know Ser¬
geant Trubert too well for that."
" Certain Mr. Sergeant, certainly," replied my
wife, " here is your room and your bed. See, it is
the best we have."
Then they went into the passage, and I heard
Sorle open the door of the handsome room which
Baruch and Zeflen occupied when they came to
Phalsburg.
I followed them softly. The sergeant thrust his
fist into the bed to feel if it was soft. Sorle and
Safel looked on smilingly behind him. He examined
every corner with a scowl. You never saw such a
face, Fritz; a gray bristling moustache, a long thin
80
THE BLOCKADE.
nose, hooked over the mouth; a yellow skin, full of
wrinkles : he dragged the butt-end of his gun on the
floor, without seeming to notice anything, and mut¬
tered ill-naturedly:
"Ilem ! hem ! What is that down there?"
" It is the wash-basin, Mr. Sergeant."
"And these chairs, are they strong? Will they
bear anything ?"
lie knocked them rudely down. It was evident
he wanted to find fault with something.
On turning round he saw me, and looking at me
sideways, asked :
" Are you the citizen ?"
"Yes, sergeant; I am."
" Ah !"
He put his gun in a corner, threw his knapsack on
the table, and said :
"That will do! You may go."
Safel had opened the kitchen door, and the good
smell of the roast came into the room.
" Mr. Sergeant," said Sorle very pleasantly, " allow
me to ask a favor of you."
"You !" said he looking at her over his shoulder,
"ask a favor of me !"
" Yes. It is that since you now lodge with us, and
will be in some re.-pects one of the family, you will uiye
us the pleasure of dining with us, at least for once."
THE BLOCKADE.
81
" Ah , ah!" said he, turning his nose toward the
kitchen, " that is another thing !"
He seemed to be considering whether to grant us
this favor or not. We waited for him to answer,
when he gave another sniff and threw his cartridge-
box on the bed, saying :
" Well, so be it! We will go and see !"
" Wretch !" thought I, " if I could make you eat
potatoes !"
But Sorle seemed satisfied, and said:
" This way, Mr. Sergeant; this way, if you please."
When we went into the dining-room I saw that
everything was prepared as if for a prince; the floor
swept, the table carefully laid, a white table-cloth,
and our silver knives and forks.
Sorle placed the sergeant in my arm-chair at the
head of the table, which seemed to him the most
natural thing in the world.
Our servant brought in the large tureen and took
off the cover; the odor of a good cream soup filled
the room, and we began our dinner.
Fritz, I could tell you everything we had for din¬
ner ; but believe me, neither you nor I ever had a
better. We had a roasted goose, a magnificent pike,
sour-kraut, everything, in fact, which could be de¬
sired for a grand dinner, and all served by Sorle in
the most perfect manner. We had, too, four bottles
82
THE BLOCKADE.
of Beaujolais warmed in napkins, as was the custom
in winter, and an abundant dessert.
Well! do you believe that the rascal once had the
grace to seem pleased with ail this ? Do you be¬
lieve that all through this dinner, which lasted nearly
two hours, he once thought of saying, " This pike is
excellent!" or, " This fat goose is well cooked !" or,
''You have very good wine!" or any of the other
things which we know are pleasant for a host to
hear, and which repay a good cook for his trouble?
No, Fritz, not once! You would have supposed
that he had such dinners every day. The more even
that my wife flattered him, and the more kindly she
spoke to him, the more he rebuffed her, the more he
scowled, the more defiantly he looked at us, as if we
wanted to poison him.
From time to time I looked indignantly at Sorle,
but she kept on smiling ; she kept on giving the
nicest bits to the sergeant; she kept on tilling his
glass.
Two or three times I wanted to say, "Ah, Sorle,
what a good cook you are! How nice this force¬
meat is!" But suddenly the sergeant would look
down upon me as if to say, " What does that signify ?
Perhaps you want to give me lessons ? Don't I
know better than you do whether a thing is good or
bad ?"
TEE BLOCKADE.
83
So I kept silence. I could have wished him—•
well, in worse company; I grew more and more
indignant at every morsel which he swallowed in
silence. Nevertheless Sorle's example encouraged
me to put a good face on the matter, and toward the
end I thought, " Now, since the dinner is eaten,
since it is almost over, we will go on, with God's
help. Sorle was mistaken, but it is all the same;
her idea was a good one, except for such a
rascal!"
And I myself ordered coffee ; I went to the closet,
too, to get some cherry-brandy and old rum.
" What is that?" asked the sergeant.
"Rum and cherry-brandy; old cherry-brandy
from the ' Black Forest,' " I replied.
" Ah," said he winking, "everybody says, 'I have
got some cherry-brandy from the Black Forest!' It
is very easy to say; but they can't cheat Sergeant
Trubert; we will see about this!"
In taking his coffee he twice filled his glass with
cherry-brandy, and both times said, " He ! he ! We
will see whether it is genuine."
I could have thrown the bottle at his head.
As Sorle went to him to pour a third glassful,
he rose and said, "That is enough ; thank you ! The
posts are doubled. This evening T shall be on guard
at the French gate. The dinner, to be sure, was not
84
TlIE BLOCKADE.
a bad one. If you give me such now and then, we
can get along with each other."
He did not smile, and, indeed, seemed to be ridi¬
culing us.
" We will do our best, Mr. Sergeant," replied
Sorle, while he went into his room and took his great
coat to go out.
" We will see," said he as he went down-stairs,
" We will see !"
Till now I had said nothing, but when he was
down I exclaimed, " Sorle, never, no never, was
there such a rascal! We shall never get along with
this man. He will drive us all from the house."
"Bah ! bah ! Moses," she replied, laughing, "I do
not think as thou dost! I have quite the contrary
idea; we will be good friends, thou'lt see, thou'lt
see !"
"God grant it!" I said; "but I have not much
hope of it."
She smiled as she took off the table-cloth, and
gave me too a little confidence, for this woman had
a good deal of shrewdness, and I acknowledged her
sound judgment.
VII.
SERGEANT TEUBERT IN A NEAV LIGHT.
You see, Fritz, what the common people had to
endure in those days. Ah, well! just as we were
performing extra service, while Monborne was com¬
manding me at the drilling, while Sergeant Trubert
was down upon me, while we were hearing of domi¬
ciliary visits of inspection to ascertain what pro¬
visions the citizens had—in the midst of all this, my
dozen pipes of spirits of wine were being slowly
wheeled over the road.
How I repented of having ordered them ! How
often I could have torn my hair as I thought that
half my thirty years' gains were at the mercy of cir¬
cumstances ! How I prayed for the Emperor! How
I ran every morning to the coffee-houses and ale¬
houses to learn the news, and how I trembled as I
read!
Nobody knew what I suffered, not even Sorle, for
I kept it all from her. She was too keen-sighted not
to perceive my anxiety, and sometimes she would
30 T1IE BLOCKADE.
say, "Come, Moses, have courage! All will come
right—patience a little longer !"
But tiie rumors which came from Alsace, and Ger¬
man Lorraine, and Ilundsruck, quite upset me:
"They are coming! They will not dare to come!
We are ready for them ! They will take us by sur¬
prise ! Peace is going to be made ! They will pass
by to-morrow ! We shall have no fighting this
winter! They can wait no longer! The Emperor
is still in Paris ! Marshal Victor is at Huninguen !
They are impressing the custom house officers, the
forest-keepers, and the gendarmery ! Some Spanish
dragoons went down by Saverne yesterday ! The
mountaineers are to defend the Yosges ! There will
be fighting in Alsace !" etc., etc. Your head would
have been turned, Fritz. In the morning the wind
would blow one way and put you in good spirits ;
at night it would blow another way and you would
be miserable.
And my spirits of wine were coming nearer and
nearer, and at last arrived, in the midst of this con¬
flict of news, which might any day turn into a con¬
flict of bullets and shells. If it had not been for my
other troubles I should have been beside myself.
Fortunately, my indignation against Monborne and
the other villains diverted my mind.
AVe heard nothing more of Sergeant Trubert
THE BLOCKADE.
87
after the great dinner for the remainder of that
day, and the night following, as he was on guard;
but the next morning, as I was getting up, behold,
he came up the stairs, with his musket on his shoul¬
der ; he opened the door and began to laugh, with
liia moustaches all white with frost. I had just put
011 my pantaloons, and looked at him in astonish¬
ment. My wife was still in her room.
"He! he! Father Moses," said he, in a good-
natured voice, " It has been a dreadful cold night."
He did not look or speak like the same person.
"Yes, sergeant," I replied, "it is December, and
that is what we must expect."
" What we must expect," he repeated ;—" all the
move reason for taking a drop. Let us see, is there
any more of that old cherry-brandy ?"
He looked, as he spoke, as if he could see through
me. I got up at once from my arm-chair, and ran
to fetch the bottle: "Yes, yes, sergeant," I ex¬
claimed, "there is more, drink and enjoy it."
As I said this, his face, still a little hard, seemed
to smile all over. He placed his gun in a corner,
and, standing up, handed me the glass, saying,
" Pour out, Father Moses, pour out!"
I filled it brimfull. As I did so, he laughed
quietly. His yellow face puckered up in hundreds
of wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and around
88
THE BLOCKADE.
his cheeks and moustaches and chin. He did not
laugh so as to be heard, but his eyes showed his
good humor,
"Famous cherry-brandy this, in truth, Father
Moses !" he said as he drank it. "A body knows
who has drank it in the Black Forest, where it cost
nothing! Aren't you going to drink with me V"
" With pleasure," I answered. And we drank to¬
gether. He looked at me all the time. Suddenly he
said, with a mischievous look, " Hey, Father Moses,
say, you were at'raid of me yesterday?" He smiled
as he spoke.
" Oh—Sergeant"—
" Come, come," said he, laying his hand upon my
shoulder—" confess that I frightened you."
lie smiled so pleasantly that I could not help say¬
ing : " Well, yes, a little !"
" He! he ! he! I knew it very well," said he.
"You had heard them say, 'Sergeant Trubert is a
tough one!' You were afraid, and you gave me a
dinner fit for a prince to coax me !"
He laughed aloud, and I ended by laughing too.
Sorle had heard all, in the next room, and now came
to the door and said, "Good morning, Mr. Ser¬
geant."
He exclaimed, " Father Moses, here is what may
be called a woman! You can boast of having a
THE BLOCKADE.
89
spirited woman, a sly woman, slyer than you are,
Father Moses ; he, he, he 1 That is as it should be
—that is as it should be !"
Sorle was delighted.
"Oh! Mr. Sergeant," said she, "can you really
think so ?"
"Bah! bah!" he exclaimed. "You are a first-
rate woman ! I saw you when I first came, and said
to myself, ' Take heed, Trubert! They make a fair
pretense ; it is a stratagem to send you to the hotel to
sleep. We will let the enemy unmask his batteries !'
"Ha! ha ! ha! You are nice folks. You gave me
a dinner fit for a Marshal of the Empire. Now,
Father Moses, I invite myself to take a small glass
of cherry-brandy with you now and then. Put the
bottle aside, by itself, it is excellent! And as for
the rest, the room which you have given me is too
handsome; I don't like such gewgaws; this fine
furniture and these soft beds are good for women.
What I want is a small room, like that at the side,
two good chairs, a pine table, a plain bed with a
mattress, paillasse, and coverings, and five or six
nails in the wall for hanging my things. You just
give me that!"
" Since you wish it, Mr. Sergeant."
"Yes, I wish it; the handsome room will be foi
state occasions."
90
THE BLOCKADE.
"You will breakfast with us?" asked my wife,
well pleased.
"I breakfast and dine at the cantine," replied the
sergeant. " I do very well there ; and I don't want
to have good people go to any expense for me.
When people respect an old soldier as he ought to
be respected, when they treat him kindly, when they
are like you,—Trubert, too, is what he ought to be."
" But, Mr. Sergeant!" said Sorle.
"Call me Sergeant," said he, " I know you now.
You are not like all the rabble of the city; rascals
who have been growing rich while we have been off
fighting; wretches who do nothing but heap up
money and grow big at the expense of the army,
who live on us, who are indebted to us for every¬
thing, and who send us to sleep in nests of vermin.
Ah ! a thousand million thunders !"
His face resumed its bad look; his moustaches
shook with his anger, and I thought to myself,
" What a good idea it was to treat him well! Sorle's
ideas are always good !"
But in a moment he relaxed, and laying his hand
on my arm, he exclaimed :
" To think that you are Jews ! a kind of abomin¬
able race; everything that is dirty and vile and
niggardly ! To think that you are Jews ! It is true,
is it not, that you are Jews?"
THE BLOCKADE. 91
"Yes, sir," replied Sorle.
" Well, upon my word, I am surprised to hear it,"
said he ; " I have seen so many Jews, in Poland and
Germany, that I thought to myself ' They are send¬
ing me to some Jews; they had better look out or
I'll smash everything. "
We kept silent in our mortification, and he added,
" Come, we will say no more about that. You are
good, honest people; I should be sorry to trouble
you. Your hand, Father Moses !"
I gave him my hand.
"I like you," said he. "Now, Madame Moses,
the side room !"
We showed him the small room that he asked for,
and he went at once to fetch his knapsack from the
other, saying as he went:
"Now I am among honest people! We shall
have no difficulty in getting along together. You
do not trouble me, I do not trouble you ; I come in
and go out, by day or night; it is Sergeant Trubert,
that is enough. And now and then, in the morning,
we will take our little glass; it is agreed, is it not,
Father Moses ?"
"Yes, sergeant."
"And here is the key of the house," said Sorle.
"Very well; everything is arranged ; now I am
going to take a nap ; good-bye, my friends."
02
THE BLOCKADE.
" I hope you will sleep well, sergeant." We went
out at once, and heard him lie down.
"You see, Moses, you see," whispered my wife, in
the alley, " it has all come right."
" Yes," I replied, "all right, excellent; your plan
was a good one; and now, if the spirits of wine
only come, we shall be happy."
VIII.
father moses' first encounter.
From that time the sergeant lived with us with¬
out troubling anybody. Every morning, before he
went to his duties, he came and sat a few minutes in
my room, and talked with me while he took his
glass. He liked to laugh with Sat'el, and we called
him " our sergeant," as if he were one of the family.
He seemed to like to be with us; he was a careful
man ; he would not allow our schubisbu'iii to black
his shoes ; he cleaned his own buff-skins, and would
not let any one touch his arms.
One morning, when I was going to answer to the
call, he met me in the alley, and, seeing a little rust
on my musket, he began to swear like the devil.
" Ah ! Father Moses, if I had you in my company,
it would go hard with you
'• Yes," thought I; ''but, thank God, I'm not."
f?orle. leaning over the balustrades above, laughed
heartily.
From that time the sergeant regularly inspected
94
THE BLOCKADE.
mv equipments : I must clean mv trim over and over,
take it to pieces, clean the barrel ami furbish the
bayonet, as if I expected to go and fight. And even
when he knew how Monborne treated me, he also
wanted to teach me the exercises. All my remon¬
strances were of no avail, he would frown and say:
"Father Moses, I can't stand it, that an honest
man like you should know less than the rabble.
Go along !"
And then we would up to the loft. It was very
cold, but the sergeant was so provoked at my want
of briskness in performing the movements, that he
always put me in a great perspiration before we
finished.
" Attention to the word of command, and no lazi¬
ness !" he would exclaim.
I used to hear Sorle, Safe], and the servant laugh¬
ing in the stairway, as they peeped through the laths,
and I did not dare to turn my head. In fine, it was
entirely owing to this good Trubert that I learned
to charge well, and became one of the best vaulters
in the company.
Ah ! Fritz, it would all have been very well if the
spirits of wine had come; but instead of my dozen
pipes, there came half a company of marine artillery,
and four hundred recruits for the sixth light infantry.
About this time the governor ordered that a space
TIIE BLOCKADE.
95
six hundred metres wide should he cleared all round
the city.
You should have seen the havoc that was made
in the place ; the fences, palisades, and trees hewn
down, the houses demolished, from which every¬
body carried away a beam or some timbers. You
should have looked down from the ramparts and
seen the little gardens, the line of poplars, the old
trees in the orchards felled to the ground and
dragged away by swarms of workmen. You should
have seen all this to know what war is!
Father Frise, the two Camus boys, the Sades, the
Bosserts, and all the families of the gardeners and
small farmers who lived at Phalsburg, suffered the
most. I can almost hear old Fritz exclaim:
" Ah ! my poor apple-trees! Ah ! my poor pear-
trees; I planted you myself, forty years ago. How
beautiful you were, always covered with fine fruit!
Oh, misery ! misery !"
And the soldiers still chopped away. Toward
the end, old Fritz went away, his cap drawn over
his eyes, and weeping bitterly.
Tin rumor spread also that they were going to
burn the Maisons Rouges at the foot of the Mittle-
bronn hill, the tile-kiln at Pernette, and the little
inns of VArbre Vert and Panier Fleuri, but it
seemed that the governor found it was not neces-
96
THE BLOCKADE.
sary as these houses were out of range ; or rather,
that they would reserve that till later ; and, that the
allies were coining sooner than they were expected.
Of what happened before the blockade, I remem¬
ber, too, that on the twenty-second of December,
about eleven o'clock in the morning, the call was
beat. Everybody supposed that it was for the drill,
and I set out quietly, with my musket on my shoul¬
der, as usual; but, as I reached the corner of the
mayoralty, I saw the troops of the garrison formed
under the trees of the square.
They placed us with them in two ranks; and then
Governor Moulin, Commandants Thomas and Pet-
tigenet, and the mayor, with his tri-colored sash,
arrived.
They beat the march, and then the drum-major
raised his baton, and the drums stopped. The gov¬
ernor began to speak, everybody listened, and the
words heard from a distance were repeated from one
to another.
" Officers, non-commissioned, National Guards,
and Soldiers!
"The enemy is concentrated upon the Rhine,only
three days' march from us. The city is declared to
be in a state of siege; the civil authorities give place
to martial law. A permanent court-martial replaces
ordinary tribunals.
TIIE BLOCKADE. 97
"Inhabitants of Pkalsbu.rg! we expect from you
courage, devotion, obedience! Vice VEuqtereur /"
And a thousand cries of " Vive VJEuipereur/"
filled the air.
I trembled to the ends of my hair; my spirits of
wine were still 011 the road ; I considered myself a
ruined man.
The immediate distribution of cartridges, and the
order to the battalion to go and forage for pro¬
visions, and bring in cattle from the surrounding
villages for the supply of the city, prevented me
from thinking of my misfortune.
I had also to think of my own life, for, in receiv¬
ing sneli an order, we supposed of course that the
peasants would resist, and it is abominable to have
to fight the people you are robbing.
I was very pale as I thought of all this.
But when Commandant Thomas cried out,
" Charge !" and I tore off my first cartridge, and put
it in the barrel, and, instead of hearing the ramrod
I felt a ball at the bottom!—when they orderd us:
"By file—left! left! forward! quick step! march!"
and we set out for the barracks of the Bois-de-
Chenes, while the first battalion went on to Quatre-
Vents and Bichelberg, the second to Wechern and
Metting; when I thought that we were going to
seize and carry away everything, and that the court-
0
98
TIIE BLOCKADE.
martial was at the mayoralty to pass sentence upon
those who did not do their duty ;—all these new-and
terrible things completely upset me. I was troubled
as I saw the village in the distance, and pictured to
myself beforehand the cries of the women and chil¬
dren.
You see, Fritz, to take from the poor peasant all
his living at the beginning of winter; to take from
him his cow, his goats, his pigs, everything in short,
it is dreadful! and my own misfortune made me feel
more for that of others.
And then, as we marched, I thought of my daugh¬
ter Zeifen, and Baruch, and their children, and I
exclaimed to myself:
"Mercy on us! if the enemy comes, what will they
do in an exposed town like Saverne? They will lose
everything. We may be beggared any day."
These thoughts took away my breath, and in the
midst of them I saw some peasants, who, from their
little windows, watched our approach over the fields
and along their street, without stirring. They did
not know what we were coming for.
Six mounted soldiers preceded us; Commandant
Thomas ordered them to pass to the right and left
of the barracks, to prevent the peasants from driv¬
ing their cattle into the woods, when they had found
out that we had come to rob them.
THE BLOCKADE.
99
They set oft* on a gallon.
4 J
We came to the first house, where thel'e is the
stone crucifix. We heard the order:
"Halt!"
Then thirty men were detached to act as sentinels
in the little streets, and I was among the number,
which I liked, for I preferred being on duty to going
into their stables and barns.
As we filed through the principal street the peas¬
ants asked us:
" What is going on ? Have they been cutting
wood? Have they been making arrests?" and such
like questions. But we did not answer them, and
hastened on.
Monborne placed me in the third street to the
right, near the large house of Father Franz, who
raised bees on the slope of the valley behind his
house. We heard the sheep bleating and the cattle
lowing; that wretch of a Monborne said, winking at
me :
"It will be jolly! We will make the Baraquois
open their eyes."
He had no mercy in him. He said to me:
" Moses, thou must stay there. If any one tries
to pass, cross your bayonet. If any one resists,
prick him well and then fire. The law must be sup¬
ported by force."
100
THE BLOCKADE.
I don't know where the cobbler picked up that
expression ; but he left me in the street, between two
fences white with frost, and went on his way with
the rest of the guard.
I waited there nearly twenty minutes, considering
what I should do if the peasants tried to save their
property, and thinking it would be much better to
fire upon the cattle than upon their owners.
I was much perplexed and was very cold, when I
heard a great shouting; at the same time the drum
began to beat. Some men went into the stables and
drove the cattle. The Baraquins swore and wept;
some tried to defend themselves. Commandant
Thomas cried out:
" To the square ! Drive them to the square !"
Some cows escaped through the fences, and you
can't imagine what a tumult there was. I congratu¬
lated myself that I was not in the midst of this
pillage. But this did not last long, for suddenly a
herd of goats, driven by two old women, filed down
the street 011 their way to the valley.
Then I had to stop them with my bayonet and
call out:
" Halt!"
One of the women, mother Migneron, knew me;
she had a pitchfork, and was very pale.
" Let me pass, Moses," said she.
THE BLOCKADE.
101
I saw that she was coming slowly toward me,
meaning to throw ine down with her pitchfork.
The other tried to drive the goats into a little garden
at the side, but the slats were too near together,
and the fence too high.
I should have liked to let them go by, and deny
having seen anything ; but, unfortunately, Lieuten¬
ant Rollet came up and called out:
" Attention !"
And two men of the company followed : Macry
and Schweyer, the brewer.
Old Migneron, seeing me cross the bayonet, be¬
gan to grind her teeth, saying :
"Ah! wretch of a Jew, thou'lt pay for this !"
She was so angry that she had no fear of my mus¬
ket, and three times she tried to thrust her pitch¬
fork into me ; then I found the benefit of my drill¬
ing, for I parried all her attacks.
Two goats escaped between my legs ; the rest
were taken. The soldiers pushed back the old
women, broke their pitchforks, and finally regained
the chief street, which was full of cattle, lowing and
kicking.
Old Migneron sat down on the fence and tore her
hair.
Just then two cows came along, their tails in the
air, leaping over the fences and upsetting every-
102
THE BLOCKADE.
thing, the baskets of bees and their old keeper
Fortunately, as it was winter, the bees remained as
if dead in their baskets, or else I believe they would
have routed our whole battalion.
The horn of the hardier* sounded in the village,
lie had been summoned in the name of the law.
This old hardier, Nickel, passed along the street,
and the animals became quiet, and could be put in
some order. I saw the procession go along the
street; the oxen and cows in front, then the goats,
and the pigs behind.
The Baraquins followed, flinging stones and
throwing sticks. I saw that, if I should be forgot¬
ten, these wretches would fall upon me, and I
should be murdered ; but Sergeant Monborne, with
other comrades, came and relieved me. They all
laughed, and said :
" We have shaved them well! There is not a
goat left at the Barracks ; we have taken every¬
thing at one haul."
We hastened to rejoin the column, which marched
in two lines at the right and left of the road, the
cattle in the middle, our company behind, and
Nickel, with Commandant Thomas, in front. This
formed a file of at least three hundred paces. On
* Herdsman.
THE BLOCKADE.
103
every animal a bundle of hay had been tied for fod
der.
In this way we passed slowly into the cemetery lane.
Upon the glacis we halted, and tied up the ani¬
mals, and the order came to take them down into
the fosses behind the arsenal.
We were the first that returned ; we had seized
thirty oxen, forty-five cows, a quantity of goats and
pigs, and some sheep.
All day long the companies were coming back
with their booty, so that the fosses were filled with
cattle, which remained in the open air. Then the
governor said that the garrison had provisions for
six months, and every inhabitant must prove that
he had enough to last as long, and that domiciliary
visits were to begin.
We broke ranks before the city hall. I was go¬
ing up the main street, my gun on my shoulder,
when some one called me :
" Iley ! Father Moses !"
I turned and saw our sergeant.
'■ Well," said he, laughing, " you have made your
first attack; you have brought us back some pro¬
visions. Well and good 1"
" Yes, sergeant, but it is very sad !"
'* What, sad ? Thirty oxen, forty-five cows, some
pigs and goats—it is magnificent !"
104
I
THE BLOCKADE.
"To lie sure, Imt if you had heard the cries of
these poor people, if you had seen them !"
"Bali! bah!" said he. " J^rimo, Father Moses,
soldiers must live ; men must have their rations if
they are going to fight. I have often seen these
things done in Germany and Spain and Italy!
Peasants are selfish ; they want to keep their own ;
they dc not regard the honor of the flag ; that is
trash ! In some respects they would be worse than
towns-people, if we were foolish enough to listen to
them ; we must be strict."
" We have been, sergeant," I replied ; " but if I
had been master, we should not have robbed these
poor wretches; they are in a pitiable condition
enough already."
"You are too compassionate, Father Moses, and
you think that others are like yourself. But we
must remember that peasants, citizens, civilians,
live only by the soldiers, and have all the profit
without wanting to pay any of the cost. If we
followed your advice we should die of hunger in
this little town ; our peasants would support the
Russians, the Austrians, and Bavarians at our ex¬
pense. This pack of scoundrels would be having a
good time from morning to night, and the rest of
us wou'd be as poor as church-mice. That would
not do—there is no sense in it!"
THE BLOCKADE.
105
He laughed aloud. We had now come into oui
uassage, and I went up stairs.
" Is it thou, Moses ?" asked Sorle in the darkness,
for it was nightfall.
" Yes, the sergeant and I."
" Ah, good !" said she ; " I was expecting you."
" Madame Moses," exclaimed the sergeant, "your
husband can boast now of being a real soldier; he
has not yet seen fire, but he has charged with his
bayonet."
" Ah !" said Sorle, " I am very glad to see him
back."
In the room, through the little white door-cur¬
tains, we saw the lamp burning, and smelt the soup.
The sergeant went to his room, as usual, and we
into ours. Sorle looked at me with her great
black eyes, she saw how pale I was, and knew what
I was thinking about. She took from me my
cartridge-box, and placed my musket in the
closet.
" Where is Safel ?" I asked.
" He must be in the square. I sent him to see
if you had come back. Hark ! There he is coming
up!"
Then I heard the child come up the stairs ; he
opened the door at once and ran joyfully to embrace
me.
r*
106
THE BLOCKADE.
We sat riown to dinner, and, in spite of my trou¬
ble, I ate with a good appetite, having taken noth¬
ing since morning.
Suddenly Sorle said: "If the invoice does not
come before the city gates are closed we shall not
have to pay anything, for goods are at the risk of
the merchant until they are delivered. And we
have not received the inventory."
"Yes,'5 I replied, "you are right; M. Quataya,
instead of sending us the spirits of wine at once,
waited a week before answering us. If he had sent
the twelve pipes that day or the day after, they
would be here by this time. The delay is not our
fault."
You see, Fritz, how anxious we were ; but, as the
sergeant came to smoke his pipe at the corner of
the stove, as usual, we said no more about it.
I spoke only of my fears in regard to Zeffen,
Baruch, and their children, in an exposed town like
Saverne. The sergeant tried to put my mind at
ease, and said that in such places they made, to be
sure, all sorts of requisitions in wines, brandies, pro¬
visions, carriages, carts, and horses, but, except in
case of resistance, the people were let alone, and the
soldiers even tried to keep on good terms with
them.
We kept on talking till nearly ten o'clock; then
THE BLOCKADE.
107
the sergeant, who had to keep guard at the German
gate, went away, and we went to bed.
This was the night of the twenty-second and
twenty-third of December, a very cold night.
IX.
approach of the enemy.
The next morning, wllen I threw back the shut¬
ters of our room; everything was white with snow;
the old elms of the square, the street, the roofs of
the mayoralty and market and church. Some of
our neighbors, Reeeo the tinman, Spick the baker,
and old Durand the mattress-maker, opened their
doors and looked as if dazzled, while they ex¬
claimed :
" He ! Winter has come !"
Although we see it every year yet it is like a new
existence. We breathe better out of doors, and
within it is a pleasure to sit in the corner of the fire¬
place and smoke our pipes, while we watch the
crackling of the red fire. Yes, I have always felt
so for seventy-five years, and I feel so still !
I had scarcely opened the shutters when Safel
sprang from his bed like a squirrel, and came and
THE BLOCKADE.
109
flattened his nose against a pane of glass, his long
hair dishevelled and his legs hare.
"Oh! snow! snow!" he exclaimed. "Now we
can have some slides!"
Sorle, in the next room, made haste to dress her¬
self and run in. We all looked out for some minutes ;
then I went to make the fire, Sorle went to the
kitchen, Safel dressed himself hastily, and everything
fell back into the ordinary channel.
Notwithstanding the falling snow, it was very
cold. You need only to see the fire kindle at once,
and hear it roar in the stove, to know that it was
freezing hard.
As we were eating our soup, I said to Sorle, "The
poor sergeant must have passed a dreadful night.
His little glass of cherry-brandy will taste good."
"Yes," she said, " it is well you thought of it."
She went to the closet, and filled my little pocket-
flask from the bottle of cherry-brandy.
You know, Fritz, that we do not like to go into
public houses when we are on our way to our own
business. Each of us carries his own little bottle and
crust of bread ; it is the best way and most con¬
formed to the law of the Lord.
Sorle then filled my flask, and I put it in my
pocket, under my great-coat, to go to the guard¬
house. Safel wanted to follow me, but his mother
110 THE BLOCKADE.
told liim to stay, and I went down alone, well pleased
at being able to do the sergeant a kindness.
It was about seven o'clock. The snow falling
from the roofs at every gust of wind was enough to
blind you. But going along the walls, with my
nose in my great-coat, which was well drawn up on
the shoulders, I reached the German gate, and was
about going down the three steps of the guard house,
under the arch at the left, when the sergeant himself
opened the heavy door and exclaimed:
" Is it you, Father Closes! What the devil has
brought you here in this cold ?"
The guard-house was full of mist ; we could hardly
see some men stretched on camp-beds at the further
end, and five or six veterans near the red-hot stove.
I stood and looked.
" Here," I said to the sergeant as I handed him
my little bottle, " I have brought you your drop of
cherry-brandy; it was such a cold night, you must
need it."
" And you have thought of me, Father Closes !"
he exclaimed, taking me by the arm, and looking at
me with emotion.
" Yes, sergeant."
" Well, I am glad of it."
He raised the flask to his mouth and took a good
drink. At that moment there was a distant cry,
TIIE BLOCKADE.
Ill
" Who goes there ?" and the guard of the outpost
ran to open the gate.
" That is good !" said the sergeant, tapping on the
cork, and giving me the bottle; "take it back,
Father Moses, and thank you !"
Then he turned toward the half-moon and asked,
"News! What is it?"
We both looked and saw a hussar quarter-master,
a withered, gray old man, with quantities of chev¬
rons on his arm, arrive in great haste.
All my life I shall have that man before my eyes;
his smoking horse, his flying sabretash, his sword
clinking against his boots; his cap and jacket cov¬
ered with frost; his long, bony, wrinkled face, his
pointed nose, long chin, and yellow eyes. I shall
always see him riding like the wind, then stopping
his rearing horse under the arch in front of us, and
calling out to us with a voice like a trumpet:
" Where is the governor's house, sergeant ?"
" The first house at the right, quarter-master.
What is the news?"
" The enemy is in Alsace !"
Those who have never seen such men—men accus¬
tomed to long warfare, and hard as iron—can have
no idea of them. And then if you had heard the
exclamation, "The enemy is in Alsace!" it would
have made you tremble.
112
THE BLOCKADE.
The veterans had gone away; the sergeant, as he
saw the hussar fasten his horse at the governor's
door, and said to me: " Ah, well,Father Moses, now
we shall see the whites of their eyes !"
lie laughed, and the others seemed pleased.
As for myself, I set forth quickly, with my head
bent, and in my terror repeating to myself the words
of the prophet:
" One post shall run to meet another, and one
messenger to meet another, to show the king that
his passages are stopped, and the reeds they have
burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
" The mighty men have forborne to fight, they
have remained in their holds, their might hath failed,
and the bars are broken.
"Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trum¬
pet among the nations, prepare the nations against
her, call together against her the kingdoms, appoint
a captain against her.
"And the land shall tremble and sorrow; for
every purpose of the Lord shall be performed, to
make the land a desolation withofrt an inhabitant!"
I saw my ruin at hand—the destruction of my
hopes.
" Mercy, Moses !" exclaimed my wife, as she saw
me come back, " What is the matter? Your face is
all drawn up. Something dreadful has happened."
THE BLOCKADE.
113
" Yes, Sorle," I said, as I sat down; "thetime of
trouble has come of which the prophet spoke : 'The
king of the south shall push at him, and the king of
the north shall come against him like a whirlwind:
and he shall enter into the countries and shall over¬
flow and pass over.'"
This I said with my hands raised toward heaven.
Little Safel squeezed himself between my knees,
while Sorle looked on, not knowing what to say ;
and I told them that the Austrians were in Alsace;
that the Bavarians, Swedes, Prussians, and Russians
were coming by hundreds of thousands; that a
hussar had come to announce all these calamities ;
that our spirits of wine were lost, and ruin was
threatening us.
I shed a few tears, and neither Sorle nor Safel
would comfort me.
It was eight o'clock. There was a great commo¬
tion in the city. We heard the drum beat, and
proclamations read ; it seemed as if the enemy were
already there.
One thing which I remember especially, for we
had opened a window to hear, was that the gov¬
ernor ordered the inhabitants to empty immediately
their barns and granaries; and that, while we were
listening, a large Alsatian wagon with two horses,
with Baruch sitting 011 the pole, and Zefien behind
114 THE BLOCKADE.
011 some straw—her infant in her arms, and hei
other child at her side—turned suddenly into the
street.
They were coming to us for safety !
The sight of them upset me, aud raising my
hands, I exclaimed :
" Lord, take from me all weakness ! Thou scest
that I need to live for the sake of these little ones.
Therefore be thou my strength, and let me not be
cast down !"
And 1 went down at once to receive them, Sorle
and Safel following me. I took my daughter in my
arms, and helped her to the ground, while Sorle took
the children, and Baruch exclaimed :
"We came at the last minute! The gate was
closed as soon as we had come in. There were
many others from Quatre-Vents and Saverne who
had to stay outside."
"God be praised, Baruch !" I replied. "You are
all welcome, my dear children ! I have not much,
I am not rich ; but what I have, you have—it is all
yours. Come in !"
And we went up-stairs ; Zeffen, Sorle, and I carry¬
ing the children, while Baruch stayed to take their
things out of the wagon, and then he came up.
The street was now full of straw and hay, thrown
out from the lofts ; there was no wind, and the snow
TEE BLOCKADE.
115
bad stopped falling. In a little while the shouts
and proclamations ceased.
Sorlc hastened to serve up the remains of our
breakfast, with a bottle of wine; and Baruch, while
he was eating, told us that there was a panic in
Alsace, that the AustrianS had turned Basle, and
were advancing by forced marches upon Schlestadt,
Neuf Brisach, and Strasburg, after having sur¬
rounded Iluninguen.
"Everybody is escaping," said he. "They are
fleeing to the mountain, taking their valuables on
their carts, and driving their cattle into the woods.
There is a rumor already that bands of Cossacks
have been seen at Mutzig, but that is hardly
possible, as the army of Marshal Victor is on the
Upper Rhine, and dragoons are passing every day
to join him. How could they pass his lines without
giving battle ?"
We were listening very attentively to these
things when the sergeant came in. He was just off
duty, and stood outside of the door, looking at us
with astonishment.
I took Zeffen by the hand, and said: "Sergeant,
this is my daughter, this is my son-in-law, and these
are my grandchildren, about whom I have told you.
They know you, for I have told them in my letters
how much we think of you."
116
THE BLOCKADE.
The sergeant looked at Zeffen.—" Father Closes,'
said he, " you have a handsome daughter, and your
son-in-law looks like a worthy man."
Then he took little Esdrasfrom Zeffen's arms, ana
lifted him up, and made a face at him, at which the
child laughed, and everybody was pleased. The
other little one opened his eyes wide and looked on.
" My children have come to stay with me," I said
to the sergeant; '•'you will excuse them if they make
a little noise in the house?"
"IIow! Father Moses," he exclaimed. "I will
excuse everything! Do not be concerned; are we
not old friends ?"
And at once, in spite of all we could say, he chose
another room looking upon the court.
"All the nestful ought to be together," said he.
"I am the friend of the family, the old sergeant,
who will not trouble anybody, provided they are
willing to see him here."
I was so much moved that I gave him both my
hands.
" It was a happy day when you entered my house,"
6aid I. " The Lord be thanked for it!"
He laughed, and said : " Come now, Father Moses ;
come! Have I done anything more than was na¬
tural ? "Why do yon wonder at it ?"
He went at once to get his things and carry them
THE BLOCKADE.
117
to his new room ; and then went away, so as not to
disturb us.
How we are mistaken! This sergeant, whom
Fl ic-hard had sent to plague us, at the end of a fort
night was one of our family; he consulted our com¬
fort in everything—and, notwithstanding all the
years that have passed since then, I cannot think of
that good man without emotion.
When we were alone, Baruch told us that he could
not stay at Phalsburg ; that he had come to bring
his family, with everything that he could provide
for them in the first hurried moments; but that, in
the midst of such dangers, when the enemy could
not long delay coming, his duty was to guard his
house, and prevent, as much as possible, the pillage
of his goods.
This seemed right, though it made us none the
less grieved to have him go. We thought of the
pain of living apart from each other; of hearing no
tidings; of being all the time uncertain about the
fate of our beloved ones ! Meanwhile we were all
busy. Sorle and Zeffen prepared the children's
bed ; Baruch took out the provisions which he had
brought; Safel played with the two little ones, and
I went and came, thinking about our troubles.
At last, when the best room was ready for Zeffen
and the children, as the German gate was already
118
THE BLOCKADE.
shut, and the French gate would be open only until
two o'clock at the latest, for strangers to leave the
city, Baruch exclaimed : "Zeft'en, the moment has
come!"
He had scarcely said the words when the great
agony began—cries, embraces, and tears!
Ah ! it is a great joy to be loved, the only true
joy of life. But what sorrow to be separated ! And
how our family loved each other! How Zeft'en and
Baruch embraced one another! How they leaned
over their little ones, how they looked at them, and
began to sob again !
What can be said at such a moment ? I sat by
the window, with my bauds before my face, without
strength to speak. I thought to myself: "My God,
must it be that a single man shall hold in his hands
the fate of us all! Must it be that, for his pleasure,
for the gratification of his pride, everything shall be
confounded, overturned, torn asunder! My God,
shall these troubles never end? Ilast thou no pity
on thy poor creatures?"
I did not raise my eyes, but I heard the lamenta¬
tions which rent my heart, and which lasted till the
moment when Baruch, perceiving that Zeft'en was
quite exhausted, ran out, exclaiming; "It must be!
It must be! Adieu, Zeft'en! Adieu, my children !
Adieu, all!"
THE BLOCKADE.
119
No one followed liim.
We heard the carriage roll away, and then was
the great sorrow—that sorrow of which it is written .
" By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down;
yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
"We hanged our harps upon the willows.
" For there they that carried us away captive,
required of us a song, saying : ' Sing us one of the
songs of Zion!'
" IIow shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange
land ?"
X.
an engagement with the (ossacks.
Hut that day I was to have the greatest fright of
all. You remember, Fritz, that Sorle had told me
at supper the night before, that if we did not receive
the invoice, our spirits of wine would be at the risk
of M. Quataya of Pezenas, and that we need feel no
anxiety about it.
I thought so, too, for it seemed to me right; and
as the French and German gates were closed at
three o'clock, and nothing more could enter the city,
I supposed that that was the end of the matter, and
felt quite relieved.
" It is a pity, Moses !" I said to myself, as I walked
up and down the room ; " yes, for if these spirits had
been sent a week sooner, we should have made a
great profit; but now, at least, thou art relieved of
great anxiety. Be content with thine old trade.
Let alone for the future such harassing undertakings.
THE BLOCKADE.
121
Don't stake thine all again on one throw, and let
this be a lesson to thee !"
Such thoughts were in ray mind, when, about four
o'clock, I heard some one coming up our stairs. It
was a heavy step, as of a man trying to find his
way in the dark.
Zeffen and Sorle were in the kitchen, preparing
supper. Women always have something to talk
about by themselves, for nobody else to hear. So
I listened, and then opened the door.
" Who is there ?" I asked.
"Does not Mr. Moses, the wine-merchant, live
here?" asked a man in a blouse and broad-brimmed
felt hat, with his whip on his shoulder—a wagoner's
figure, in short. I turned pale as I heard him, and
replied : "Yes, my name is Moses. What do you
want ?"
lie came in, and took out a large leather portfolio
from under his blouse. I trembled as I looked on.
"There!" said he, giving me two papers, " my
invoice and my bill of lading! Are not the twelve
pipes of three-six from Pezenas for you?"
"Yes, where are they?"
" On the Mittelbronn hill, twenty minutes from
here," he quietly answered. " Some Cossacks stopped
my wagons, and I had to take off the horses. I
hurried into the city by a postern under the bridge."
6
122
THE BLOCKADE.
My legs failed me as lie spoke. I sank into my
arm-chair, unable to speak a word.
"You will pay me the portage," said the man,
"and give me a receipt for the delivery."
"Sorle! Sorld!" I cried in a despairing voice,
And she and Zeffen ran to me. The wagoner ex¬
plained it all to them. As for me, I heard nothing.
I had strength only to exclaim: "Now all is lost!
Now I must pay without receiving the goods."
" We are willing to pay, sir," said my wife, "but
the letter states that the twelve pipes shall be de¬
livered in the city."
The wagoner said : "I have just come from the
justice of the peace, as I wanted to find out before
coming to you what I had a right to claim ; he told
me that you ought to pay for everything, even my
horses and carriages, do you understand ? I un¬
harnessed illy horses, and escaped, myself, which is
so much the less 011 your account. Will you settle?
Yes or no ?"
We were almost dead with fright when the ser¬
geant came in. lie had heard loud words, and
asked: "What is it, Father Moses? What is it
about? What does this man want?"
Sorle, who never lost her presence of mind, told
him the whole story, shortly and clearly ; he com¬
prehended it at once.
TEE BLOCKADE.
123
"Twelve pipes of tliree-six, that mates twenty-
four pipes of cognac. What luck for the garrison!
■w hat luck!"
"Yes," said I, "but it cannot come in; the city-
gates are shut, and the wagons are surrounded by
Cossacks."
"Cannot come in !" cried the sergeant, raising his
shoulders. " Go along! Do you take the governor
for a fool ? Is he going to refuse twenty-four pipes
of good brandy, when the garrison needs it ? Is he
going to leave this windfall to the Cossacks? Ma¬
dame Sorle, pay the portage at once; and you,
Father Moses, put on your cap and follow me to the
governor's, with the letter in your pocket. Come
along ! Don't lose a minute ! If the Cossacks have
time to put their noses in your casks, you will find
a famous deficit, I warrant you!"
When I heard that I exclaimed : "Sergeant, you
have saved my life !" And I hastened to get my
cap.
"Shall I pay the portage ?" asked Sorle.
" Yes ! pay !" I answered as I went down, for it
was plain that the wagoner could compel us. I
went down with an anxious heart.
All that I remember after this is that the sergeant
walked before me in the snow, that he said a few
words to the sapper on orderly duty at the gov-
124
THE BLOCKADE.
ernor's house, and that we went up the grand stair
way with the marble balustrade.
Upstairs, in the gallery with the balustrade around
it, he said to me: "Be easy, Father Moses! Take
out your letter, and let me do the talking."
He knocked softly at a door as he spoke.
Somebody said : " Come in !"
We went in.
Colonel Moulin, a fat man in a dressing-gown and
little silk cap, was smoking his pipe in front of a
good fire. He was very red, and had a caraffe of
rum and a glass at its side on the marble mantel¬
piece, where were also a clock and vases of flowers.
" What is it?" he asked, turning round.
" Colonel, this is what is the matter," replied the
sergeant: "twelve pipes of spirits of wine have been
stopped on the Mittelbronn hill, and are surrounded
by Cossacks."
"Cossacks!" exclaimed the governor. "Have
they broken through our lines already ?"
"Yes," said the sergeant, "a sudden attack of
Cossacks! They have possession of the twelve
pipes of three-six which this patriot brought from
Pezenas to sustain the garrison."
" Some bandits," said the governor—" thieves !"
" Here is the letter," said the sergeant, taking it
from my hand.
THE BLOCKADE.
125
The colonel cast his eyes over it, ami said hastily:
" Sergeant, go and take twenty-five men of your
company. Go on the run, free the wagons, and put
in requisition horses from the village to bring them
into the city."
And, as we were going: "Wait!" said he; and
he went to his bureau and wrote four words; "here
is the order."
When we were once on the stairway, the sergeant
said: " Father Moses, run to the cooper's; we may
perhaps need him and his boys. I know the Cos¬
sacks; their first thought will be to unload the
casks so as to be more sure of keeping them. Have
them bring ropes and ladders ; and I will go to
the Barracks and get my men together."
Then I ran home like a hart, for I was enraged at
the Cossacks. I went in to get my musket and
cartridge-box. I could have fought au army: I
could not see straight.
" What is it ? Where are you going ?" asked
Sorle and Zeffen.
"You will know by-and-bye," I replied.
I went to Schweyer's. He had two large saddle*
pistols, which he put quickly into his apron-belt
with the axe; his two boys, Nickel and Frantz, took
the ladder and ropes, and we ran to the French
gate.
120
THE BLOCKADE.
The sergeant was not yet there ; but two minutes
after lie came running down the street by the ram¬
part with thirty veterans in tile, their muskets on
their shoulders.
The officer guarding the postern had only to see
the order to let us go out, and a few minutes after
we were in the trenches behind the hospital, where
the sergeant ranged his men.
"It is cognac!" he told them; "twenty four
pipes of cognac ! So, comrades, attention ! The
garrison is without brandy; those who do not like
brandy have only to fall to the rear."
But they all wanted to be in front, and laughed in
anticipation.
We went up the stairway, and were ranged in
order in the covered ways. It might have been
five o'clock. Looking from the top of the glacis we
could see the broad meadow of Eichmatt, and above
it the hills of Mittelbronn covered with snow. The
sky was lull of clouds, and night was coming on.
It was very cold.
" Forward !" said the sergeant.
And we gained the highway. The veterans ran,
in two files, at the right and left, their backs
rounded, and their muskets in their shoulder-belts;
the snow was up to their knees.
Schweyer, his two boys, and I walked behind.
THE BLOCKADE.
127
At the end of a quarter of an hour, the veterans,
who ran all the way, had left us far behind; we
heard for some time their cartridge-boxes rattling,
but soon this sound was lost in the distance, and
then we heard the dog of the Trois-Maisons barking
in his chain.
The deep silence of the night gave me a chance
to think. If it had not been for the thought of my
spirits of wine, I would have gone straight back to
Phalsburg, but fortunately that thought prevailed,
and I said :
"Make haste, Schweyer, make haste !"
" Make haste !" he exclaimed angrily, " you can
make haste to get back your spirits of wine, but
what do we care for it? Is the highway the place
for us ? Are we bandits that we should risk our
lives ?"
I understood at once that he wanted to escape,
and was enraged.
"Take care, Schweyer," said I, "take care ! If
you and your boys go back, people will say that
you have been a traitor to the city brandy, and
that is worse than being a traitor to the flag, espe¬
cially in a cooper."
" The devil take thee !" said he, "we ought never
to have come."
However, he kept on ascending the hill with me.
128
THE BLOCKADE.
Nickel and Frantz followed us without hurry¬
ing.
When we reached the plateau we saw lights in the
village. All was still and seemed quiet, although
there was a great crowd around the two first houses.
The door of the Bunch of Grapes was wide open,
and its kitchen fire shone through the passage to
the street where my two wagons stood.
This crowd came from the Cossacks who were
carousing at Heitz's house, after tying their horses
under the shed. They had made Mother Heitz cook
them a good hot soup, and we saw them plainly,
two or three hundred paces distant, go up and down
the outside steps, with jugs and bottles which they
passed from one to another. The thought came to
rie that they were drinking my spirits of wine, for
a lantern hung behind the first wagon, and the ras¬
cals were all going from it with their elbows raised.
I was so furious that, regardless of danger, I began
to run to put a stop to the pillage.
Fortunately the veterans were in advance of me,
or I should have been murdered by the Cossacks ;
I had not gone half way when our whole troop
sprang from the fences of the highway, and ran like
a pack of wolves, crying out, "To the bayonet!"
You never saw such confusion, Fritz. In a second
the Cossacks were on their horses, and the veterans
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129
in the midst of tlicm ; the front of the inn with its
trellis, its pigeon-house, and its little fenced garden,
was lighted up by the firing of muskets and pistols,
lleitz's two daughters stood at the windows, with
their arms lifted and screamed so that they could
be heard all over Mittelbronn.
Every minute, in the midst of the confusion, some¬
thing fell upon the road, and then the horses started
and ran through the fields like deer, with their heads
run out, and their manes and tails flying. The vil¬
lagers ran ; Father Heitz slipped into the barn, and
climbed up the ladder, and I came up breathless, as
if out of my senses.
I had not gone more than fifteen steps when a
Cossack, who was running away at full speed,
turned about furiously close to me, with his lance
in the air, and called out, "Hurra!"
I had only time to stoop, and I felt the wind from
the lance as it passed along my body.
I never felt so in my life, Fritz ; I felt the chill
of death, that trembling of the flesh, of which the
prophet spoke: "Fear came upon me and trem¬
bling; the hair of my flesh stood up."
But what shows the spirit of wisdom and prudence
which the Lord puts into his creatures, when he
means to spare them for a good old age, is that im¬
mediately afterward, in spite of my trembling knees,
130
TI1E BLOCKADE.
I went and sat under the first wagon, where the
blows of the lances could not reach me; and there
I saw the veterans finish the extermination of the
rascals, who had retreated into the court, and not
one of whom escaped.
Five or six were in a heap before the door, and
three others were stretched upon the highway.
This did not take more than ten minutes; then
all was dark again, and I heard the sergeant call:
" Cease firing!"
Heitz, who had come down from his hay-loft, had
just lighted a lantern ; the sergeant seeing me under
the wagon, called out: "Are you wounded, Father
Moses ?"
"No," I replied, "but a Cossack tried to thrust
his lance into me, and I got into a safe place."
He laughed aloud, and gave me his hand to help
me to rise.
" Father Moses," said he, " I was frightened about
you. Wipe your back; people might think you
were not brave."
I laughed too, and thought: " People may think
what they please ! The great thing is to live ir.
good health as long as possible."
We had only one wounded, Corporal Duhem, an
old man, who bandaged his own leg, and tried to
walk. He had had a blow from a lance in the right
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131
calf. He was placed on the first wagon, and Lehnel,
Ileitz's granddaughter, came and gave him a drop
of cherry-brandy, which at once restored his
strength and even his good spirits.
" It is the fifteenth," he exclaimed. " I am in for
a week at the hospital; but leave me the bottle for
the compresses."
I was delighted to see my twelve pipes on the
wagons, for Schweyer and his two boys had rut!
away, and without their help we could hardly have
reloaded.
I tapped at once at the bung-hole of the hindmost
cask to find out how much was missing. Those
scamps of Cossacks had already drunk nearly half
a measure of spirits; Father Ileitz told me that
some of them scarcely added a drop of water. Such
creatures must have throats of tin ; the oldest topers
among us could not bear a glass of three-six without
being upset.
At last all was ready and we had only to return
to the city. When I think of it, it all seems before
me now : Heitz's large dapple-gray horses going out
of the stable one by one; the sergeant standing by
the dark door with his lantern in his hand, and call¬
ing out, " Come, hurry up ! The rascals may come
back!" On the road in front of the inn, the vet¬
erans surrounded the wagons; further on the ri^ht
132
THE BLOCKADE.
some peasants, who had hastened to the scene with
pitchforks and mattocks, were looking at the dead
Cossacks, and myself, standing on the stairs above,
singing praises to (Hod in my heart as I thought
how glad Sorle and Zeffen and little Safel would be
to see me come back with our goods.
And then when all is ready, when the little bells
jingle, when the whip snaps, and we start on the
way—what delight!
Ah Fritz ! everything looks bright after thirty
years; we forget fears, anxieties, and fatigues; but
the memory of good men and happy hours remains
with us forever!
The veterans, on both sides of the wagons, with
their muskets under their arms, escorted my twelve
pipes as if they were the tabernacle ; Ileitz led the
horses, and the sergeant and I walked behind.
"Well, Father Moses !" said he laughing, "it has
all gone off well; are you satisfied?"
" More than I can possibly tell, sergeant! What
would have been my ruin will make the fortune of
my family, and we owe it all to you."
"Go along," said he, " you are^king."
He laughed, but I felt deeply; to have been in
danger of losing everything, and then to regain it
all and make profit out of it—it makes one feel
deeply
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133
I exclaimed inwardly: "I will praise thee, O
Lord, among the people; and I will sing praises
unto thee among the nations.
"For thy mercy is great above the heavens, and
thy truth reacheth unto the clouds."
XI.
FATHER MOSES RETURNS IN TRIUMPH.
Now I must tell you about our return to Plials-
burg.
You may suppose that my wife and children, after
seeing me take my gun and go away, were in a state
of great anxiety. About five o'clock Sorle went out
with Zetfen to try to learn what was going on, and
only then they heard that I had started for Mittel-
bronn with a detachment of veterans.
Imagine their terror!
The rumor of these extraordinary proceedings
had spread through the city, and quantities of
people were on the bastion of the artillery barracks,
looking on from the distance. Burguet was. there,
with the mayor, and other persons of distinction,
and a number of women and children, all trying to
see through the darkness. Some insisted that Moses
marched with the detachment, but nobody would
T1IE BLOCKADE.
135
believe it, and Burguet exclaimed: "It is not pos¬
sible that a sensible man like Moses would go and
risk his life in fighting Cossacks—no, it is not
possible!"
If I had been in his place I should have said the
same of him. But what can you do, Fritz? The
most prudent of men become blind when their
property is at stake; blind, I say, and terrible, for
they lose sight of danger.
This crowd was waiting, as I said, and soon Zeffen
and Sorle came, as pale as death, with their large
shawls over their heads. They went up the rampart
and stood there, with their feet in the snow, too
much frightened to speak.
I learned these things afterward.
When Zeffen and her mother went up on the
bastion, it was, perhaps, half-past five ; there was
not a star to be seen. Just at that time, Schweyer
and his boys ran away, and five minutes later the
skirmish began.
Burguet told me afterward that, notwithstanding
the darkness and the distance, they saw the flash of
the muskets around the inn as plainly as if tlier
were a hundred paces off, and everybody was still
and listened to hear the shots, which were repeated
by the echoes of the Bois-de-chenes and Lutzcl-
burg.
x.
136
THE BLOCKADE.
When they ©cased Sorle descended from the slope,
leaning on Ze Sen's arm, for she could not support
herself. Burguet helped them to reach the street,
and took them into old Frise's house on the corner,
where they found him warming himself gloomily by
his hearth.
"My last day has come !" said Sorle. Zeffen
wept bitterly.
I have often reproached myself for having caused
this sorrow, but who can answer for his own wis¬
dom ? lias not the wise man himself said : "I turned
myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly;
and I saw that wisdom excelleth folly ; and I myself
perceived that one event happeneth to the wise
man and the fool. Wherefore, I said in my heart,
that wisdom also is vanity."
Burguet was going out from father Frise's when
Schweyer and his sons came up the postern stairs,
crying out that we were surrounded by Cossacks
and lost. Fortunately my wife and daughter could
not hear them, and the mayor soon came along and
ordered them to stop talking and go home quickly,
if they did not want to be sent to prison.
They obeyed, but that did not prevent people
from believing what they said, especially as it was
all dark again in the direction of Mittelbronn.
The crowd came down from the ramparts and
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137
filled the street; many of them went to their homes
thinking they should never see us again, when, just
as the clock struck seven, the. sentinel of the out¬
works called out, " Who goes there ?"
We had reached the gate.
The crowd was soon on the ramparts again. The
squad in front of the sergeant on duty flew to arms ;
they had just recognized us.
We heard the murmur, without knowing what it
was. So, when, after a reconnoissance, the gates
were slowly opened to us, and the two bridges
lowered for us to pass, what was our surprise at
hearing the shouts: "Hurrah for Father Moses!
Hurrah for the spirits of wine !"
The tears came to my eyes. And my wagons
rolling heavily under the gates, the soldiers pre¬
sented arms to us, the great crowd surrounding us,
shouting : " Moses ! Hey, Moses ! are you all right ?
you have not been killed ?" the shouts of laughter,
the people seizing my arm to hear me tell about the
fight,—all these things were very pleasant.
Everybody wanted to talk with me, even the
mayor, and I had not time to answer them.
But all this was nothing compared with the joy I
felt at seeing Sorle, Zeffen, and little Safel run from
Father Frise's and throw themselves all at once into
my arms, exclaiming: " He is safe ! he is safe!"
138
THE BLOCKADE.
Ah, Fritz ! what are honors by the side of such
love? What is all the glory of the world com¬
pared with the joy of seeing our beloved ones ?
The others might have cried out, " Hurrah for
Moses!" a hundred years, and I would not even
have turned my head ; but I was terribly moved by
the sight of my family.
I gave Safel my gun, and while the wagons, es¬
corted by the veterans, went on toward the little
market, I led Zeffen and Sorle through the crowd to
old Frise's, and there, when we were alone, we
began to hug each other again.
Without, the shouts of joy were redoubled ; you
would have thought that the spirits of wine belonged
to the whole city. But within the room, my wife
and daughter burst into tears, and I confessed my
imprudence.
So, instead of telling them of the dangers I had
experienced, I told them that the Cossacks ran away
as soon as they saw us, and that we had only to put
horses to the wagons before starting.
O O
A quarter of an hour afterward, when the cries
and tumult had ceased, I went out, with Zeffen and
Sorle on my arms, and little Safel in front, with my
gun on his shoulder, and in this way we went home,
to see to the unlading of the brandy.
I wanted to put everything in order before morn-
TEE BLOCKADE.
139
ing, so as to begin to sell at double price as soon as
possible.
When a man runs such risks he ought to make
something by it; for if he should sell at cost price,
as some persons "wish, nobody would be willing to
run any risk for the sake of others; and if it should
come to pass that a man should sacrifice himself for
other people, he would be thought a blockhead ; we
have seen it a hundred times, and it will always
be so.
Thank God ! such ideas never entered into my
head ! I have always thought that the true idea of
trade was to make as much profit as we can, honestly
and lawfully.
That is according to justice and good sense.
As we turned at the corner of the market, our two
wagons were already unharnessed before our house.
Heitz was running back with his horses, so as to
take advantage of the open gates, and the veterans,
with their arras at will, were going up the street
toward the infantry quarters.
It might have been eight o'clock. Zeffen and
Sorle went to bed, and I sent Safel for Gros the
cooper, to come and unload the casks. Quantities
of people came and offered to help us. Gros came
soon with his boys, and the work began.
It is very pleasant, Fritz, to see great tuns going
140
THE BLOCKADE.
into your cellar, and to say to yourself, "These
splendid tuns are mine: it is spirits which cost me
twenty sous the quart, and which I am going to sell
for three francs!" This shows the beauty of trade;
but everybody can imagine the pleasure for himself
—there is no use in speaking of it.
About midnight my twelve pipes were down on
the stands, and there was nothing left to do but to
broach them.
While the crowd was dispersing, I engaged Gros
to come in the morning to help me mix the spirits
with water, and we went up, well pleased with our
day's work. We closed the double oak door, and I
fastened the padlock and went to bed.
What a pleasure it is to own something and feel
that it is all safe !
This is how my twelve pipes were saved.
You see now, Fritz, what anxieties and fears we
had at that time. Nobody was sure of anything;
for you must not suppose that I was the only one
living like a bird on the branch ; there were hun¬
dreds of others who were not able to close their eyes.
You should have seen how the citizens looked every
morning, when they heard that the Austrians and
Ilussians occupied Alsace, that the Prussians were
marching upon Sarrebruek, or when an order was
published for domiciliary visits, or for days' labor to
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141
wall up tlie posterns and orillons of the place, or to
form companies of firemen to remove at once all in¬
flammable matter, or to report to the governor the
situation of the city treasury, and the list of the
principal persons subject to taxes for the supply of
shoes, caps, bed-linen, and so forth.
You should have seen how people looked at each
other.
In war times civil life is nothing, and they will
take from you your last shirt, giving you the gov¬
ernor's receipt for it. The first men of the land are
zeros when the governor has spoken. This is why
I have often thought that everybody who wishes
for war, or at least wants to be a soldier, is either
demented or half ruined, and hopes to better himself
by the ruin of everybody else. It must be so.
But notwithstanding all these troubles, I could
not lose time, and I spent all the next day in mixing
my spirits. 1 took otf my cloak, and drew out with
great gusto. Gros and his boys brought jugs, and
emptied them in the casks which I had bought be¬
forehand, so that by evening these casks were brim¬
ful of good white brandy, eighteen degrees.
I had caramel prepared, also, to give the brandy
a good color of old cognac, and when I turned the
faucet, and raised the glass before the candle, and
saw that it was exactly the right tint, I was in
142
THE BLOCKADE.
ecstacies, and exclaimed Give strong drink unto
him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those
that be of heavy hearts ! Let liim drink and remem¬
ber his misery no more."
Father Gros, standing at my side on his great flat
feet, smiled quietly, and his boys looked well pleased.
I filled the glass for them ; they passed it to each
other and were delighted with it.
About live o'clock we went upstairs. Safe], on
the same day, had brought three workmen, and had
them remove our old iron into the court under the
shed. The old rickety storehouse was cleaned.
Desmarets, the joiner, put up some shelves behind
the door in the arch, for holding bottles, and glasses,
and tin measures, when the time for selling should
come, and his son put together the planks of the
counter. This was all done at once, as at a time of
great pressure, when people like to make a good sura
of money quickly.
I looked at it all with a good deal of satisfaction.
Zeft'en, with her baby in her arms, and Sorle, had
also come down. I showed my wife the place be¬
hind the counter, and said, " That is the place where
you are to sit, with your feet in loose slippers, and a
warm tippet on your shoulders, and sell our brand v."
She smiled as she thought of it.
Our neighbors, Bailly the armorer, Kofl'el the little
TEE BLOCKADE.
143
weaver, and several others, came and looked on
without speaking; they were astonished to see what
quick work we were making.
At six o'clock, just as Desmarets laid aside his
hammer, the sergeant arrived in great glee, on his
return from the cantine.
" Well, Father Moses!" he exclaimed, "the work
goes on ! But there is still something wanting."
" What is that, sergeant ?"
"Hi! It is all right, only you must put a screen
up above, or look out for the shells!"
I saw that he was right, and we were all well
frightened, except the neighbors, who laughed to
see our surprise.
" Yes," said the sergeant, " we must have it."
This took away all my pleasure; I saw that our
troubles were not yet at an end.
Sorle, Zeffen, and I went up, while Desmarets
closed the door. Supper was ready; we sat down
thoughtfully, and little Safel brought the keys.
The noise had ceased without; now and then a
citizen on patrol passed by.
The sergeant came to smoke his pipe as usual.
He explained how the screens were made, by cross¬
ing beams in the form of a sentry-box, the two sides
supported against the gables, but while he main¬
tained that it would hold like an arch, I did not
144
TEE BLOCKADE.
think it strong enough, and I saw hy Sorle's face
that she thought as I did.
We sat there talking till ten o'clock, and then all
went to bed.
XII.
the enemy repulsed.
About one o'clock in the morning of the sixth of
January, the day of the feast of the Kings, the enemy
arrived on the hill of Saverne.
Tt was terribly cold, our windows under the per¬
siennes were white with frost. I woke as the clock
struck one ; they were beating the call at the infantry
barracks.
You can have no idea how it sounded in the silence
of the night.
" Dost thou hear, Moses ?" whispered Sorle.
"Yes, I hear," said I, almost without breath¬
ing.
After a minute some windows were opened in our
street, and we knew that others too were listening;
then we heard running, and suddenly the cry, " To
arms ! to arms!"
It made one's hair stand on end.
7
THE BLOCKADE.
I had just risen, and was lighting a lamp, when wo
heard two knocks at our door.
"Come in !" said Soile, trembling.
The sergeant opened the door, lie was in march¬
ing equipments, with his gaiters on his legs, his large
gray cap turned up at the sides, his musket on his
shoulder, and his sabre and cartridge-box on his
back.
" Father Moses," said he, "go back to bed and
be quiet: it is the battalion call at the barracks, and
has nothing to do with you."
And we saw at once that he was right, for the
drums did not come up the street two by two, as
when the national guard was called in.
" Thank you, sergeant." 1 said.
" Go to sleep 1" said he, and he went down the
stairs.
The door of the alley below slammed to. Then the
children, who had waked up, began to cry. Zeti'en
came in, very pale, with her baby in her arms,
exclaiming, "Mercy ! What is the matter?"
" It is nothing, Zeffen," said Sorle. " It is nothing,
my child : they are beating the call for the soldiers."
At the same moment the battalion came down the
main street. We heard them march as far as to the
Place d'Armes, and beyond it toward the German
gate.
THE BLOCKADE.
147
We shut the windows, Zeffen went back to her
room, and I lay down again.
But how could I sleep after such a start ? My
head was full of a thousand thoughts : I fancied the
arrival of the Russians on the hill this cold night,
and our soldiers marching to meet them, or manning
the ramparts. I thought of all the blindages and
block-houses, and batteries inside the bastions, and
that all these great works had been made to guard
against bombs and shells, and 1 exclaimed inwardly:
'■ Before the enemy has demolished all these works,
our houses will be crushed, and we shall be exter¬
minated to the last man."
I took on in this way for about half an hour,
thinking of all the calamities which threatened us,
when I heard outside the city, toward Quatre-Vents,
a kind of heavy rolling, rising and falling like the
murmur of running water. This was repeated every
second. I raised myself on my elbow to listen, and
I knew that it was a fight far more terrible than
that at Mittelbronn, for the rolling did not stop,
but seemed rather to increase.
" How they are fighting, Sorle, how they are
fighting!" I exclaimed, as I pictured to myself the
fury of those men murdering each other at the dead
of night, not knowing what they were doing. " Listen !
Sorle, listen ! If that does not make one shudder!"
148
THE BLOCKADE.
" Yes," said she. "I hope our sergeant will not
be wounded; I hope lie will come back safe !"
" May the Lord watch over him!" I replied,
jumping from my bed, and lighting a candle.
I could not control myself. I dressed myself as
quickly as if I were going to run away; and after¬
ward I listened to that terrible rolling, which came
nearer or died away with every gust of wind.
"When once dressed, I opened a window, to try to
see something. The street was still black; but
toward the ramparts, above the dark line of the
arsenal bastions, was stretched a line of red.
The smoke of powder is red on account of the
musket shots which light it up. It looked like a
great fire. All the windows in the street were
open : nothing could be seen, but I heard our neigh¬
bor the armorer say to his wife, "It is growing
warm down there ! It is the beginning of the dance,
Annette; but they have not got the big drum yet;
that will come, by and by !"
The woman did not answer, and I thought, "Is it
possible to jest about such things! It is against
nature."
The cold was so severe that after five or six
minutes I shut the window. Sorle got up and made
a fire in the stove.
The whole city was in commotion; men were
TIIE BLOCKADE.
149
shouting rind dogs harking. Stifel, who had been
wakened by all these noises, went to dress himself
in the warm room. I looked very tenderly on this
poor little one, his eyes still heavy with sleep ; and as
I thought that we were to be fired upon, that we must
hide ourselves in cellars, and all of us be in danger
of being killed for matters which did not concern
us, and about which nobody had asked our opinion,
I was full of indignation. But what distressed me
most was to hear Zeffen sob and say that it would
have been better for her and her children to stay
with Barueh at Saverne and all die together.
Then the words of the prophet came to me: "Is
not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the
uprightness of thy ways ?
" Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being
innocent, or where were the righteous cut off.
"No, they that plow iniquity and sow wicked¬
ness, reap the same.
" By the blast of God they perish, and by the
breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
"But thee, his servant, he shall redeem from death.
"Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like
as a shock of corn cometh in his season."
In this way I strengthened my heart, while I
heard the great tumult of the panic-stricken crowd,
running and trying to save their property.
150 THE BLOCKADE.
About seven o'clock it was announced that the
casemates were open, and that everybody might
take their mattresses there, and that there must be
tubs full of water in every house, and the wells left
open in case of fire.
'1 hink, Fritz, what ideas, these orders suggested.
Some of our neighbors, Lisbeth Dubourg, Bevel
Ruppert, Camus' daughters, and some others, came
up to us exclaiming, " We are all lost!"
Their husbands had gone out, right and left, to
see what they could see, and these women hung on
Zeffen and Sorle's necks, repeating again and again,
" Oh, dear! oh, dear! what misery !"
I could have wished them all to the devil, for in¬
stead of comforting us they only increased our fears :
but at such times women will get together and cry
out all at once ; you can't talk reason to them ; they
like these loud cryings and groanings.
Just as the clock struck eight, Bailly the armorer
came to find his wife : lie had come from the ramparts.
"The Russians," he said, "have come down in a
mass from Quatre- Vents to the very gate, filling the
whole plain—Cossacks, Baskirs, and rabble! Why
don't they fire down upon them from the ramparts?
The governor is betraying us."
" Where are our soldiers ?" I asked.
"Retreating!" exclaimed he. "The wounded
TIIE BLOCKADE.
151
came back two hours ago, and our men stay yonder,
with folded arms."
Ilis bony face shook with rage. He led away his
wife; then others came crying out, " The enemy has
advanced to the lower part of the gardens, upon
the glacis." I was astonished at these things.
The women had gone away to cry somewhere else,
and just then a great noise of wheels was heard from
the direction of the rampart. I looked out of the
window, and saw a wagon from the arsenal, some
citizen gunners; old Goulden, Holender, Jacob Clou-
tier, and Barrier galloped at its sides; Captain Jovis
ran in front. They stopped at our door.
" Call the iron-merchant!" cried the captain.
"Tell him to come down."
Baker Chanoine, the brigadier of the second bat¬
tery, caine up. I opened the door.
" What do you want of me ?" I asked in the
stairway.
" Come down, JVIoses," said Chanoine. And I
went down.
Captain Jovis, a tall old man, with his face cov¬
ered with sweat, in spite of the cold, said to me,
"You are Moses, the iron-merchant?"
Yes, sir."
"Open your storehouse. Your iron is required
for the defence of the city."
152
TIIE BLOCKADE.
So I had to load all these people into my court,
under the shed. The captain on looking round, saw
some cast-iron Lars, which were used at that time
for closing up the backs of lire-places. They weighed
from thirty to forty pounds each, and I sold a good
many in the vicinity of the city. There was no lack
of old nails, rusty bolts, and old iron of all sorts.
" This is what we want," said he. "Break up
these bars, and take away the old iron, quick!"
The others, with the help of our two axes, began
at once to break up everything. Some of them filled
a basket with the pieces of cast-iron, and ran with it
to the wagon.
The captain looked at his watch, and said, "'Make
haste ! We have just ten minutes 1"
I thought to myself, " They have no need of credit;
they take what they please; it is more convenient."
All my bars and old iron were broken in pieces—
more than fifteen hundred pounds of iron.
As they were starting to run to the ramparts,
Chanoine laughed, and said to me, " Capital grape-
shot, Moses! Thou canst get ready thy pennies.
We'll come and take them to-morrow."
The wagon started through the crowd which ran
behind it, and I followed too.
As we came nearer the ramparts the firing became
more and more frequent. As we turned from tho
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153
curate's house two sentinels stopped everybody, but
they let me pass on account of my iron, which they
were going to fire.
You can never imagine that mass of people, the
noise around the bastion, the smoke which covered
it, the orders of the infantry officers whom we heard,
going up the glacis, the gunners, the lighted match,
caissons with the piles of bullets behind! No, in
all these thirty years I have not forgotten those men
with their levers, running back the cannon to load
them to their mouths ; those firings in file, at the
bottom of the ramparts; those volleys of balls
hissing in the air; the orders of the gun-captains,
"Load! Ram! Prime!"
What crowds upon those gun-carriages, seven
feet high, where the gunners were obliged to stand
and stretch their arms to fire the cannon ! And
what a frightful smoke !
Men invent such machines to destroy each other,
and they would think that they did a great deal if
they sacrificed a quarter as much to assist their
fellow-men, to instruct them in infancy, and to give
them a little bread in their old age.
Ah ! those who make an outcry against war, and
demand a different state of things, are not in the
wrong.
I was in the corner, at the left of the bastion,
1*
154
THE BLOCKADE.
where the stairs go down to the postern behind the
college, among three or four willow baskets as high
as chimneys, and filled with clay. I ought to have
stayed there quietly, and made use of the right
moment to get away, but the thought seized me
that I would go and see what was going on below
the ramparts, and while they were loading the can¬
non, I climbed to the level of the glacis, and lay
down flat between two enormous baskets, where
there was scarcely a chance that balls could reach
me.
If hundreds of others who were killed in the
bastions had done as I did. how many of them
might be still living, respectable fathers of families
in their villages!
Lying in this place, and raising my nose, I could
see over the whole plain. I saw the cordon of the
rampart below, and the line of our skirmishers be¬
hind the palankas, on the other side of the moat ;
they did nothing but tear off their cartridges, prime,
charge, and fire. There one could appreciate the
beauty of drilling ; there were only two companies
of them, and their firing by file kept up an incessant
roll.
Further on, directly to the right, stretched the
road to Quatre-Vents. The Ozillo farm, the ceme¬
tery, the horse-post-stalion, and George Mouton's
THE BLOCKADE.
155
farm at the right; the inn of La Roulette and the
great poplar-walk at the left, all were full of Cos¬
sacks, and such like rascals, who were gallopping
into the very gardens, to reconnoitre the environs
of the place. This is what I suppose, for it is
against nature to run without an object, and to risk
being struck by a ball.
These people, mounted on small horses, with large
gray cloaks, soft boots, fox-skin caps, like those of
the Baden peasants, long beards, lances in rest,
great pistols in their belts, came whirling on like
birds.
They had not been fired upon as yet, because
they kept themselvto scattered, so that bullets
would have no effect; but their trumpets sounded
the rally from La Roulette, and they began to col¬
lect behind the buildings of the inn.
About thirty of our veterans, who had been kept
back in the cemetery lane, were making a slow
retreat; they made a few paces, at the same time
hastily reloading, then turned, shouldered, fired,
and began marching again among the hedges and
bushes, which there had not been time to cut down
in this locality.
Our sergeant was one of these ; I recognized him
at once, and trembled for him.
Every time these veterans gave fire, five six
TI1E BLOCKADE.
Cossacks came on like the wind, with their lances
lowered; but it did not frighten them: they leaned
against a tree and levelled their bayonets. Other
veterans came up, and then some loaded, while
others parried the blows. Scarcely had they torn
open their cartridges when the Cossacks fled right
and left, their lances in the air. Some of them
turned for a moment and fired their large pistols
behind like regular bandits. At length our men
began to march toward the city.
Those old soldiers, with their great shakos set
square on their heads, their large capes hanging to
the back of their calves, their sabres and cartridge-
boxes on their backs, calm in the midst of these
savages, reloading, trimming, and parrying as
quietly as if they were smoking their pipes in the
guard-house, were something to be admired. At
last, after seeing them come out of the whirlwind
two or three times, it seemed almost an easy thing
to do.
Our sergeant commanded them. I understood
then why he was such a favorite with the officers,
and why they always took his part against the citi¬
zens ; there were not many such. I wanted to call
out, - Make haste, sergeant; let us make haste!"
but neither he nor his men hurried in the least.
As they reached the foot of the glacis, suddenly a
THE BLOCKADE.
157
large mass of Cossacks, seeing that they were escap¬
ing, galloped up in two files, to cut off their retreat.
It was the dangerous moment, and they formed in
a square instantly.
I felt my back turn cold, as if I had been one of'
them.
Our sharpshooters behind the ammunition wagons
did not fire, doubtless for fear of hitting their com¬
rades ; our gunners on the bastion leaned down to
see, and the file of Cossacks stretched to the corner
near the drawbridge.
There were seven or eight hundred of them. We
heard them cry, " Hurra ! hurra! hurra !" like crows.
Several officers in green cloaks and small caps gal¬
loped at the sides of their lines, with raised sabres.
I thought our poor sergeant and his thirty men
were lost; I thought already, "How sorry little
Safel and Sorle will be!"
But then, as the Cossacks formed in a half circle
at the left of the outworks, I heard our gun-captain
call out, " Fire !"
I turned my head ; old Goulden struck the match, ■
the fusee glittered, and at the same instant the
bastion with its great baskets of clay shook to the
very rocks of the rampart.
I looked toward the road ; nothing was to be
seen but men and horses on the ground.
i:> s
THE BLOCKADE.
Just then came a second shot, and I can
truly say that I saw the grapes-hot pass like the
stroke of a scythe into that mass of cavalry; it
all tumbled and fell; those who a second before
were living beings were now nothing. We saw
some try to raise themselves, the rest made theii
escape.
The firing by file began again, and our gunners,
without waiting for the smoke to clear away, re¬
loaded so quickly that the two discharges seemed
to come at once.
This mass of old nails, bolts, broken bits of cast-
iron, flying three hundred metres, almost to the
little bridge, made such slaughter that, some days
after, the Russians asked for an armistice in order
to bury their dead.
Four hundred were found scattered in the ditches
of the road.
This I saw myself.
And if you want to see the place where those
savages were buried, you have only to go up the
cemetery lane.
On the other side, at the right, in M. Adam Ot-
tendorfs orchard, you will see a stone cross in the
middle of the fence ; they were all buried there,
with their horses, in one great trench.
You can imagine the delight of our gunners at
THE BLOCKADE.
Ij'J
seeing this massacre. They lifted up their sponges
and shouted, "Vive i'Empereur !"
The soldiers shouted back from the covered ways,
and the air was filled with their cries.
Our sergeant, with his thirty men, their guns on
their shoulders, quietly reached the glacis. The
barrier was quickly opened for them, but the two
companies descended together to the moat and came
up again by the postern.
I was waiting for them above.
"When our sergeant came up I took him by the
arm, " Ah, sergeant!" said I, " how glad I am to see
you out of danger !"
I wanted to embrace him. He laughed and
squeezed my hand.
"Then you saw the engagement, Father Moses!"
said he, with a mischievous wink. " Wre have shown
them what stutf the Fifth is made of!"
" Oh, yes ! yes ! you have made me tremble."
"Bah!" said he, "you will see a good deal more
of it; it is a small affair."
The two companies reformed against the wall of
the chemin de ronde, and the whole city shouted,
" Vive I'Empereur!"
They went down the rampart street in the midst
of the crowd. I kept near our sergeant.
As the detachment was turning our corner, Sorle,
1G0
THE BLOCKADE.
Zeffen, and Safel called out from the windows:
" Hurrah for the veterans ! Hurrah for the Fifth !"
The sergeant saw them and made a little sign to
them with his head. As I was going in I said to
him, " Sergeant, don't forget your glass of cherry-
brandy."
" Don't worry, Father Moses," said he.
The detachment went on to break ranks at the
Place d'Armes as usual, and I went up home at a
quarter to four. I was scarcely in the room before
Zeffen, Sorle, and Safel threw their arms round me
as if I had come back from the war; little David
clung to my knee, and they all wanted to know the
news.
I had to tell them about the attack, the grape-
shot, the routing of the Cossacks. But the table
was ready. I had not had my breakfast, and I said,
"Let us sit down. You shall hear the rest by-and-
bye. Let me take breath."
Just then the sergeant entered in fine spirits, and
set the butt-end of his musket on the floor. We
were going to meet him when we saw a tuft of red
hair on the point of his bayonet, that made us tremble.
"Mercy, what is that?" said Zeflen, covering her
face.
He knew nothing about it, and looked to see,
much surprised.
THE BLOCKADE.
161
" That ?" said he, " Oh ! it is the beard of a Cos¬
sack that I touched as I passed him—it is not much
of anything."
lie took the musket at once to his own room; but
we were all horror-struck, and Zeffen could not re¬
cover herself. When the sergeant came back she
was still sitting in the arm-chair, with both hands
before her face.
"Ah, Madame Zeffen," said he sadly, "now you
are going to detest me !"
I thought, too, that Zeffen would be afraid of him,
but women always like these men who risk their
lives at random. I have seen it a hundred times.
And Zeffen smiled as she answered: "JSio, sergeant,
no; these Cossacks ought to stay at home and not
come and trouble us ! You protect us—we love you
very much !"
I persuaded him to breakfast with us, and it
ended by his opening a window, and calling out to
some soldiers passing by to give notice at the can-
tine that Sergeant Trubert was not coming to break¬
fast.
So we were all calmed down, and seated ourselves
at the table. Sorle went down to get a bottle of
good wine, and we began to eat our breakfast.
We had coffee, too, and Zeffen wanted to pour it
out herself for the sergeant. He was delighted.
1G2
THE BLOCKADE.
" Madame Zeffen," said lie, " you load me *\ itli
kindness !"
She laughed. We had never been happier.
While he was taking his cherry-brandy, the ser¬
geant told us all about the attack in the night; the
way in which the Wurtemberg troops had stationed
themselves at La Roulette, how it had been neces¬
sary to dislodge them as they were forcing open the
two large gates, the arrival of the Cossacks at day¬
break, and the sending out two companies to fire at
them.
lie told all this so well that we could almost think
we saw it. But about eleven o'clock, as I took up
the bottle to pour out another glassful, he wiped
his mustache, and said, as he rose: "Xo, Father
Moses, we have something to do besides taking our
ease and enjoying ourselves; to-morrow, or next
day, the ■shells will be coming; it is time to go and
screen the garret."
We all became sober at these words.
" Let us see!" said he; " I have seen in youi
court some long logs of wood which have not been
sawed, and there are three or four large beams
against the wall. Are we two strong enough to
carry them up ? Let us try !"
He was going to take off his cape at once; but,
as the beams were very heavy, I told him to wait
THE BLOCKADE.
163
and I would run for the two Carabins, Xicolas, who
was called the Greyhound, and Mathis, the wood-
sawyer. They came at once, and, being used to
heavy work, they carried up the timber. They had
brought their saws and axes with them; the ser¬
geant made them saw the beams, so as to cross
them above in the form of a sentry-box. He worked
himself like a regular carpenter, and Sorle, Zeffen.
and I looked on. As it took some time, my wife and
daughter went down to prepare supper, and I went
down with them, to get a lantern for the workmen.
I was going up again very quietly, never thinking
of danger, when, suddenly, a frightful noise, a kind
of terrible rumbling, passed along the roof, and
almost made me drop my lantern.
The two Carabins turned pale and looked at each
other.
" It is a ball !" said the sergeant.
At the same time a loud sound of cannon in the
distance was heard in the darkness.
I had a terrible feeling in my stomach, and I
thought to myself, " Since one ball has passed, there
may be two, three, four!"
My strength was all gone. The two Carabins
doubtless thought the same, for they took down at
once their waistcoats, which were hanging on the
gable, to go away.
164
TEE BLOCKADE.
" Wait!" said the sergeant. " It is nothing!
Let us keej) at our work—it is going on well. It
will be done in an hour more."
Hut the elder Carabin called out, "You may do
as you please! I am not going to stay here—I
have a family !"
And while he was speaking, a second ball, more
frightful than the first, began to rumble upon the
roof, and five or six seconds after we heard the
explosion.
It was astonishing ! The Russians were firing
from the edge of the Bois-de-Chenes, more than a
half-hour distant, and yet we saw the red flash pass
before our two windows, and even under the tiles.
The sergeant tried to keep us still at work.
"Two bullets never pass in the same place," said
he. "We are in a safe spot, since that has grazed
the roof. Come, let us go to work !"
It was too Ttiuch for us. I placed the lantern on
the floor and went down, feeling as if my thighs
were broken. I wanted to sit down at every
step.
Out of doors they were shouting as if it were
morning, and in a more frightful way. Chimneys
were falling, and women running to the windows;
but I paid no attention -to it, I was so frightened
myself.
THE BLOCKADE.
165
The two Carabins had gone away paler than
death.
All that night I was ill. Sorle and Zeffen were
no more at ease than myself. The sergeant kept on
alone, placing the logs and making them fast.
About midnight he came down.
"Father Moses," said he, "the roof is screened,
but your two men are cowards; they left me alone."
I thanked him, and told him that we were all
sick, and as for myself I had never felt anything
like it. He laughed.
" I know what that is," said he. " Conscripts
always feel so when they hear the first ball; but
that is soon over—they only need to get a little
used to it."
Then he went to bed, and everybody in the house,
except myself, went to sleep.
The Russians did not fire after ten o'clock that
night; they had only tried one or two field-pieces,
to warn us of what they had in store.
All this, Fritz, was but the beginning of the
blockade; you are going to hear now of the miser¬
ies we endured for three months.
Am.
a deserter captured.
The city wasjoyful the next day, notwithstanding
the firing in the night. A number of men who came
from the ramparts about seven o'clock, came down
our street shouting : " They are gone! There is not
a single Cossack to be seen in the direction of
Quatre-Vents, nor behind the barracks of the Bois-
de-Chenes! Vive V Empereur /"
Everybody ran to the bastions.
I had opened one of our windows, and leaned out
in my nightcap. It was thawing, the snow was
sliding from the roofs, and that in the streets was
melting in the mud. Sorle, who was turning up our
bed. called to me: "Do shut the window, Moses!
We shall catch cold from the draught!"
But I did not listen. I laughed as I thought:
" Tire rascals have had enough of my old bars and
rusty nails; they have found out that they fly a good
way : experience is a good thing !"
THE BLOCKADE.
167
I could have stayed there till night to hear the
neighbors talk about the clearing away of the Rus¬
sians, and those who came from the ramparts declar¬
ing that there was not one to be seen in the whole
region. Some said that they might come back, but
that seemed to me contrary to reason. It was clear
that the villains would not quit the country at once,
that they would still for a long time pillage the vil¬
lages, and live on the peasants ; but to believe that
the officers would excite their men to take our city,
or that the soldiers would be foolish enough to obey
them, never entered my head.
At last Zeffen came into our room to dress the
children, and I shut the window. A good lire
roared in the stove. Sorle made ready our break¬
fast, while Zeffen washed her little Esdras in a basin
of warm water.
"Ah, now, if I could only hear from Baruch, it
would all be well," said she.
Little David played on the floor with Safel, and I
thanked the Lord for having delivered us from the
scoundrels.
While we were at breakfast, I said to my wife :
"It has all gone Avell! We shall be shut up for a
while until the Emperor has carried the day, but
they will not fire upon us, they will be satisfied with
blockading us ; and bread, wine, meats,and brandies,
168
THE BLOCKADE.
will grow dearer. It is the right time for us to sell,
or else we might fare like the people of Samaria
when Ben-Hadad besieged their city. There was a
great famine, so that the head of an ass sold for
four-score pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a
cab of dove's-dung for five pieces. It was a good
price; but still the merchants were holding back,
when a noise of chariots and horses and of a great
host came from heaven, and made the Syrians
escape with Ben-IIadad, and after the people had
pillaged their camp, a measure of fine flour sold for
only a shekel, and two measures of barley for a
shekel. So let us try to sell while things are at
a reasonable price; we must begin in good sea¬
son."
Sorle assented, and after breakfast I went down to
the cellar to go on with the mixing.
Many of the mechanics had gone back to their
work. Klipfel's hammer sounded on his anvil.
Chanoine put back his rolls into his windows, and
Tribolin, the druggist, his bottles of red and blue
water behind his panes.
Confidence was restored everywhere. The citizen-
gunners had taken off their uniforms, and the joiners
had come back to finish our counter; the noise of
the saw and plane filled the house.
Everybody was glad to return to his own business,
THE BLOCKADE.
169
for Avar brings nothing but harm ; the sooner it is
over the better.
As I carried my jugs from one tun to another, i>n
the cellar, I saw the passers-by stop before our old
shop, and heard them say to each other, "Moses is
going to make his fortune with the brandy ; these
rascals of Jews always have good scent; while we
have been selling this month past, he has been buy¬
ing. Now that we are shut up he can sell at any
price he pleases."
You can judge whether that Avas not pleasant to
hear ! A man's greatest happiness is to succeed in
his business; everybody is obliged to say: "This
man has neither army, nor generals, nor cannon, he
has nothing but his own wit, like everybody else ;
when he succeeds he owes it to himself, and not to
the courage of others. And then he ruins no one;
he does not rob, or steal, or kill; Avhile, in war, the
strongest crushes the weakest and often the best."
So I worked on with great zeal, and would have
kept on till night if little Safel had not come to call
me to dinner. I was hungry, and Avas going up¬
stairs, glad in the thought of sitting down in the
midst of my children, when the call-beat began on
the Place d'Armes, before the town-house. During
a blockade a court-martial sits continually at the
mayoralty to try those who do not answer to the
8
170
THE BLOCKADE.
call. Some of my neighbors were already leaving
their houses with their muskets 011 their shoulders.
I had to go up very hastily, and swallow a little
soup, a morsel of meat, and a glass of wine.
I was very pale. Sorle, Zeffen, and the children
said not a word. The drum corps continued the
call to arms; it came down the main street and
stopped at last before our house, 011 the little square.
Then I ran for my cartridge-box and musket.
"Ah!" said Sorle, "we thought we were going
to have a quiet time, and now it is all beginning
again."
Zeifen did not speak, but burst into tears.
At that moment the old rabbi Ileymann came in,
with his old martin-skin cap drawn down to the
nape of his neck.
"For heaven's sake let the women and children
hurry to the casements! An envoy has come
threatening to burn the whole city if the gates are
not opened. Fly, Sorle ! Zeffen, fly !"
Imagine the cries of the women on hearing this;
as for myself, my hair stood 011 end.
"The rascals have 110 shame in them!" I ex¬
claimed ! " They have no pity 011 women or chil¬
dren ! May the curse of heaven fall on them !"
Zeffen threw herself into my arms. I did not
know what to do.
THE BLOCK AVE.
171
But the old rabbi said : " They are doing to us
what our people have done to them ! So the words
of the Lord are fulfilled : ' As thou hast done unto
thy brother so shall it be done unto thee!'—But,
you must fly quickly."
Below, the call-beat had ceased; my knees
trembled. Sorle, who never lost courage, said to
me : " Moses, run to the square, make haste, or they
will send you to prison !"
Iler judgment was always right; she pushed me
by the shoulders, and in spite of Zeffen's tears 1
went down, calling out : " Rabbi, I trust in you—
save them!"
I could not see clearly; I went through the snow,
miserable man that I was, running to the town-
house where the national guard was already as¬
sembled. I came just in time to answer the call,
and you can imagine my trouble, for Zeffen, Sorle,
Safel, and the little ones were abandoned before my
eyes. What was Phalsburg to me ? I would have
opened the gates in a minute to have had peace.
The others did not look any better pleased than
myself; they were all thinking of their families.
Our governor, Moulin, Lieutenant-Colonel Bran¬
don, and Captains Remove, Yigneron, Grebillet,
with their great military caps put on crosswise,
these alone felt no anxiety. They would have mur-
172 THE BLOCKADE.
dered and burnt everything for the Emperor. The
governor even laughed, and said that he would
surrender the city when the shells set his pocket-
handkerchief on tire. Judge from this, how much
sense such a being had !
While they were reviewing us, groups of the aged
and infirm, of women and children, passed across the
square on their way to the casemates.
I saw our little wagon go by with the roll of
coverings and mattresses on it. The old rabbi was
between the shafts—Safel pushed behind. Sorle
carried David, and Zeffen Esdras. They were
walking in the mud, with their hair loose as if they
were escaping from a fire; but they did not speak,
and went on silently in the midst of that great
trouble.
I would have given my life to go and help them
—I must stay in the ranks. Ah, the old men of
my time have seen terrible things ! How often have
they thought:—"Happy is he who lives alone in the
world ; he suffers only for himself, he does not see
those whom he loves weeping and groaning, without
the power to help them."
Immediately after the review, detachments of
citizen gunners were sent to the armories to man the
pieces, the firemen were sent to the old market to
get out the pumps, and the rest of us, with half a
THE BLOCKADE
173
battalion of the Sixth Light Infantry, were sent to
the guard-house on the square, to relieve the guards
and supply patrols.
The two other battalions had already gone to the
advance-posts of Trois-Maisons, of La Fontaine-du-
Chateau,—to the block-houses, the half moons, the
Ozillo farm, and the Maisons-Iiouges, outside of the
city.
Our post at the mayoralty consisted of thirty-two
men; sixteen soldiers of the line below, commanded
by Lieutenant Schnindret, and sixteen of the national
guard above, commanded by Desplaces Jacob. We
used Ilurrhus' lodging for our guard-house. It was
a large hall with six-inch planks, and beams such as
you do not find now-a-days in our forests. A large,
round, cast-iron stove, standing on a slab four feet
square, was in the left-hand corner, near the door;
the zigzag pipes went into the chimney at the right,
and piles of wood covered the floor.
It seems as if I were now in that hall. The melted
snow which we shook oft' on entering; ran along; the
O ~
floor. I have never seen a sadder day than that;
not only because the bombshells and balls might
rain upon us at any moment, and set everything on
fire, but because of the melting snow, and the mud,
and the dampness which reached your very bones,
and the orders of the sergeant, who did nothing but
174 the blockade.
call out: "Such and such an one, march ! Such an
one forward, it is your turn !" etc.
And then the jests and jokes of this mass of tilers,
and cobblers, and plasterers, with their patched
blouses, shoes run down at the heel, and caps with¬
out visors, seated in a circle around the stove, with
their rags sticking to their backs, thoulng you like
all the rest of their beggarly race: " Moses, pass
along the pitcher ! Moses, give me some fire !—Ah,
rascals of Jews, when a body risks his life to save
property, how proud it makes them ! Ah, the vil¬
lains !" And they winked at each other, and pushed
each other's elbows, and made up facea askance.
Some of them wanted me to go and get some to¬
bacco lor them, and pay for it myself! In fine, all
sorts of insults, which a respectable man could
endure from the rabble !—Yes, it disgusts me when¬
ever I think of it.
In this guard-house, where we burned whole logs
of wood as if they were straw, the steaming old rags
which came in soaking wet did not smell very
pleasantly. I had to go out every minute to the
little platform behind the hall, in order to breathe,
and the cold water which the wind blew from the
spout sent me in again at once.
Afterward, in thinking it over, it has seemed as
if, without these troubles, my heart would have
THE BLOCKADE.
175
broker, at the thought of Sorle, Zeffen, and the
children shut up in a cellar, and that these very
annoyances preserved my reason.
This lasted till evening. We did nothing but go
in and out, sit down, smoke our pipes, and then
begin again to walk the pavement in the rain, or
remain on duty for hours together at the entrance
of the posterns.
Toward nine o'clock, when all was dark without,
and nothing was to be heard but the pacing of the
patrols, the shouts of the sentries on the ramparts:
" Sentries, attention !" and the steps of our men on
their rounds up and down the great wooden stair¬
way of the admiralty, the thought suddenly came
to me that the Russians had only tried to frighten
us, that it meant nothing ; and that there would be
no shells that night.
In order to be on good terms with the men, I had
asked Monborne's permission to go and get a jug
full of brandy, which he at once granted. I took
advantage of the opportunity to bite a crust and
drink a glass of wine at home. Then I went back,
and all the men at the station were very friendly;
they passed the jug from one to another, and said
that my brandy was very good, and that the ser¬
geant would give me leave to go and fill it as often
as I pleased.
17d
THE BLOCKADE.
"Yes, since it is Moses," replied Monborne, "be
may have leave, but nobody else."
We were all on excellent terms with each other,
and nobody thought of bombardment, when a red
flash passed along the high windows of the room.
We all turned round, and in a few seconds the shell
rumbled on the Tiigelberg hill. At the same time
a second, then a third flash passed, one after the
other, through the large dark room, showing us the
houses opposite.
You can never have an idea, Fritz, of those first
lights at night ! Corporal Winter, an old soldier,
who grated tobacco for Tribou, stooped down
quietly and lighted his pipe, and said : "Well, the
dance is beginning !"
Almost instantly we heard a shell burst at the
right in the infantry quarters, another at the left in
the 1'iplinger house on the square, and another
quite near us in the Ilemmerle house.
I can't help trembling as I think of it now after
thirty years.
All the women were in the casemates, ex¬
cept some old servants who did not want to
leave their kitchens; they screamed out: "Help!
Fire !"
We were all sure that we were lost ; only the old
soldiers, crooked on th ir bench by the stove, with
THE BLOCKADE.
177
tlieir pipes in their months, seemed very calm, as
people might who have nothing to lose.
What was worst of all, at the moment when our
cannon at the arsenal and powder-house began to
answer the Russians', and made every pane of glass
in the old building rattle, Sergeant Monborne called
out: " Somme, Chevreux, Moses, Dubourg: For¬
ward 1"
To send fathers of families roaming about through
the mud, in danger, at every step, of being struck
by bursting shells, tiles, and whole chimneys falling
on their backs, is something against nature; the
very mention of it makes me perfectly furious.
Somme and the big inn-keeper Chevreux turned ■
round, full of indignation also; they wanted to
exclaim : " It is abominable !"
But that rascal of a Monborne was sergeant, and
nobody dared speak a word or even give a side-
look; and as Winter, the corporal of the round, had
taken down his musket, and made a signal for us to
"■o on, we all took our arms and followed him.
O 7
As we went down the stairway, you should have
seen the red light, flash after flash, lighting up every
nook and corner under the stairs and the worm-
eaten rafters ; you should have heard our twenty-
four pounders thunder; the old rat-hole shook to
its foundations, and seemed as if it was all falling
8*
ITS
THE BLOCKADE.
to pieces. And under the arch below, towards the
place d'Armes, this light shone from the snow banks
to the tops of the roofs, showing the glittering
pavements, the puddles of water, the chimneys, and
dormer-windows, and, at the very end of the street,
the cavalry barracks, even the sentry in his box
near the large gate:—what a sight!
" It is all over ! We are all lost !" I thought.
Two shells passed at this moment over the city:
they were the first that I had seen ; they moved so
slowly that I could follow them through the dark
sky ; both fell in the trenches, behind the hospital.
The charge was too heavy, luckily for us.
I did not speak, nor did the others—we kept our
thoughts to ourselves. We heard the calls " Sen¬
tries, attention!" answered from one bastion to
another all around the place, warning us of the
terrible danger we were in.
Corporal Winter, with his old faded blouse, coarse
cotton cap, stooping shoulders, musket in shoulder-
belt, pipe-end between his teeth, and lantern full of
tallow swinging at arm's length, walked before us,
calling out: " Look out for the shells ! Lie flat
Do you hear ?"
I have always thought that veterans of this sort
despise citizens, and that he said this to frighten us
still more.
THE BLOCKADE.
179
A little farther on, at the entrance of the cul-de-
sac where Cloutier lived, he halted.
" Come on!" he called, for we marched in file
without seeing each other. When we had come up
to him he said, " There, now, you men, try to keep
together! Our patrol is to prevent fire from break¬
ing out anywhere; as soon as we see a shell pass,
Moses will run up and snatch the fuse."
He burst into a laugh as he spoke, so that my
anger was roused.
" I have not come here to be laughed at," said I;
if you take me for a fool, I will throw down my
musket and cartridge-box, and go to the case¬
mates."
He laughed harder than ever. " Moses, respect
thy superiors, or beware of the court-martial!" said
he.
The others would have laughed too, but the shell-
flashes began again ; they went down the Rampart
street, driving the air before them like gusts of
wind; the cannon of the arsenal bastion had just
fired. At the same time a shell burst in the street
of the Capuchins ; Spick's chimney and half his roof
fell to the ground with a frightful noise.
"Forward! March!" called Winter.
They had now all become sober. We followed the
lantern to the French gate. Behind us, in the street
THE BLOCKADE.
of the Capuchins, a dog howled incessantly. Now
and then Winter stopped, and we all listened;
nothing was stirring, and nothing was to be heard
but the dog and the cries: "Sentries, Attention !"
The city was as still as death.
We ought to have gone into the guard-house, for
there was nothing to be seen ; but the lantern went
on toward the gate, swinging above the gutter.
That Winter had taken too much brandy !
"We are of 110 use in this street," said Chev-
reux; "we can't keep the balls from passing."
But Winter kept calling out: "Are you coming?"
And we had to obey.
In front of Genodet's stables, where the old barns
of the gendarmery begin, a lane turned to the left
toward the hospital. This was full of manure and
heaps of dirt—a drain in fact. Well, this rascal of
a Winter turned into it, and as we could not see
our feet without the lantern, we had to follow him.
We went groping, under the roofs of the sheds,
along the crazy old walls. It seemed as if we
should never get out of this gutter; but at last we
came out near the hospital in the midst of the great
piles of manure, which were heaped against the
grating of the sewer.
It seemed a little lighter, and we saw the roof of
the French gate, and the line of fortifications black
THE BLOCKADE.
181
against the sky ; and almost immediately I perceived
the figure of a man gliding among the trees at the
top of the rampart. It was a soldier stooping so
that his hands almost touched the ground. They
did not fire on this side; the distant flashes passed
over the roofs, and did not lighten the streets
below.
I caught Winter's arm, and pointed out to him
this man ; he instantly hid his lantern under his
blouse. The soldier whose back was toward us,
stood up, and looked round, apparently listening.
This lasted for two or three minutes ; then he passed
over the rampart at the corner of the bastion, and
we heard something scrape the wall of the rampart.
Winter immediately began to run, crying out:
" A deserter ! To the postern !"
We had heard before this of deserters slipping
down into the trenches by means of their bayonets.
We all ran. The sentry called out: '' Who goes
there ?"
" The citizen patrol," replied Winter.
He advanced, gave the order, and we went down
the postern steps like wild beasts.
Below, at the foot of the large bastions built
on the rock, we saw nothing but snow, large black
stones, and bushes covered with frost. The deserter
needed only to keep still under the bushes ; our lam
182
THE BLOCKADE.
tern, -which shone only for fifteen or twenty feet,
might have wandered about till morning without
discovering him : and we should ourselves have sup¬
posed that lie had escaped. But unfortunately for
him, fear urged him on, and we saw him in the dis¬
tance running to the stairs which lead up to the
covered ways. lie went like the wind.
"Halt! or I fire!" cried Winter; but he did not
stop, and we all ran together on his track, calling
out " Halt! Halt!"
Winter had given me the lantern so as to run
faster; I followed at a distance, thinking to myself:
" Moses, if this man is taken, thou will be the cause
of his death." I wanted to put out the lantern, but
if Winter had seen me he would have been capable
of knocking me down with the butt-end of his mus¬
ket. He had for a long time been hoping for the
cross, and was all the time expecting it and the pen¬
sion with it.
The deserter ran, as I said, to the stairs. Sud¬
denly he perceived that the ladder, which takes the
place of the eight lower steps, was taken away, and
lie stopped, stupefied ! We came nearer—he heard
us and began to run faster, to the right toward the
half-moon. The poor devil rolled over the snow¬
banks. Winter aimed at him, and called out:
" Halt! Surrender!"
THE BLOCKADE.
183
But lie got up and began to run again.
Behind the out-works, under the drawbridge, we
thought we had lost him: the corporal called to me,
" Come along ! A thousand thunders!" and at that
moment we saw him leaning against the wall, as pale
as death. Winter took him by the collar and said :
" I have got you !"
Then he tore an epaulette from his shoulder:
" You are not worthy to wear that!" said he; " come
along !"
He dragged him out of his corner, and held the
lantern before his face. We saw a handsome boy of
eighteen or nineteen, tall and slender, with small,
light moustaches, and blue eyes.
Seeing him there so pale, with Winter's fist at his
throat, I thought of the poor boy's father and
mother; my heart smote me, and I could not help
saying : " Come, Winter, he is a child, a mere child !
He will not do it again !"
But Winter, who thought that now surely his
cross was won, turned upon me furiously:
"I tell thee what, Jew, stop, or I will run my
bayonet through thy body!"
" Wretch !" thought I, " what will not a man do
to make sure of his glass of wine for the rest of his
days ?"
THE BLOCKADE.
I hail a sort of horror of that man; there are wild
hoists in the human race !
Chevreux, Soinme, and Duhourg did not speak.
Win!(r bewail to walk toward the postern, with
his hand on the deserter's collar.
'•11' he stops," said he, "strike him on the hack
with your muskets ! Ah, scoundrel, you desert in
the face of the enemy! Your case is clear: next
Sunday you will sleep under the turf of the half-
moon ! Will you come on? Strike him with the
butt-end, you cowards !"
What pained me most was to hear the poor fel¬
low's heavy sighs; he breathed so hard, from his
fright at being taken, and knowing that he would
be shot, that we could hear him fifteen paces off; the
sweat ran down my forehead. And now and then
he turned to me and gave me such a look as I shall
never forget, as if to say: " Save me!"
If I had been alone with Dubourg and Chevreux,
we would have let him go; but Winter would sooner
ha\ e liiurdi red him.
We i a me in this way to the foot of the postern.
They made the deserter pass first. When we reached
the top, a sergeant, with four men from the next
station, was already there, waiting for us.
" What is it r" asked the sergeant.
" A deserter," said Winter.
THE BLOCKADE.
185
The sergeant—an old man—looked at him, and
said : "Take him to the station."
"No," said Winter, "he will go with us to the
station on the square."
" I will reinforce you with two men," said the
sergeant.
" W e do not need them," replied Winter roughly.
"We took him ourselves, and we are enough to
guard him."
The sergeant saw that we ought to have all the
glory of it, and he said no more.
TV e started off again, shouldering our arms ; the
prisoner, all in tatters and without his shako, walked
in the midst.
We soon came to the little square; we had only
to cross the old market before reaching' the guard¬
house. The cannon of the arsenal were firing all
the time ; as we were starting to leave the market,
one of the flashes lighted up the arch in front of us;
the prisoner saw the door of the jail at the left,
with its great locks, and the sight gave him terrible
strength; he tore Off his collar, and threw himself
from us with both arms stretched out behind.
Winter had been almost thrown down, but he
threw himself at once upon the deserter, exclaiming,
" Ah, scoundrel, you want to run away !"
We saw no more, for the lantern fell to the ground.
18G
THE BLOCKADE.
" Guard ! guard !" cried Chevreux.
All this took but a moment, and half of the in¬
fantry post were already there under arms. Then
we saw the prisoner again ; he was sitting on the
edge of the stairway among the pillars; blood was
running from his mouth ; not more than half his
waistcoat was left, and he was bent forward, trem¬
bling from head to foot.
"Winter held him by the nape of the neck, and
said to Lieutenant Schnindret, who was looking on :
" A deserter, Lieutenant! lie has tried to escape
twice, but Winter was on hand."
" That is right," said the lieutenant. " Let them
find the jailer."
Two soldiers went away. A number of our com¬
rades of the national guard had come down, but
nobody spoke. However hard men may be, when
they see a wretch in such a condition, and think,
" the day after to-morrow he will be shot !" every¬
body b silent, and a good many would even release
him if they could.
After some minutes Harmantier arrived with his
woollen jacket and his bunch of keys.
The lieutenant said to him, "Lock up this man !"
" Come, get up and walk !" he said to the deserter,
who rose and followed Harmantier, while everybody
crowded round.
THE BLOCKADE.
1ST
The jailer opened the two massive doors of the
prison ; the prisoner entered without resistance, and
then the large locks and bolts fastened him in.
" Every man return to his post!" said the lieu¬
tenant to us. And we went up the steps of the
mayoralty.
All this had so upset me that I had not thought
of my wife and children. But when once above, in
the large warm room, full of smoke, with all that
set who were laughing and boasting at having taken
a poor, unresisting deserter, the thought that I was
the cause of this misery tilled my soul with anguish ;
I stretched myself on the camp-bed, and thought of
all the trouble that is in the world, of Zeffen, of
Safel, of my children, who might, perhaps, some day
be arrested for not liking war. And the words of
the Lord came to my mind, which He spake to
Samuel, when the people desired a king:
" Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that
they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee,
but they have rejected me, that I should not reign
over them. Howbeit yet protest solemnly unto
them, and show them the manner of the king that
shall reign over them. He will take your sons and
appoint them for himself; and some shall run before
his chariots. He will set them to make his instru¬
ments of war. And he will take your daughters to
188
TIIE BLOCKADE.
be cooks and bakers. And lie will take your field?,
and your vineyards, and your olive-yards, even the
best of them, and give them to his servants. lie
will take your men-servants, and your maid-serv¬
ants, and your goodliest young men. He will take
the tenth of your sheep ; and ye shall be his serv¬
ants. And ye shall cry out in that day, and the
Lord will not hear you."
These thoughts made me very wretched ; my only
consolation was in knowing that my sons Frdmel
and Itzig were in America. I resolved to send
Safel, David, and Esdras there also, when the time
should come.
These reveries lasted till daylight. I heard no
longer the shouts of laughter or the jokes of the
ragamuffins. Now and then they would come and
shake me, and say, " Go, Moses, and fill your brandy
jug ! The sergeant gives you leave."
Hut I did not wish to hear them.
About four o'clock in the morning, our arsenal
cannon having dismounted the Russian howitzers
on the Quatre-Vents hill, the ] atrols ceased.
Exactly at seven we were relieved. We Merit
down, one by one, our muskets on our shoulders.
We M'ere ranged before the mayoralty, and Captain
Vigneron gave the orders: " Carry arms ! Present
arms! Shoulder arms ! Break ranks!"
THE BLOCKADE.
189
We all dispersed, very glad to get rid of glory.
I was going to run at once to the casemates when
I had laid aside my musket, to find Sorle, Zeffen,
and the children; hut what was my joy at seeing
little Safel already at our door! As soon as he saw
me turn the corner, he ran to me, exclaiming : " We
have all come back! We are waiting for you!"
I stooped to embrace him. At that moment
Zeffen opened the window above, and showed me
her little Esdras, and Sorle stood laughing behind
them. I went up quickly, blessing the Lord for
having delivered us from all our troubles, and ex¬
claiming inwardly: " The Lord is merciful and
gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.
Let the glory of the Lord endure forever! Let the
Lord rejoice in his works !"
XIV.
burguet's visit to the deserter.
I still think it one of the happiest moments of
my life, Fritz. Scarcely hail I come up the stairs
when Zeffen and Sorle were in my arms; the little
ones clung to my shoulders, and I felt their lovely
full lips on my cheeks; Safel held my hand, and I
could not speak a word, but my eyes filled with
tears.
Ah ! if we had had Baruch with us, how happy
we should have been !
At length I went to lay aside my musket, and
hang my cartridge-box in the alcove. The children
were laughing, and joy was in the house once more.
And when I came back in my old beaver cap, and
my large, warm woollen stockings, and sat down in
the old arm-chair, in front of the little table set
with poringers, in which Zeffen was pouring the
soup ; when I was again in the midst of all these
THE BLOCKADE.
191
happy faces, bright eyes, and outstretched hands. 1
could have sung like an old lark on his branch, over
the nest where his, little ones were opening their
beaks and flapping their wings.
I blessed them in my heart a hundred times over.
Sorle, who saw in my eyes what I was thinking,
said: "They are all together, Moses, just as they
were yesterday; the Lord has preserved them."
" Yes, blessed be the name of the Lord, forever
and ever !" I replied.
While we were at breakfast, Zeffen told me about
their going to the large casemate at the barracks, how
it was full of people stretched on their mattresses in
every direction—the cries of some, the fright of
others, the torment from the vermin, the water drop¬
ping from the arch, the crowds of children who could
not sleep, and did nothing but cry, the lamentations
of five or six old men who kept calling out, "Ah !
our last hour has come ! Ah ! how cold it is ! Ah !
we shall never go home—it is all over!"
Then suddenly the deep silence of all, when they
heard the cannon about ten o'clock—the reports,
coming slowly at first, then like the roar of a tem¬
pest—the flashes, which could be seen even through
the blindages of the gate, and old Christine Evig
telling her beads as loud as if she were in a proces¬
sion, and the other women responding together.
11)2
THE BLOCKADE.
As she told me this, Zeffon clasped her little
Esdras tightly, while I held David on my knees,
embracing him as I thought to myself, "Yes, mv
poor children, you have been through a great deal!"
Notwithstanding the joy of seeing that we were all
safe, the thought of the deserter in his dungeon at the
town-house would come to me; he too had parents !
And when you think of all the trouble which a father
and mother have in bringing up a child, of the nights
spent in soothing his cries, of their cares when he is
sick, of their hopes in seeing him growing up; and
then imagine to yourself some old soldiers sitting
around a table to try him, and coolly send him to
be shot behind the bastion, it makes you shuddei,
especially when you say to yourself: "But for me,
this boy would have been at liberty; he would be
on the road to his village; to-morrow perhaps he
would have reached the poor old people's door, and
have called out to them, 'Open ! it is I!'"
Such thoughts are enough to make one wild.
I did not dare to speak to my wife and children
of the poor fellow's arrest; I kept my thoughts to
myself.
Without, the detachments from La Boulette,
Ti •ois-Maisons, and La Fontaine-du-Chateau, passed
through the street, keeping step; groups of children
ran about the city to find the pieces of shells ; neigh-
THE BLOCKADE.
193
bors collected to talk about the events of the night
—the roofs torn off, chimneys thrown down, the
frights they had had. We heard their voices rising
and falling, and their shouts of laughter. And I
have since seen that it is always the same thing after
a bombardment; the shower is forgotten as soon as
it is over, and they exclaim : " Iluzza ! the enemy is
routed !"
While we were there meditating, some one came
up the stairs. We listened, and our sergeant, with
his musket on his shoulder, and his cape and gaiters
covered with mud, opened the door, exclaiming:
" Good for you, Father Moses ! Good for you !—
You distinguished yourself last night!"
"Ha! what is it, sergeant?" asked my wife in
astonish ment.
" What! has he not told you of the famous thing
he did, Madame Sorle ? Has he not told you that
the national guard Moses, on patrol about nine
o'clock at the Hospital bastion, discovered and then
arrested a deserter in the very act! It is on Lieu¬
tenant Schnindret's affidavit!"
"But I was not alone," I exclaimed in despair;
" there were four of us."
"Bah! You discovered the track, you went
down into the trenches, you carried the lantern !
Father Moses, you must not try to make your good
9
191
THE BLOCKADE.
deed seem less; you are wrong. You are going to
lie named for corporal. The court-martial will sit
to-morrow at nine. Be easy, they will take care of
your man !"
Imagine, Fritz, how I looked ; Sorle, Zeffen, and
the children looked at me, and I did not know what
to say.
" Xow I must go and change my clothes," said
the sergeant, shaking my hand. "We will talk
about it again, Father Moses. I always said that
you would turn out well in the end."
lie gave a low laugh as was his custom, winking
his eyes, and then went across the passage into his
room.
My wife was very pale.
"Is it true, Moses?" she asked after a minute.
"He! I did not know that he wanted to desert,
Sorle," I replied. " And then the boy ought to
have looked round 011 all sides; he ought to have
gone down on the Hospital square, gone round the
dunghills, and even into the lane to see if any one
was coming; he brought it on himself; I did not
know anything, I "
But Sorle did not let me finish.
"Run quickly, Moses, to Burguet's!" she ex¬
claimed ; "if this man is shot, his blood will be upon
our children. Make haste, do not lose a minute."
THE BLOCKADE.
195
She raised her hands, and I went out, much
troubled.
My only fear was that I should not find Burguet
at home ; fortunately, 011 opening his door, on the
first floor of the old Cauchois house, I saw the tall
barber Vesenaire shaving him, in the midst of the
old books and papers which filled the room.
Burguet was sitting with the towel at his chin.
" Ah ! It is you, Moses !" he exclaimed, in a glad
tone. " What gives me the pleasure of a visit from
you ?"
" I come to ask a favor of you, Burguet."
" If it is for money," said he, " we shall have diffi¬
culty."
He laughed, and his servant-woman Marie Loriot,
who heard us from the kitchen, opened the door,
and thrust her red head-gear into the room, as she
called out, " I think that we shall have difficulty!
We owe Vesenaire for three months' shaving; do
not we, Vesenaire ?"
She said this very seriously, and Burguet, instead
of being angry, began to laugh. I have always
fancied that a man of his talents had a sort of need
of such an incarnation of human stupidity to laugh
at, and help his digestion. lie never was willing to
dismiss this Marie Loriot.
In short, while Vesenaire kept on shaving him, I
196 the blockade.
gave Lira an account ot' our patrol and the arrest of
the deserter; and begged him to defend the poor
fellow. I told him that he alone was able to save
him, and restore peace, not only to my own mind,
but to Sorle, Zeffen, and the whole family, for we
were all in great distress, and we depended entirely
upon him to help us.
" Ah ! you take me at my weak point, Moses ! If
it is possible for me to save this man, I must try.
But it will not be an easy matter. During the last
fortnight, desertions have begun—the court-martial
wishes to make an example. It is a bad business.
You have money, Moses; give VeSenaire four sous
to go and take a drop."
I gave four sous to Yesenaire, who made a grand
bow and went out. Burguet finished dressing him¬
self.
'" Let us go and see!" said he, taking me by the
arm.
And we went down together on our way to the
mayoralty.
Many years have passed since that day. Ah,
well! it seems now as if we were going under the
arch, and I heard Burguet saying: "Iley, sergeant!
Tell the turnkey that the prisoner's advocate is
here."
Harmantier came, bowed, and opened the door.
T1IE BLOCKADE.
197
IVe went down into the dungeon lull of stench, and
saw in the right-hand corner a hgure gathered in a
heap on the straw.
"Get up!" said Harmantier, "here is your ad¬
vocate."
The poor wretch moved and raised himself in the
darkness. Burguet leaned toward him and said:
" Come ! Take courage ! I have come to talk with
you about your defence."
And the other began to sob.
When a man has been knocked down, torn to tat¬
ters, beaten till he cannot stand, when he knows
that the law is against him, that he must die with¬
out seeing those whom he loves, he becomes as weak
as a baby. Those who maltreat their prisoners are
great villains.
" Let us see !" said Burguet. " Sit down on the
side of your camp-bed. What is your name?
Where did you come from ? Harmantier, give this
man a little water to drink and wash himself!"
"lie has some, M. Burguet; he has some in the
corner."
" Ah, well!"
" Compose yourself, my boy !"
The more gently he spoke, the more did the poor
fellow weep. At last, however, he said that his
family lived near Gerarmer, in the Yosges; that his
r.is
THE BLOCKADE.
father's name was Mathieu Belin, and that he was
a fisherman at Retournemer.
Rurguet drew every word out of his mouth ; he
wanted to know every particular about his father
and mother, his brothers and sisters.
I remember that his father had served under the
Republic, and had even been wounded at Fleurus;
that his oldest brother had died in Russia; that he
himself was the second son taken from home by the
conscription, and that there were still at home three
sisters younger than himself.
This came from him slowly: he was so prostrated
by Winter's blows, that he moved and sank down
like a soulless body.
There was still another thing, Fritz, as you may
think—the boy was young ! and that brought to my
mind the days when I used to go in two hours from
l'halsburg to Marmoutier, to see Sorle—Ah, poor
wretch ! As he told all this, sobbing, with his face
in his hands, my heart melted within me.
Burguet was quite overcome. When we were
leaving, at the end of an hour, he said, "Come, let
us be hopeful! You will be tried to-morrow.—Don't
despair! Harmantier, we must give this man a
cloak; it is dreadfully cold, especially at night. It
is a bad business, my boy, but it is not hopeless.
Try to appear as well as you can before the audi-
THE BLOCKADE. 1<J<)
once; the court-martial always thinks better of a
man who is well dressed."
When we were out, he said to me: "Moses, you
send the man a clean shirt. Ilis waistcoat is torn;
don't forget to have him decently dressed every
way; soldiers always judge of a man by his ap¬
pearance."
" Be easy about that," said I.
The prison doors were closed, and we went across
the market.
"Now," said Burguet, "I must go in. I must
think it over. It is well that the brother was left
in Russia, and that the father has been in the serv¬
ice—it is something to make a point of."
We had reached the corner of the Rampart street;
he kept on, and I went home more miserable than
before.
You cannot imagine, Fritz, how troubled I was;
when a man has always had a quiet conscience it is
terrible to reproach one's self, and think: "If this
man is shot, if his father, and mother, and sisters,
and that other one, who is expecting him, are made
miserable, thou, Moses, wilt be the cause of it all 1"
Fortunately there was no lack of work to be done
at home ; Sorle had just opened the old shop to
begin to sell our brandies, and it was full of people.
For a week the keepers of coffee-houses and inns
200
TILE BLOCKADE.
had had nothino- wherewith to fill their casks; they
were on the point of shutting up shop. Imagine the
crowd! They came in a row, with their jugs and
little casks and pitchers. The old topers came too,
sticking out their elbows; Sorle, Zeffen, and Safel
had not time to serve them.
The sergeant said that we must put a policeman
at our door to prevent quarrels, for some of them
said that they lost their turn, and that their money
was as good as anybody's.
It will be a good many years before such a crowd
will be seen again in front of a Phalsburg shop.
I had only time to tell my wife that Burguet
would defend the deserter, ami then went down into
the cellar to fill the two tuns at the counter, which
were already empty.
A fortnight after, Sorle doubled the price; our
first two pipes were sold, and this extra price did
not lessen the demand.
Men always find money for brandy and tobacco,
even when they have none left for bread. This is
why governments impose their heaviest taxes upon
these two articles; they might be heavier still with¬
out diminishing their use—only, children would
starve to death.
I have seen this—I have seen this great folly in
men, and I am astonished whenever I think of it.
THE BLOCKADE.
201
Tliat day we kept on selling until seven o'clock in
the evening, when the tattoo was sounded.
My pleasure in making money had made me for¬
get the deserter; I did not think of him again till
after supper, when night set in; but I did not say
a word about him ; we were all so tired and so de¬
lighted with the day's profits that we did not want
to be troubled with thinking of such things. But
after Zeffen and the children had retired, I told Sorle
of our visit to the prisoner. I told her, too, that
Burguet had hopes, which made her very happy.
About nine o'clock, by God's blessing, we were
all asleep.
9*
XV.
TRIAL OF THE DESERTER.
You can believe, Fritz, tbat I did not sleep much
that night, notwithstanding my fatigue. The
thought of the deserter tormented me. I knew that
if he should be shot, Zeffen and Sorle would be in¬
consolable; and I knew, too, that after three or
four years the vile race would say: "Look at this
Moses, with his large brown cloak, his cape turned
down over the back of his neck, and his respectable
look—well, during the blockade he caused the
arrest .of a poor deserter, who was shot: so much
you can trust a Jew's appearance!"
They would have said this, undoubtedly; for the
only consolation of villains is to make people think
that everybody is like themselves.
And then how often should I reproach myself for
this man's death, in times of misfortune or in my
old age, when I should not have a minute's pence!
How often should I have said that it was a judg¬
ment of the Lord, that it was on account of this
deserter.
THE BLOCKADE.
203
So 1 wanted to do immediately all that I could,
and by six o'clock in the morning I was in my old
shop in the market with my lantern, selecting epau¬
lettes and my best clothes. I put them in a napkin
and took them to Harmantier at daybreak.
The special council of war, which was called—I
do not know why—the Yentose council, was to
meet at nine o'clock. It was composed of a major,
president, four captains, and two lieutenants. M011-
brun, the captain of the foreign legion, was judge-
advocate, and Brigadier Duphot recorder.
It was astonishing how the whole city knew
about it beforehand, and that by seven o'clock the
Nicaises, and Pigots, and Vinatiers, etc., had left
their rickety quarters, and had already filled the
whole mayoralty, the arch, the stairway, and the
large room above, laughing, whistling, stamping, as
if it were a bear-fight at Klein's inn, the "Ox."
You do not see things like that now-a-days, thank
God ! men have become more gentle and humane.
But after all these wars, a deserter met with less
pity than a fox caught in a trap, or a wolf led by
the muzzle.
As I saw all this, my courage failed; all my
admiration for Burguet's talents could not keep me
from thinking:
The man is lost! Who can save him, when this
204: TI1E BLOCKADE.
crowd lias come 011 purpose to see him condemned
to death, and led to the (Ilacicre bastion ?
I was overwhelmed by the thought.
I went trembling into Harmantier's little room,
and saiil to him: "This is for the deserter; take it
to him from me." "All right!" said he.
I asked him if he had confidence in Burguet.
He shrugged his shoulders, and said; "We must
have examples."
The stamping outside continued, and when I went
out there was a great whistling in the balcony, the
arch, and everywhere, and shouts of " Moses ! hey,
Moses ! this way !"
But I did not turn my head, and went home very
sad.
Sorle handed me a summons to appear as a wit¬
ness before the court-martial, which a gendarme had
just brought; and till nine o'clock I sat meditating
behind the stove, trying to think of some way of
escape for the prisoner.
Safel was playing with the children ; ZefFen and
3orle had gone down to continue our sales.
A few minutes before nine I started for the town-
house, which was already so crowded that, had it
not been for the guard at the door, and the
gendarmes scattered within the building, the wit¬
nesses could hardly have got in
TEE BLOCKADE.
205
Just as I got there, Captain Monbrun was be¬
ginning to read his report. Burguet sat opposite,
with his head leaning on his hand.
They showed me into a little room, where were
Winter, Chevreux, Dubourg, and the gendarme
Fiegel; so that we didn't hear anything before
being called.
On the wall at the right it was written in large
letters that any witness who did not tell the truth,
should be delivered to the council, and suffer the
same penalty as the accused. This made one con¬
sider, and I resolved at once to conceal nothing, as
was right and sensible. The gendarme also in¬
formed us that we were forbidden to speak to each
other.
After a quarter of an hour Winter was summoned,
and then, at intervals of ten minutes, Chevreux,
Dubourg, and myself.
When I went into the court-room, the judges were
all in their places; the major had laid his hat on the
desk before him ; the recorder was mending his pen.
Burguet looked at me calmly. Without they were
stamping, and the major said to the brigadier:
" Inform the public that if this noise continues, I
shall have the mayoralty cleared."
The brigadier went out at once, and the major
said to me :
206 THE BLOCKADE.
"Xational guard Moses, make your deposition.
What do you know?"
I told it all simply. The deserter at the left, be¬
tween two gendarmes, seemed more dead than alive.
1 would gladly have acquitted him of everything;
but when a man fears for himself, when old officers
in full dress are scowling at you as if they could see
through you, the simplest and best way is not to
lie. A father's first thought should be for his
children! In short, I told everything that I had
seen, nothing more or less, and at last the major
said to me:
"That is enough ; you may go."
But seeing that the others, Winter, Chevreux,
Pubourg, remained sitting on a bench at the left,
I did the same.
Almost immediately five or six good-for-nothings
began to stamp and murmur, "Shoot him! shoot
him !" The president ordered the brigadier to
arrest them, and in spite of their resistance they
were all led to prison. Silence was then established
in the court-room, but the stampings without con¬
tinued.
"Judge-advocate, it is your turn to speak," said
the major.
This judge-advocate, who seems now before my
eyes, and whom I can almost hear speak, was a man
Tim BLOCKADE.
207
of fifty, short and thick, with a short nock, long,
thick, straight nose, very wide f< re-head, shining
black hair, thin moustaches, and bright eyes.
While he was listening, his head turned right and
left as if on a pivot; you could see his long nose
and the corner of his eye, but his elbows did not stir
from the table, lie looked like one of those large
crows which seem to be sleeping in the fields at the
close of autumn, and yet see everything that is going
on around them.
Now and then he raised his arm as if to draw
back his sleeve, as advocates have a way of doing.
He was in full dress, and spoke terribly well, in a
clear and strong voice, stopping and looking at the
people to see if they agreed with him; and if he
saw even a slight grimace, he began again at once
in some other way, and, as it were, obliged you to
understand in spite of yourself.
As he went 011 very slowly, without hurrying
or forgetting anything, to show that the deserter
was on the road when we arrested him, that he not
only had the intention of escaping, but was already
outside of the city, quite as guilty as if he had been
found in the ranks of the enemy—as he clearly
showed all this, I was angry because he was right,
and I thought to myself, "Now, what was there to
be said in leply."
208 THE BLOCKADE.
And then, when lie said that the greatest < f crimes
was to abandon one's flag, lr cause one betrays at
once his country, his family, all that has a right to
his life, and makes himself unworthy to live; when
he said that the court would follow the conscience
of all who had a heart, of all who held to the honor
of France; that he would give a new example of
his zeal for the safety of the country and the glory
of the emperor; that he would show the new
recruits that they could only succeed by doing their
duty and by obeying orders; when he said all this
with terrible power and clearness, and I heard from
time to time, a murmur of assent and admiration,
then, Fritz, I thought that the Lord alone was able
to save that man !
The deserter sat motionless, his arms folded on
the dock, and his face upon them. He felt, doubt¬
less, as T did, and every one in the room, and the
court itself. Those old men seemed pleased as they
heard the judge-advocate express so well what had
all along been their own opinion. Their faces
showed their satisfaction.
This lasted for more than an hour. The captain
sometimes stopped a moment to give his audience
time to reflect on what he had said. I have always
thought that he must have been attorney-general,
or something more dangerous still to deserters.
THE BLOCKADE.
209
I remember that he said, in closing, "You will
make an example! You will he of one mind. You
will not forget that, at this time, firmness in the
court is more necessary than ever to the safety of
the country."
When he sat down, such a murmur of approbation
arose in the room that it reached the stairway at
once, and we heard the shouts outside, " Vive VEnx-
pereur!"
The major and the other members of the council
looked smilingly at each other, as if to say, "It is
all settled. What remains is a mere formality!"
The shouts without increased. This lasted more
than ten minutes. At last the major said :
" Brigadier, if the tumult continues, clear the
tovvn-house ! Begin with the court-room !"
There was silence at once, for every one was
curious to know what Burguet would say in reply.
I would not have given two farthings for the life of
the deserter.
" Counsel for the prisoner, you have the floor !"
said the major, and Burguet rose.
Now, Fritz, if I had an idea that I could repeat
to you what Burguet said, for a whole hour, to save
the life of a pour conscript; if I should try to depict
his face, the sweetness of his voice, and then his
heart-rending cries, and then his silent pauses and
210
THE BLOCKADE.
his appeals—if I had such an idea, I should consider
myself a being full of pride and vanity !
No; nothing finer was ever heard. It was not a
man speaking; it was a mother, trying to snatch her
babe from death ! Ah ! what a great thing it is to
have this power of moving to tears those who bear
us! But we ought not to call it talent, it is heart.
" Who is there without faults ? Who does not
need pity ?"
This is what he said, as he asked the council if
they could find a perfectly blameless man ; if evil
thoughts never came to the bravest; if they had
never, for even a day or a moment, had the thought
of running away to their native village, when they
were young, when they were eighteen, when father
and mother and the friends of their childhood were
living, and they had not another in the world. A
poor child without instruction, without knowledge
of the world, brought up at hap-hazard, thrown into
the army—what could you expect of him ? What
fault of his could not be pardoned ? What does he
know of country, the honor of his flag, the glory of
his majesty ? Is it not later in life that these great
ideas come to him ?
And then he asked those old men if they had not
a son, if they were sure that, even at that moment,
that son were not committing an offence which was
THE BLOCKADE.
211
liable to the punishment of death. He said to
them:
"Plead for him! What would you say? You
would say, 'I am an old soldier. For thirty years I
have shed my blood for France. I have grown gray
upon the battle-fields, I am riddled with wounds, I
have gained every rank at the point of the sword.
Ah, well ! take my epaulettes, take my decorations,
take everything; but save my child! Let my blood
be the ransom for his offence! He does not know
the greatness of his crime; he is too young; he is
a conscript; he loved us ; he longed to embrace us,
and then go back again—he loved a maiden. Ah !
you, too, have been young ! Pardon him. Do not
disgrace an old soldier in his son.'
" Perhaps you could say, too,' I had other sons.
They died for their country. Let their blood an¬
swer for his, and give me back this one—the last
that I have left!'
"This is what you would say, and far better than
I, because you would be the father, the old soldier
speaking of his own services! Well, the father of
this youth could speak like you ! He is an old sol¬
dier of the Republic! He went with you, perhaps,
when the Prussians entered Champagne! He was
wounded at Fleurus! He is an old comrade in
arms! His oldest son was left behind in Russia!"
212
THE BLOCKADE.
And Burguet turned pale as he spoke. It seemed
as if grief had robbed him of his strength, and lie
were about to fall. The silence was so great that
we heard the breathing throughout the court-room.
The deserter sobbed. Everybody thought, "It is
done! Burguet need say no more! It must be
that he has gained his cause !"
But all at once he began again in another and
more tender manner. Speaking slowly, he described
the life of a poor peasant and his wife, who had but
one comfort, one solitary hope on earth—their child !
As we listened we saw these poor people, we heard
them talk together, we saw over the door the old
ebapeauof the time of the Republic. And when we
were thinking only of this, suddenly Burguet showed
us the old man and his wife learning that their son
had been killed, not by Russians or Germans, but
by Frenchmen. We heard the old man's cry!
But it was terrible, Fritz! I wanted to run
away. The officers of the council, several of whom
were married men, looked before them with fixed
eyes, and clenched hands; their gray moustaches
shook. The major had raised his hand two or three
times, as if to signify that it was enough, but Bur¬
guet had always something still more powerful,
more just, more grand to add. His plea lasted till
THE BLOCKADE.
213
nearly eleven, when he sat down. There was not a
murmur to he heard in the three rooms nor outside.
And the Judge-advocate 011 the other side began
again, saying that all that signified nothing, that it
was unfortunate for the father that his son was un¬
worthy, that every man clung to his children, that
soldiers must be taught not to desert in face of the
enemy ; that, if the court yielded to such arguments,
nobody would ever be shot, discipline would be
utterly destroyed, the army could not exist, and
that the army was the strength and glory of the
country.
Burguet replied almost immediately. I cannot
recall what he said ; my head could not hold so
many things at once: but I shall never forget this,
that about one o'clock, the council having sent us
away that they might deliberate — the prisoner
meanwhile having been taken back to his cell—
after a few minutes we were allowed to return, and
the major, standing on the platform where conscrip¬
tions were drawn, declared that the accused Jean
Balin was acquitted, and gave the order for his
immediate release.
It was the first acquittal since the departure of
the Spanish prisoners before the blockade ; the
rowdies, who had come in crowds to see a man con-
21-1 THE BLOCKADE.
domned and shot, could not believe it; several of
them exclaimed: " Wre are cheated !"
But the major ordered Brigadier Descarmes to
take the names of these brawlers, so that they
should be seen to; then the whole mass trampled
down the stairs in five minutes, and we, in our turn,
were able to descend.
1 had taken Burguet by the arm, my eyes full of
tears.
" Are you satisfied, Moses?" said he, already quite
Lis own joyous self again.
" Burguet !" said I, " Aaron himself, the own
brother of Moses, and the greatest orator of Israel,
could not have spoken better than you did ; it was
admirable! I owe my peace of mind to you! What¬
ever you may ask for so great a service I am ready
to give to the extent of my means."
We went down the stairs; the members of the
council following us thoughtfully, one by one.
Burguet smiled.
"Do you mean it, Moses?" said he, stopping
under the arch.
"Yes, here is my hand."
" Very well!" said he, " I ask you to give me a
good dinner at the Ville-de-AIttz."
" With all my heart!"
Several citizens, Father Parmentier, Cochois the
THE BLOCKADE.
215
lax-gatherer, and Adjutant Muller, were waiting for
liurguet at the foot of the mayoralt}^ steps, to con¬
gratulate him. As they were surrounding and shak¬
ing hands with him, Safel came and rushed into my
arms ; Zeffen had sent him to learn the news. I
embraced him, and said joyously: " Go, tell your
mother that we have won ! Take your dinner. I
am going to dine at the Ville-de-Metz with Burguet.
Make haste, my child!"
He started running.
"You dine with me, Burguet," said Father Par-
mentier.
" Thank you, Mr. Mayor, I am engaged to dine
•with Moses; I will go at another time."
And, with our arms around each other, we entered
Mother Barriere's large corridor, where there was still
the odor of good roasts, in spite of the blockade.
"Listen, Burguet," said I; " we are going to dine
alone, and you shall choose whatever wines and
dishes you like best; you know them better than I
do."
I saw his eyes sparkle.
" Good ! good !" said he, " it is understood."
In the large dining-hall the war-commissioner
and two officers were dining together; they turned
round, and we saluted them.
I sent for Mother Barreire, who came at once, her
THE BLOCKADE.
apron on her arm, as smiling and chuoby as usual.
Burguet whispered a couple of words in her ear,
and she instantly opened the door at the right, and
said:
"Wa'k in, gentlemen, walk in! You will not
have to wait long."
We went into the square room at the corner of
the square, a small, high room, with two large win¬
dows covered with muslin curtains, and the porce¬
lain stove well heated, as it should be in winter.
A servant came to lay the table, while we warmed
our hands upon the marble.
"I have a good appetite, Moses; my pleading is
going to cost you dear," said Burguet, laughing.
" So much the better; it cannot be too dear for
the gratitude I owe you."
" Come," said he, putting his hand on my shoul¬
der, " I won't ruin you, but we must have a good
dinner."
When the table was ready, we sat down, opposite
each other, in soft, comfortable arm-chairs; and
Burguet, fastening his napkin in his button-hole, as
was his custom, took up the bill of fare. He pon¬
dered over it a long time; for you know, Fritz, that
though nightingales are good singers, they have the
sharpest beaks in the world. Burguet was like
THE BLOCKADE. 217
thrni, ami I was delight®! at seeing him thus medi¬
tating.
At last he said to the servant, slowly and sol¬
emnly :
" This and that, Madeleine, cooked so and so.
And such a wine to begin with, and such another at
the end."
"Very well, M. Burguet," replied Madeleine, as
she went out.
Two minutes afterward she brought us a good
toast soup. During a blockade this was something
greatly to be desired ; three weeks later we should
have been very fortunate to have got one.
Then she brought us some Bordeaux wine, warmed
in a napkin. But you do not suppose, Fritz, that I
am going to tell you all the details of this dinner?
although I remember it all, with great pleasure, to
this day. Believe'me, there was nothing wanting,
meats nor fresh vegetables, nor the large well-
smoked ham, nor any of the things which are dread¬
fully scarce in a shut-up city. We had even salad !
Madame Barriere had kept it in the cellar, in earth,
and Burguet wished to dress it himself with olive
oil. We had, too, the last juicy pears which were
seen in Phalsburg, during that winter of 1814.
Burguet seemed happy, especially when the bottle
10
218
THE BLOCKADE.
of old Lironcourt was brought, and we drank
together.
"Closes," said he with softened eyes, "if all my
pleas had as good pay as you give, I would resign
my place in college; but this is the first fee I.have
received."
" And if T were in your place, Burguet," I ex¬
claimed, "instead of staying in Phalsburg, I would
go to a large city. You would have plenty of good
dinners, good hotels, and the rest would soon
follow."
" Ah! twenty years ago this might have been
good advice," said he, rising, "but it is too late
now. Let us go and take our coffee, Moses."
Thus it is that men of great talents often bury
themselves in small places, where nobody values
them at their true worth; they fall gradually into
their own ruts, and disappear without notice.
Burguet never forgot to go to the coffee-house at
about five o'clock, to play a game of cards with the
old Jew Solomon, whose trade it was. Burguet
and five or six citizens fully supported this man,
who took his beer and coffee twice a day at their
expense, to say nothing of the crowns he pocketed
for the support of his family.
So far as the others were concerned, I was not
surprised at this, for they were fools 1 but for a man
THE BLOCKADE.
219
like Burguet I was always astonished at it; for, out
of twenty deals, Solomon did not let them win more
than one or two, with the risk before his eyes of
losing his best practice, by discouraging them alto¬
gether.
I had explained this fifty times to Burguet; he
assented, and kept on all the same.
When we reached the coffee-house, Solomon was
already there, in the corner of a window at the left
—his little dirty cap on his nose, and his old greasy
frock hanging at the foot of the stool. lie was
shuffling the cards all by himself. He looked at
Burguet out of the corner=-of his eye, as a bird-
catcher looks at larks, as if to say:
" Come ! I am here ! I am expecting you !"
But Burguet, when with me, dared not obey the
old man; he was ashamed of his weakness, and
merely made a little motion of his head while he
seated himself at the opposite table, where coffee
was served to us.
The comrades came soon, and Solomon began to
fleece them. Burguet turned his back to them; I
tried to divert his attention, but his heart was with
them; he listened to all the throws, and yawned in
his hand.
About seven o'clock, when the room was full of
smoke, and the balls were rolling on the billiard
220
THE BLOCKADE.
tables, suddenly a young man, a soldier, entered,
looking round in all directions.
It was the deserter.
ITe saw us at last, and approached us with his
foraging cap in his hand. Burguet looked up and
recognized him; I saw him turn red; the deserter,
on the contrary, was very pale; he tried to speak,
but could not say a word."
" Ah ! my friend !" said Burguet, "here you are,
safe !"
"Yes, sir," replied the conscript, "and I have
come to thank you for myself, for my father, and for
my mother!"
"Ah!" said Burguet, coughing, "it is all right!
it is all right!"
He looked tenderly at the young man, and asked
him softly, "You are glad to live?"
" Oh ! yes, sir," replied the conscript, " very glad."
"Yes," said Burguet, in a low voice, looking at
the clock; "it would have been all over now!
Poor child!"
And suddenly beginning to use the thou he said,
"Thou hast had nothing with which to drink my
health, and I have not another sou. Moses, give
him a hundred sous."
I gave him ten francs. The deserter tried to
thank me.
THE BLOCKADE.
221
"That is good !" said Burguet, rising. "Go and
take a drink with thy comrades. Be happy, and do
not desert again."
lie made as if he would follow Solomon's play¬
ing; but when the deserter said, "I thank you, too,
for her who is expecting me !" he looked at me side¬
ways, not knowing what to answer, so much was he
moved. Then I said to the conscript, " We are
very glad that we have been of assistance to you ;
go and drink the health of your advocate, and
behave yourself well."
He looked at us for a moment longer, as if he
were unable to move; we saw his thanks in his face,
a thousand times better than he had been able to
utter them. At length he slowly went out, saluting
us, and Burgnet finished his cup of coffee.
We meditated for some minutes upon what had
passed. But soon the thought of seeing my family
seized me.
Burgnet was like a soul in purgatory. Every
minute he got up to look on, as one or another
played, with his hands crossed behind his back; then
he sat down with a melancholy look. 1 should have
been very sorry to plague him longer, and, as the
clock struck eight, I bade him good-evening, which
evidently pleased him.
" Good-night, Hoses," said he, leading me to the
222
THE BLOCKADE.
door. "My compliments to Madame Sorle, and
Madame Zeffen."
"Thank you! I shall not forget it."
I went, very glad to return home, where I arrived
in a few minutes. Sorle saw at once that I was in
good spirits, for, meeting her at the door of our
little kitchen, I embraced her joyfully.
" It is all right, Sorle," said I, " all just right!"
"Yes," said she, "I see that it is all right!"
She laughed, and we went into the room where
Zeffen was undressing David. The poor little
fellow, in his shirt, came and offered me his cheek
to kiss. Whenever I dined in the city, I used to
bring him some of the dessert, and, in spite of
his sleepy eyes, he soon found his way to my
pockets.
You see, Fritz, what makes grandfathers happy
is to find out how bright and sensible their grand-
children are.
Even little Esdras, whom Sorle was rocking,
understood at once that something unusual was
going 011 ; he stretched out his little hands to me, as
if to say, " I like cake too !"
We were all of us very happy. At length, having
sat down, I gave them an account of the day, setting
forth the eloquence of Burguet, and the poor de¬
serter's happiness. They all listened attentively.
THE BLOCKADE.
223
Safel, seated on my knees, whispered to me, "We
have sold three hundred francs' worth of brandy!"
This news pleased me greatly: when one makes
an outlay, he ought to profit by it.
About ten o'clock, after Zeffen had wished us
good-night, I vrent down and shut the door, and put
the key underneath for the sergeant, if he should
come in late.
While we were going to bed, Sorle repeated what
Safel had said, adding that we should be in easy
circumstances when the blockade was over, and
that the Lord had helped us in the midst of great
calamities.
We were happy and without fear of the future.
XVI.
A sortie of the garrison.
Nothing extraordinary occurred for several days.
The governor had the plants and bushes growing
in the crevices of the ramparts torn away, to make
desertion less easy, and he forbade the officers being
too rough with the men, which had a good effect.
At this time, hundreds of thousands of Austrians,
Russians, Bavarians, and Wurt em burgers, by squad¬
rons and regiments, passed around the city beyond
range of our cannon, and marched upon Paris.
Then there were terrible battles in Champagne,
but we knew nothing of them.
The uniforms changed everyday outside the city;
our old soldiers on top of the ramparts recognized
all the different nations they had been fighting for
twenty years.
Our sergeant came regularly after the call, to take
me upon the arsenal bastion ; citizens were there all
THE BLOCKADE.
225
the time, talking about the invasion, which did not,
come to an end.
It was wonderful! In the direction of St. Jean,
on the edge of the forest of La Bonne Fontaine, we
saw, for hours at a time, cavalry and infantry de¬
filing, and then convoys of powder and balls, and
then cannon, and then files of bayonets, helmets,
red, and green, and blue coats, lances, peasants'
wagons covered with cloth—all these passed, passed
like a river.
On this broad white plateau, surrounded by
forests, we could see everything.
Now and then some Cossacks or dragoons would
leave the main body, and push on galloping to the
very foot of the glacis, in the lane des Dames, or
near the little chapel. Instantly one of our old
marine artillerymen would stretch out his gray
moustaches upon a rampart gun, and slowly take
aim; the bystanders would all gather round him,
even the children, who would creep between your
legs, fearless of balls or shells—and the heavy rifle-
gun would go off!
Many a time I have seen the Cossack or Uhlan
fall from his saddle, and the horse rush back to the
squadron with his bridle on his neck. The people
would shout with joy ; they would climb up on the
ramparts and look down, and the gunner would
10*
THE BLOCKADE.
rub his hands and say, "One more out of the
way !"
At other times these old men, with their ragged
cloaks full of holes, would bet a couple of sous as to
who should bring down this sentinel or that vidette,
on the Mittelbronn or Bigelberg hill.
It was so far that they needed good eyes to see
the one they designated ; but these men, accustomed
to the sea, can discern everything as far as the eye
can reach.
" Come, Paradis, there he is!" one would
say.
"Yes, there he is! Lay down your two sous;
there are mine!"
And they would fire. They would go on as if it
were a game of ninepins. God knows how many
men they killed tor the sake of their two sous.
Every morning about nine o'clock I found these
marines in my shop, drinking "to the Cossack," as
they said. The last drop they poured into their
hands, to strengthen their nerves, and started olf
with rounded backs, calling out:
" Hey ! good-day, Father Aloses ! The kaiserlick
is vey well!"
I do not think that I ever saw so many people in
my life as in those months of January and February,
1814; they were like the locusts of. Egypt! How
THE BLOCKADE.
227
the earth could produce so many people I could not
comprehend.
I was naturally greatly troubled on account of it,
and the other citizens also, as I need not say; but
our sergeant laughed and winked.
"Look, Father Moses!" said he, pointing from
Quatre-Vents to Ligelberg—" all these that are
passing by, all that have passed, and all that are
going to pass, are to enrich the soil of Champagne
and Lorraine ! The Emperor is down there, waiting
for them in a good place—he will fall upon them !
The thunderbolt of Austerlitz, of Jena, of Wagram,
is all ready—it can wait no longer! Then they will
tile back in retreat; but our armies will follow them,
with our bayonets in their backs, and we shall go
out from here, and flank them off. Not one shall
escape. Their account is settled. And then will be
the time for you to have old clothes and other things
to sell, Father Moses 1 He ! he ! he! How lat
you will grow l"
He was merry at the thought of it; but you may
suppose, Fritz, that I did not count much upon those
uniforms that were running across the fields; I
would much rather they had been a thousand leagues
away.
Such are men—some are glad and others miserable
from the same cause. The sergeant was so confident
22S
THE BLOCKADE.
that sometimes lie persuaded rae, and I thought as
he did.
We would go down the Rampart street together;
lie would go to the cantine where they had begun
to distribute siege-rations, or perhaps he would go
home with me, take his little glass of cherry-brandy,
and explaim to me the Emperor's grand strokes
since '96 in Italy. I did not understand anything
about it, but I made believe that I understood,
which answered all the purpose.
There came envoys, too, sometimes on the road
from Nancy, sometimes from Saverne or Metz.
They raised, at a distance, the little white flag; one
ot their trumpeters sounded and then withdrew; the
officer of the guard received the envoy and bandaged
his eyes, then he went under escort through the city
to the governor's house. But what these envoys
told or demanded never transpired in the city; the
council of defence alone were informed of it.
We lived confined within our walls as if we were
in the middle of the sea, and you cannot believe
how that weighs upon one after a while, how de¬
pressing and overpowering it is not to be able to go
out even upon the glacis. Old men who had been
nailed for ten years to their arm-chairs, and who
never thought of moving, were oppressed by grief
at knowing that the gates remained shut. And then
THE BLOCKADE.
229
every one wants to know what is going on, to see
strangers and talk of the affairs of the conn try—no
one knows how necessary these tilings are until he
has had experience like ours. The meanest peasant,
the lowest man in Dagsburg who might have chanced
to come into the city, would have been received like
a god; everybody would have run to see him and
ask for the news from France.
Ah ! those are right who hold that liberty is the
greatest of blessings, for it is insupportable being
shut up in a prison—let it be as large as France.
Men are made to come and go, to talk and write,
and live together, to carry on trade, to tell the news ;
and if you take these from them, you leave nothing
desirable.
Governments do not understand this simple mat¬
ter; they think that they are stronger when they
prevent men from living at their ease, and at last
everybody is tired of them. The true power of a
sovereign is always in proportion to the liberty he
can give, and not to that which he is obliged to take
away. The allies had learned this for Napoleon,
and thence came their confidence.
The saddest thing of all was that, toward the end
of January, the citizens began to be in want. I
cannot say that money was scarce, because a centime
never went out of the city, but everything was dear;
THE BLOCKADE.
what three weeks before was worth two sous now
cost twenty ! This lias often led me to think that
scarcity of money is one of the fooleries invented by
scoundrels to deceive the weak-minded. What else
can make money scarce? You are not poor with
two sous, if they are enough to buy your bread,
wine, meat, clothes, etc.; but if you need twenty
times more to buy these things, then not only are
you poor, but the whole country is poor. There is
no want of money when everything is cheap; it is
always scarce when the necessaries of life are dear.
So, when people are shut up as we were, it is very
fortunate to be able to sell more than you buy. My
brandy sold for three francs the quart, but at the
same time we needed bread, oil, potatoes, and their
prices were all proportionately high.
One morning old Mother Queru came to my shop
weeping; she had eaten nothing for two days ! and yet
that was the least thing, said she ; she missed nothing
but her glass of wine, which I gave her gratis. She
gave me a hundred blessings and went away happy.
A good many others would have liked their glass
of wine ! I have seen old men in despair because
they had nothing to snuff; they even went so far as
to snuff ashes ; some at this time smoked the leaves of
the large walnut-tree by the arsenal, and liked it well.
Unfortunatelv, all this was but the beginning of
THE BLOCKADE.
231
want : later we learned to fast for the glory of his
majesty.
Toward the end of February, it became cold
again. Every evening they fired a hundred shells
upon us, but we became accustomed to all that, till
it seemed quite a thing of course. As soon as the
shell burst everybody ran to put out the fire, which
was an easy matter, since there were tubs full of
water ready in every house.
Our guns replied to the enemy; but as after ten
o'clock the Russians fired only with field-pieces, our
men could aim only at their fire, which was changing
continually, and it was not easy to reach them.
Sometimes the enemy fired incendiary balls ; these
are balls pierced with three nails in a triangle, and
filled with such inflammable matter that it could
be extinguished only by throwing the ball under
water, which was done.
We had as yet had no fires; but our outposts had
fallen back, and the allies drew closer and closer
around the city. They occupied the Ozillo farm,
Pernette's tile-kiln, and the Alaisons-Rouges, which
had been abandoned by our troops. Here they
intended to pass the winter pleasantly. These were
AVurtemburg, Bavarian, and Baden troops, and other
landwehr, who replaced in Alsace the regular troops
that had left for the iuterior.
232
THE BLOCKADE.
We could plainly see their sentinels in loner, gray¬
ish blue coats, fiat helmets, and muskets on their
shoulders, walking slowly in the poplar alley which
leads to the tile-kiln.
From thence these troops could any moment, on
a dark night, enter the trenches, and even attempt
to force a postern.
They were in large numbers and denied them¬
selves nothing, having three or four villages around
them to furnish their provisions, and the great fires
of the tile-kiln to keep them warm.
Sometimes a Russian battalion relieved them, but
only for a day or two, being obliged to continue its
route. These Russians bathed in the little pond
behind the building, in spite of the ice and snow
which filled it.
All of them, Russians, Wurtemburgers, and Baden
men, fired upon our sentinels, and we wondered that
our governor had not stopped them with our balls.
But one day the sergeant came in joyfully, and
whispered to me, winking:
" Get up early to-morrow morning, Father Moses;
don't say a word to any one, and follow me. You
will see something that will make you laugh."
" All right, sergeant 1" said I.
He went to bed at once, and long before day,
about five o'clock, I heard him jump out of bed,
TIIE BLOCKADE.
233
which astonished me the more, as I had not heard
the call.
I rose softly. Sorle sleepily asked me: " What is
it, Moses ?"
"Go to sleep again, Sorle," I replied; "the ser¬
geant told me that he wanted to show me some¬
thing."
She said no more, and I finished dressing myself.
Just then the sergeant knocked at the door; I blew
out the candle, and we went down. It was very dark.
We heard a faint noise in the direction of the bar¬
racks; the sergeant went toward it, saying : "Go up
on the bastion ; we are going to attack the tile-kiln."
I ran up the street at once. As I came upon the
N ramparts I saw in the shadow of the bastion on the
right our gunners at their pieces. They did not
stir, and all around was still; matches lighted and
set in the ground gave the only light, and shone
like stars in the darkness.
Five or six citizens, in the secret, like myself,
stood motionless at the entrance of the postern.
The usual cries, " Sentries, Attention!" were an¬
swered around the city; and without, from the part
of the enemy, we heard the cries " Verdd /" and
" Sot ('Ida /"*
* "Who goes there ?
234
TI1E BLOCKADE
It was very cold, a dry cold, notwithstanding the
fog.
Soon, from the direction of the square in the in¬
terior of the city, a number of men went up the
street; if they had kept step the enemy would have
heard them from the distance upon the glacis; but
they came pell-mell, and turned near us into the
postern stair-way. It took full ten minutes for
them to pass. You can imagine whether I watched
them, and yet I could not recognize our sergeant in
the darkness.
The two companies formed again in the trenches
after their defiling, and all was still.
My feet were perfectly numb, it was so cold; but
curiosity kept me there.
At last, after about half an hour, a pale line
stretched behind the bottom-land of Fiquet, around
the woods of La Bonne Fontaine. Captain Rolfo,
the other citizens, and myself, leaned against the
rampart, and looked at the snow-covered plain,
where some German patrols were wandering in the
fog, and nearer to us, at the foot of the glacis, the
"Wurtemburg sentinel stood motionless in the poplar
alley which leads to the large shed of the tile-kiln.
Everything was still gray and indistinct; though
the winter sun, as white as snow, rose above the
dark line of firs. Our soldiers stood motionless,
THE BLOCKADE.
235
with grounded arms, in the covered ways. The
" Vbrdds /" and " Sou'idas /" went their rounds. It
grew lighter every moment.
No one would have believed that a fight was pre¬
paring, when six o'clock sounded from the mayor¬
alty, and suddenly our two companies, without
command, started, shouldering their arms, from the
covered ways, and silently descended the glacis.
In less than a minute, they reached the road
which stretches along the gardens, and defiled to
the left, following the hedges.
You cannot imagine my fright when I found that
the fight was about to begin. It was not yet clear
daylight, but still the enemy's sentinel saw the line
of bayonets filing behind the hedges, and called out
in a terrible way : " Verdd /"
"Forward !" replied Captain Yigneron, in a voice
like thunder, and the heavy soles of our soldiers
sounded on the hard ground like an avalanche.
The sentinel fired, and then ran up the alley,
shouting I know not what. Fifteen of the landwehr,
who formed the outpost under the old shed used for
drying bricks, started at once; they did not have
time for repentance, but were all massacred without
mercy.
We could not see very well at that distance,
through the hedges and poplars, but after the post
236
TI1E BLOCKADE.
was earned, tire firing of the musketry ami the hor¬
rible cries were heard even in the city.
All the unfortunate landwehr who were quartered
in the Pernette farm-house—a large number of whom
were undressed, like respectable men at home, so as
to sleep more comfortably—-jumped from the win¬
dows in their pantaloons, in their drawers, in their
shirts, with tl ir cartridge-boxes on their backs, and
ranged themselves behind the tile-kiln, in the large
Seltier meadow. Their officers urged them on, and
gave their orders in the midst of the tumult.
There must have been six or seven hundred of
them there, almost naked in the snow, and, notwith¬
standing their being thus surprised, they opened a
running fire which was well sustained, when our two
pieces on the bastion began to take part in the contest.
Oh ! what carnage !
Looking down upon them, you should have seen
the bullets hit, and the shirts fly in the air! And,
what was worst for these poor wretches, they had
to close ranks, because, after destroying everything
in the tile-kiln, our soldiers went out to make an
attack with their bayonets!
What a situation!—-just imagine it, Fritz, for
respectable citizens, merchants, bankers, brewers,
innkeepers—peaceable men who wanted nothing but
peace and quietness.
THE BLOCKADE.
237
I have always thought, since then, that the land-
wehr system is a very had one, and that it is much
better to pay a good army of volunteers, who are
attached to the country, and know that their pay,
pensions, and decorations come from the nation and
not from the government; young men devoted to
their country like those of '92, and full of enthusi¬
asm, because they are respected and honored in
proportion to their sacrifices. Yes, this is what
they ought to be—and not men who are thinking of
their wives and children.
Our balls struck down these poor fathers and
husbands by the dozen. To add to all these abom¬
inations, two other companies, sent out with the
greatest secrecy by the council of defence from the
posterns of the guard and of the German gate, and
which came up, one by the Saverne road, and the
other by the road of Petit-Saint-Jean, now began to
outflank them, and forming behind them, fired upon
them in the rear.
It must be confessed that these old soldiers of the
Empire had a diabolical talent for stratagem! Who
would ever have imagined such a stroke !
On seeing this, the remnant of the landwehr dis¬
banded on the great white plain like a whirlwind of
sparrows. Those who had not had time to put on
their shoes did not mind the stones or briers or
238
THE BLOCKADE.
thorns of the Fiqnet bottom ; they ran like stags,
the stoutest as fast as the rest.
Our soldiers followed them as skirmishers,
stopping not a second except to make ready and
tire. All the ground in front, up to the old beech
in the middle of the meadow of Quatre-Vents, was
covered with their bodies.
Their colonel, a burgomaster doubtless, galloped
before them on horseback, his shirt flying out behind
him.
If the Baden soldiers, quartered in the village,
had not come to their assistance, they would all have
been exterminated. But two battalions of Baden
men being deployed at the right of Quatre-Vents,
our trumpets sounded the recall, and the four com¬
panies formed in the alley des Dames to await
them.
The Baden soldiers then halted, and the last of
the Wurtemburgers passed behind them, glad to
escape from such a terrible destruction. They
could well say: "I know what war is—I have seen
it at the worst!"
It was now seven o'clock—the whole city was on
the ramparts. Soon a thick smoke rose above the
tile-kiln and the surrounding buildings; some sap¬
pers had gone out with faggots and set it on fire.
THE BLOCKADE.
2.10
It was all burned to cinders; nothing remained but
a great black space, and some rubbish behind the
poplars.
Our four companies, seeing that the Baden
soldiers did not mean to attack them, returned
quietly, the trumpeter leading.
Long before this, I had gone down to the square,
near the German gate, to meet our troops as they
came back. It was one of the sights which I shall
never forget; the post under arms, the veterans
hanging by the chains of the lowered drawbridge;
the men, women, and children pushing in the street;
and outside, on the ramparts, the trumpets sounding,
and answered from the distance, by the echoes of
the bastions and half-moon; the wounded, who,
pale, tattered, covered with blood, came in first,
supported on the shoulders of their comrades;
Lieutenant Schnindret, in one of the tile-kiln arm¬
chairs, his face covered with sweat, with a bullet in
his abdomen, shouting with thick voice and ex¬
tended hand, " Vive VEmfierexvr /" the soldiers who
threw the Wurtemburg commander from his litter
to put one of our own in it; the drums under the
gate beating the march, while the troops, with arms
at will, and bread and all kinds of provisions stuck
on their bayonets, entered proudly in the midst of
240 THE BLOCKADE.
the shouts : " Hurra for the St.rth Lhjht Infantry !n
These are things which only ohl people can boast
of having seen !
Ah, Fritz, men are not what they once were! In
my time, foreigners paid the cost of war. The
Emperor Napoleon had that virtue; he ruined not
France, but his <mmies. Now a-days we pay for
our own glory.
And, in those times, the soldiers brought back
booty, sacks, epaulettes, cloaks, officers' sashes,
watches, etc., etc.! They remembered that General
Bonaparte had said to them in 1790 : " You need
clothes and shoes; the Bepublic owes you much,
she can give you nothing. I am going to lead you
into the richest country in the world; there you
will find honors, glory, riches!" In fine, I saw at
once that we were going to sell glasses of wine at
a great rate.
As the sergeant passed I called to him from the
distance, "Sergeant !"
He saw me in the crowd, and we shook hands
joyfully. "All right, Father Moses! All right!"
he said.
Everybody laughed.
Then, without waiting for the end of the pro¬
cession, I ran to the market to open my shop.
Little Sufel had also understood that we were
THE BLOCKADE.
241
going to have a profitable clay, for, in the midst of
the crowd, he had come and pulled my coat-tails,
and said, "I have the key of the market; I have it;
let us make haste! Let us try to get there before
Frichard!"
Whatever natural wit a child may have, it shows
itself at once; it is truly a gift of God.
So we ran to the shop. I opened my windows,
and Safel remained while I went home to eat a
morsel, and get a good quantity of sous and small
change.
Sorle and Zeffen were at their counter selling
small glassfuls. Everything went well as usual.
But a quarter of an hour later, when the soldiers
had broken ranks and put back their muskets in
their places at the barracks, the crowd at my shop
in the market, of people wishing to sell me coats,
sacks, watches, pistols, cloaks, epaulettes, etc., was
so great that without Safel's help I never could have
got out of it.
I got all these things for almost nothing. Meu
o o o
of this sort never trouble themselves about to-mor¬
row; their only thought was to live well from one
day to another, to have* tobacco, brandy, and the
other good things which are never wanting in a
garrisoned town.
That day, in six hours' time, I refurnished my
11
THE BLOCKADE.
shop with co,its, cloaks, pantaloons, ami thick boots
of genuine German leather, of the first quality, and
I bought things of all sorts—nearly fifteen hundred
pounds' worth—which I afterward sold for six or
seven times more than they cost me. All those
landwehr were well-to-do, and even rich citizens,
with good, substantial clothes.
The soldiers, too, sold me a good many watches,
w hich Goolden the old watchmaker did not want,
because they were taken from the dead.
But what gave me more pleasure than all the
rest, was that Frichard, who was sick for three or
four davs, could not come and open his shop. It
makes me laugh now to think of it. It gave the
rascal that green jaundice which never left him as
long as he lived.
At noon Safel went to fetch our dinner in a
basket; we ate under the shed so as not to lose
custom, and could not leave for a minute till night.
Scarcely had one set gone, before two and often
three others came at once.
I was sinking with fatigue, and so was Safel;
nothing but our love of trade sustained us.
Another pleasant thing which I recall is that, on
going home a few minutes before seven, we saw at
a distance that our other shop was full. Aly wife
and daughter had not been able to close it; they
THE BLOCKADE.
2L3
Lad raised the price, and the soldiers did not even
notice it,—it seemed all right to them; so that not
only the French money which I had just given
them, but also Wurtemburg florins came to my
pocket.
Two trades which help each other along are an
excellent thing, Fritz: remember that! Without
my brandies I should not have had the money to
buy so many goods, and without the market where
I gave ready money for the booty, the soldiers
would not have had wherewith to buy my brandy.
This shows us plainly that the Lord favors orderly
and peaceable men, provided they know how to
make the best use of their opportunities.
At length, as we could not do more, we were
obliged to close the shop, in spite of the protesta¬
tions of the soldiers, and defer business till to-mor¬
row.
About nine o'clock, after supper, we all sat down
together around the large lamp, to count our gains.
I made rolls of three francs each, and on the chair
next me the pile reached almost to the top of the
table. Little Safel put the white pieces in a wooden
bowl. It was a pleasant sight to us all, and Sorle
said : " We have sold twice as much as usual. The
more we raise the price the better it sells."
I was going to reply that still we must use mod-
THE BLOCKADE.
eration in all things—for these women, even the
best of them, do not know that—when the sergeant
came in to take his little glass. lie wore his forag¬
ing coat, and carried hung across his cape a kind of
bag of red leather.
" lie, he, he !" said he, as he saw the rolls. " The
devil! the devil! You ought to be satisfied with
this day's work, Father Moses ?"
"Yes, not bad, sergeant," I joyfully replied.
" I think," said he, as he sat down and tasted the
litte glass of cherry-brandy, which Zeffen had just
poured out for him, "I think that after one or two
sorties more, you will do for colonel of the shop¬
keepers' regiment. So much the better; I am very
glad of it!"
Then, laughing heartily, he said,
" He, Father Moses ! see what I have here ; these
rascals of kaiserlicks deny themselves nothing."
At the same time he opened his bag, and began
to draw out a pair of mittens lined with fox-skin,
then some good woollen stockings, and a large knife
with a horn handle and blades of very fine steel. He
opened the blades :
" There is everything here," said he, " a prnning-
knife, a saw, small knives and large ones, even to a-
file for nails."
" For finger-naiis, sergeant !" said I.
THE BLOCKADE.
215
" Ah ! very likely !" said he. " This big landwehr
was as nice as a new crown-piece, lie would be
likely to tile his finger-nails. But wait!"
Aly wife and children, leaning over us, looked on
with eager eyes. Thrusting his hand into a sort of
portfolio in the side of the bag, he drew out a hand¬
some miniature, surrounded with a circle of gold in
the shape of a watch, but larger.
" See ! What ought this to be worth ?"
I looked, then Sorle, then Zeffen, and Safel. We
were all surprised at seeing a work of such beauty,
and even touched, for the miniature represented a
fair young woman and two lovely children, as fresh
as rose-buds.
" Well, what do you think of that ?" asked the
sergeant.
" It is very beautiful," said Sorle.
" Yes, but what is it worth ?"
I took the miniature and examined it.
"To any one else, sergeant," said I," I should say
that it was worth fifty francs; but the gold alone is
worth more, and I should estimate it at a hundred
francs ; we can weigh it."
"And the portrait, Father Moses?"
" The portrait is worth nothing to me, and I will
give it back to you. Such things do not sell in this
country ; they are of no value except to the family.
24-ti T1IE BLOCKADE.
" Very well," said he, " we will talk about that
bye-and-bye."
He put back the miniature into the bag.
" Do von read German ?" he asked.
*!
" Very well."
" Ah, good ! I am curious to hear what this kai-
serlick had to write. See, it is a letter! He was
keeping it doubtless for the baggage-master to send
it to Germany. But we came too soon ! What
does it say ?"
lie handed me a letter addressed to "Madame Iloe-
dig, Stuttgart, No. 0 Bergstrasse. That letter,
Fritz, here it is. Sorle has kept it; it will tell you
more about the landwehr than I can."
" Biegelberg, Feb. 25, 1814.
" Dear Aurelia : Thy good letter of January
29th reached Coblentz too late; the regiment was
on its way to Alsace.
"We have had a great many discomforts, from
rain and snow. The regiment came first to Bitehe,
one of the most terrible forts possible, built upon
rocks up in the sky. We were to take part in block¬
ading it, but a new order sent us on farther to the
fort of Lutzclstein, on the mountain, where we
remained two days at the village of Petersbach, to
summon that little place to surrender. 1 he veterans
THE BLOCKADE.
247
who held it having replied by cannon, our colonel
did not judge it necessary to storm it, and, thank
God! we received orders to go and blockade
another fortress surrounded by good villages
which furnish us provisions in abundance ; this is
Phalsburg, a couple of leagues from Saverne. We
relieve, here, the Austrian regiment of Vogelgesang.
7 7 O ~ ~ ~
which has left for Lorraine.
" Thy good letter has followed me everywhere,
and it fills me now with joy. Embrace little Sabrina
and our dear little Henry for me a hundred times,
and receive my embraces yourself, too, thou dear,
adored wife !
" Ah ! when shall we be together again in our
little pharmacy? When shall I see again my vials
nicely labelled upon their shelves, with the heads of
HEsculapius and Hippocrates above the door ? When
shall I take my pestle, and mix my drugs again after
the prescribed formulas? When shall I have the
joy of sitting again in my comfortable arm-chair, in
front of a good fire, in our back shop, and hear
Henry's little wooden horse roll upon the floor,—
Henry whom I so long for ? And thou, dear, adored
wife, when wilt thou exclaim : ' It is my Henry !'
as thou seest me return crowned with palms of
victory."
" These Germans," interrupted the sergeant, " are
248
THE BLOCKADE.
blockheads as well as asses ! They are to have
' palms of victory!' What a silly lettei !"
But Sorle and Zcffcn listened as I read, with tears
in their eyes. They held our little ones in their
arms, and I, too, thinking that Baruch might have
been in the same condition as this poor man, was
greatly moved.
Now, Fritz, hear the end:
' We are here in an old tile-kiln, within range of
the cannon of the fort. A few shells are fired upon
the city every evenin<_r, by order of the lius&ian
general, Berdiaiw, with the hope of making the in¬
habitants decide to open the gates. That must be
before long; they are short of provisions! Then
we shall be comfortably lodged in the citizens'
houses, till the end of this glorious campaign ; and
that will be soon, for the regular armies have all
passed without resistance, and we hear daily of
great victories in Champagne. Bonaparte is in full
retreat; field-marshals Bliicher and Schwartzenberg
have united their forces, and are only five or six
days' march from Paris •"
"What? What? What is that? What does
he say?" stammered out the »i rgeant, leaning over
toward the letter. "Head that again !"
I looked at him ; he was very pale, and his cheeks
shook with anger.
THE BLOCKADE.
249
" He says that generals Bliicher and Sclnvartzen-
berg are near Paris."
"Near Paris! They! The rascals!" he faltered
out.
Suddenly, with a bad look on his face, he gave a
low laugh and said :
" Ah ! thou meanest to take Phalsburg, dost thou ?
Thou meanest to return to thy land of sauerkrout
with palms of victory ? lie ! he ! he ! I have given
thee thy palms of victory !"
lie made the motions of pricking with his bayonet
as he spoke, " One—tmo—hop !"
It made us all tremble only to look at him.
"Yes, Father Moses, so it is," said he, emptying
his glass by little sips. " I have nailed this sort of
an apothecary to the door of the tile-kiln. He made
up a funny face—his eyes starting from his head.
His Aurelia will have to expect him a good while !
But never mind ! Only, Madame Sorle, I assure you
that it is a lie. You must not believe a word he
says. The Emperor will give it to them ! Don't be
troubled."
I did not wish to go on. I felt myself grow cold,
and I finished the letter quickly, passing over three-
quarters of it which contained no information, only
compliments for friends and acquaintances.
The sergeant himself had had enough of it, and
250
THE BLOCKADE.
went out soon afterward, saying, " Good-nighi!
Throw that in the fire !"
Then I put the letter aside, and we all sat looking
at each other for some minutes. I opened the door.
The sergeant was in his room at the end of the pas¬
sage, and I said, in a low voice:
"What a horrible thing! Not only to kill the
father of a family like a fly, hut to laugh about it
afterward !"
"Yes," replied Sorle. "And the worst of it is
that he is not a bad man. He loves the Emperor
too well, that is all!"
The information contained in the letter caused us
much serious reflection, and that night, notwith¬
standing our stroke of good fortune in our sales, I
woke more than once, and thought of this terrible
war, and wondered what would become of the coun¬
try if Napoleon were no longer its master. But
these questions were above my comprehension, and
I did not know how to answer them.
XVII.
famine and fever.
After this story of the landwehr, we were afraid
of the sergeant, though he did not know it, and
came regularly to take his glass of cherry-brandy.
Sometimes in the evening he would hold the bottle
before our lamp, and exclaim :
"It is getting low, father Moses, it is getting
low! We shall soon be put upon half-rations, and
then quarter, and so on. It is all the same; if a
drop is left, anything more than the smell, in six
months, Trubert will be very glad."
He laughed, and I thought with indignation :
"You. will be satisfied with a drop! W'hat are
you in want of? The city storehouses are bomb¬
proof, the fires at the guard-house are burning every
day, the market furnishes every soldier with his
ration of fresh meat, while respectable citizens are
glad if they can get potatoes and salt meat!"
252
THE BLOCKADE.
This is the way I felt in my ill-humor, while 1
treated him pleasantly, all the same, on account of
his terrible wickedness.
And it was the truth, Fritz, even our children had
nothing more nourishing to eat than soup made of
potatoes and salt beef, which cause many dangerous
maladies.
The garrison had no lack of anything ; but, not¬
withstanding, the governor was all the time pro¬
claiming that the visits were to be recommenced,
and that those who should be found delinquent
should be punished with the rigor of military law.
Those people wanted to have everything for them¬
selves; but nobody minded them, everybody hid
what he could.
Fortunate in those times was he who kept a cow
in his cellar, with some hay and straw for fodder;
milk and butter were beyond all price. Fortunate
was he who owned a few hens; a fresh egg, at the
end of February, was valued at fifteen sous, and
they were not to be had even at that price. The
price of fresh meat went up, so to speak, from hour
to hour, and we did not ask if it was beef or horse¬
flesh.
The council of defence had sent away the paupers
of the city before the blockade, but a large number
of poor people remained. A good many slipped out
THE BLOCKADE.
253
at night into the trenches by one of the posterns;
they would go and dig up roots from under the
snow, and cut the nettles in the bastions to boil for
spinage. The sentries fired from above, but what
will not a man risk for food ? It is better to feel a
ball than to suffer with hunger.
We needed only to meet these emaciated crea¬
tures, these women dragging themselves along the
walls, these pitiful children, to feel that famine had
come, and we often said to ourselves :
"If the Emperor does not come and help us, in a
month we shall be like these wretched creatures!
What good will our money do us, when a raddish
will cost a hundred francs ?"
Then, Fritz, we smiled 110 more as we saw the
little ones eating around the table; we looked
at each other, and this glance was enough to make
us understand each other.
The good sense and good feeling of a brave
woman are seen at times like this. Sorle had never
spoken to me about our provisions; I knew how
prudent site was, and supposed that we must have
provisions hidden somewhere, without being entirely
sure of it. So, at evening, as we sat at our meagre
supper, the fear that our children might want
tlie necessary food sometimes led me to say :
" Eat! feast away! I am not hungry. I want
THE BLOCKADE.
nn omelet or a chicken. Potatoes do not agree
V-ith me."
I would laugh, hut Sorle knew very well what I
was thinking.
"Come, Moses," she said to me one day; "we are
not as badly off as you think ; and if we should come to
it, ah, well! do not he troubled, we shall find some way
of getting along ! So long as others have something
to live upon, we shall not perish, more than they."
She gave me courage, and I ate cheerfully, I had
so much confidence in her.
That same evening, after ZefFen and the children
had gone to bed, Sorle took the lamp, and led me to
her hiding-place.
Under the house we had three cellars, very small
and very low, separated by lattices. Against the
last of these lattices, Sorle had thrown bundles of
straw up to the very top; but after removing the
straw, we went in, and I saw at the further end, two
bags of potatoes, a bag of flour, and on the little
oil-cask a large piece of salt beef.
Me stayed there more than an hour, to look, and
calculate, and think. These provisions might serve us
for a month, and those in the large cellar under the
street, which we had declared to the commissary of
provisions, a fortnight. So that Sorle said to me as
we went up :
THE BLOCKADE.
255
"You see that, with economy, we have what will
do for six weeks. A time of great want is now
beginning, and if the Emperor does not come before
the end of six weeks, the city will surrender.
Meanwhile, we must get along with potatoes and
salt meat."
She was right, but every day I saw how the chil¬
dren wei'e suffering from this diet. We could see
that they grew thin, especially little David ; his
large bright eyes, his hollow cheeks, his increasing
dejected look, made my heart ache.
I held him, I caressed him ; I whispered to him
that, when the winter was over, we would go to
Saverne, and his father would take him to drive in
his carriage. He would look at me dreamily, and
then lay his head upon my shoulder, with his arm
around my neck, without answering. At last he
refused to eat.
Zeffen, too, became disheartened ; she would often
sob, and take her babe from me, and say that she
wanted to go, that she wanted to see Baruch ! You
do not know what these troubles are, Fritz; a
father's troubles for his children; they are the
crudest of all! No child can imagine how his
parents love him, and what they suffer when he is
unhappy.
But what was to be done in the midst of such
250
THE BLOCKADE.
calamities? Many other families in Fiance were
still more to be pitied than we.
During all this time, you must remember that we
had the patrols, the shells in the evening, requisition
and notices, the call to arms at the two barracks and
in front of the mayoralty, the cries of" Fire !" in
the night, the noise of the fire-engines, the arrival of
the envoys, the rumors spread through the city that
our armies were retreating, and that the city was to
be burned to the ground !
The less people know the more they invent.
It is best to tell the simple truth. Then everyone
would take courage, for, during all such times, I
have always seen that the truth, even in the greatest
calamities, is never so terrible as these inventions.
The republicans defended themselves so well, because
they knew everything, nothing was concealed from
them, and every one considered the affairs of his
nation as his own.
But when men's own affairs are hidden from them,
how can they have confidence ? An honest man has
nothing to conceal, and I say it is the same with an
honest government.
In short, bad weather, cold, want, rumors of all
kinds, increased our miseries. Men like Burguet,
whom we had always seen firm, became sad ; all that
they could say to us was :
THE BLOCKADE.
"We shall see!—we must wait!" The soldiers
again began to desert, and were shot!
Our brandy-selling always kept on : I had already
emptied seven pipes of spirit, all my debts were paid,
my store-house at the market was full of goods, and
I had eighteen thousand francs in the cellar; but
what is money, when we are trembling for the life
of those we love ?
On the sixth of March, about nine o'clock in the
evening, we had just finished supper as usual, and
the sergeant was smoking his pipe, with his legs
crossed, near the window, and looking at us without
speaking.
It was the hour when the bombarding began ;
we heard the first cannon-shots, behind the Fiquet
bottom-land; a cannon-shot from the outposts had
answered them ; that had somewhat roused us, for
we were all thoughtful.
"Father Moses," said the sergeant, " the children
are pale !"
" I know it very well," I replied, sorrowfully.
He said no more, and as Zeffen had just gone out
to weep, he took little David on his knee, and looked
at him for a long time. Sorle held little Esdras
asleep in her arms. Safel took off the tablecloth
and rolled up the napkins, to put them back in the
closet.
2!fS
THE BLOCKADE.
"Yes," said the sergeant "We must take care,
Father Moses; we will talk about it anothei
time."
I looked at him with surprise; he emptied his pipe
at the edge of the stove, and went out, making a
sign for me to follow him. Zetfen came in, and I
took a candle from her hand. The sergeant led me
to his little room at the end of the passage, shut the
door, sat down on the foot of the bed, and said:
" Father Moses, do not be frightened—but the
typhus has just broken out again in the city; five
soldiers were taken to the hospital this morning; the
commandant of the place, Moulin, is taken. I hear,
too, of a woman and three children!"
He looked at me, and I felt cold all over.
" Yes," said he, "I have known this disease for a
long time ; we had it in Poland, in Russia, after the
retreat, and in Germany. It always comes from
poor nourishment."
Then I could not help sobbing and exclaiming:
"Ah, tell me! What can I do? If I could give
my life for my children, it would all be well! But
what can I do ?"
" To-morrow, Father Moses, I will bring you my
portion of meat, and you shall have soup made of
it for your children. Madame Sorle may take the
piece at the market, or, if you prefer, I will bring it
THE BLOCKADE.
259
myself. You shall have all my portions of fresh
meat till the blockade is over, Father Moses."
I was so moved by this, that I went to him and
took his hand, saying :
" Sergeant, you are a noble man! Forgive me, I
have thought evil of you."
" What about ?"' said he, scowling.
" About the landwehr at the tile-kiln !"
" Ah, good ! That is a different thing ! I do not
care about that," said he. " If you knew all the
kaiserlichs that I have dispatched these ten years, you
would have thought more evil of me. But that is not
what we are talking about; you accept,Father Moses?"
" And you, sergeant," said I, " what will you have
to eat ?"
" Do not be troubled about that; Sergeant Tru-
bert has never been in want!"
I wanted to thank him. "Good!" said he, "that
is all understood. I cannot give you a pike, or a fat
goose, but a good soup in blockade times is worth
something, too."
He laughed and shook hands with me. As for
myself I was quite overcome, and my eyes were full
of tears.
"Let us go; good-night!" said he, as he led me
to the door. " It will all come out right! Tell
Madame Sorle that it will all come out right!"
260
THE BLOCKADE.
I blessed that man as I went out, and I told it all
to Sorle, who was still more affected by it than my¬
self. We could not refuse; it was for the children !
and during the last week there had been nothing
but horse-meat in the market.
So the next morning we had fresh meat to make
soup for those poor little ones. But the dreadful
malady was already upon us, Fritz! Now, when I
think of it, after all these years, I am quite overcome.
However, I cannot complain; before going to take
the bit of meat, I had consulted our old rabbi about
the quality of this meat according to the law, and
he had replied :
"The first law is to save Israel; but how can
Israel be saved if the children perish ?"
But after a while I remembered that other law:
" The life of the flesh is in the blood, therefore I
said unto the children of Israel: Ye shall eat the
blood of no manner of flesh, for the life of all flesh
is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be
cut off; and whosoever eateth of any sick beast
shall be unclean."
In my great misery the words of the Lord came
to me, and I wept.
All these animals had been sick for six weeks;
they lived in the mire, exposed to the snow and
wind, between the arsenal and guard bastions.
THE BLOCKADE.
261
The soldiers, almost all of whom were sons of
peasants, ought to have known that they could not
live in the open air, in such cold weather; a sheltel
could easily have been made. But when officers
take the whole charge, nobody else thinks of any¬
thing; they even forget their own village trades.
And if, unfortunately, their commanders do not give
the order, nothing is done.
This is the reason that the animals had neither
flesh nor fat; this is the reason that they were noth¬
ing but miserable, trembling carcasses, and their
suffering, unhealthy flesh had become unclean, ac¬
cording to the law of God.
Many of the soldiers died. The wind brought to
the city the bad air from the bodies, scattered by
hundreds around the tile-kiln, the Ozillo farm, and
in the gardens, and this also caused much sickness.
The justice of the Lord is shown in all things;
when the living neglect their duties toward the
dead, they perish.
I have often remembered these things when it was
too late, so that I think of them only with griefl
XVIII.
death of diitle david.
The most painful of all my recollections, Fritz, is
the way in which that terrible disease came to our
family.
On the twelfth of March we heard of a large
number of men, women, and children who were
dying. "We dared not listen ; we said:
"No one in our house is sick, the Lord watches
over us!"
After David had come, after supper, to cuddle in
my arms, with his little hand on my shoulder, I
looked at him; he seemed very drowsy, but children
are always sleepy at night. Esdras was already
asleep, and Safel had just bidden us good-night.
At last Zelfen took the child, and we all went to
bed.
That night the Russians did not fire ; perhaps the
typhus was among them, too. I do not know.
THE BLOCKADE.
263
About midnight, when by God's goodness we were
asleep, I heard a terrible cry.
I listened, and Sorld said to me:
" It is Zeffen !"
I rose at once, and tried to light the lamp; but 1
was so much agitated that I could not find anything.
Sorle struck a light, I drew on my pantaloons and
ran to the door. But I was hardly in the passage¬
way when Zeffen came out of her room like an insane
person, with her long black hair all loose.
" The child !" she screamed.
Sorle followed me. We went in, we leaned over
the cradle. The two children seemed to be sleeping;
Esdras all rosj-, David as white as snow.
At first I saw nothing, I was so frightened, but at
last I took up David to waken him ; I shook him,
and called, "David !"
And then we first saw that his eyes were open and
fixed.
" Wake him ! wake him !" cried Zeffen.
Sorle took my hands and said :
" Quick! make a fire ! heat some water!"
And we laid him across the bed, shaking him and
calling him by name. Little Esdras began to cry.
"Light a fire!" said Sorle again to me. "And,
Zeffen, be quiet! It does no good to cry so ! Quick,
quick, a fire!"
264
THE BLOCKADE.
But Zeffen cried out incessantly. "My poor child !"
" He will soon be warm again," said Sorle ; " only,
Moses, make haste and dress yourself, and run lor
Doctor Steinbrenner."
She was pale and more alarmed than we, but this
brave woman never lost her presence of mind or
her courage. She had made a fire, and the faggots
were crackling in the chimney.
I ran to get my cloak, and went down, thinking
to myself:
" The Lord have mercy upon us ! If the child
dies I shall not survive him! No, he is the one that
1 love best, I could not survive him !"
For you know, Fritz, that the child who is most
unhappy, or in the greatest danger, is always the
one that we love best; he needs us the most; we
forget the others. The Lord has ordered it so,
doubtless for the greatest good.
I was already running in the street.
A darker night was never known. The wind
blew from the Rhine, the snow blew about like dust;
here and there the lighted windows showed where
people were watching the sick.
My head was uncovered, yet I did not feel the
cold. I cried within myself:
" The last day had come ! That day of which the
Lord has said: 'Afore the harvest, when the bud
THE BLOCKADE.
265
is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the
flower, he shall both cut off" the sprigs with pruning-
hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.' "
Full of these fearful thoughts, I went across the
large market-place, where the wind was tossing the
old elms, full of frost.
As the clock struck one, I pushed open Doctor
Steinbrenner's door ; its large pulley rattled in the
vestibule. As 1 was groping about, trying to find
the railing, the servant appeared with a light at the
top of the stairs.
" Who is there ?" she asked, holding the lantern
before her.
"Ah!" I replied, "tell the doctor to come imme¬
diately ; we have a child sick, very sick."
I could not restrain my sobs.
" Come up, Monsieur Moses," said the girl: " the
doctor has just come in, and has not gone to bed.
Come up a moment and warm yourself!"
But Father Steinbrenner had heard it all.
" Very well, Theresa !" said he, coming out of his
room; "keep the fire burning. I shall be back in
an hour at latest."
lie had already put on his large three-cornered
cap, and his goat's-hair great-coat.
We walked across the square without sp>eaking.
I went first; in a few minutes we ascended our stairs.
12
266
TTIE BLOCKADE.
Sorle had placed a candle at the top of the stair*,
I took it and led M. Steinbrenner to the baby's
room.
All seemed quiet as we entered. Zeffen was sitting
in an arm-chair behind the door, with her head on
her knees, and her shoulders uncovered ; she was no
longer crying but weeping. The child was in bed ;
Sorle, standing at its side, looked at us.
The doctor laid his cap 011 the bureau.
" It is too warm here," said he, " give us a little
air."
Then he went to the bed. Zeffen had risen from
her chair, as pale as death. The doctor took the
lamp, and looked at our poor little David ; he raised
the coverlet and lifted out the little round limbs; he
listened to the breathing. Esdras having begun to
cry, he turned round and said: "Take the other
child away from this room—we must be quiet! and
besides, the air of a sick-room is not good lor such
small children."
He gave me a side look. I understood what he
meant to say. It was the typhus! I looked at my
wife; she understood it all.
I felt at that moment as if my heart were torn; I
wanted to groan, but Zeffen was there leaning over,
behind 11s, and I said nothing ; nor did Sorle.
The doctor asked for paper to write a prescription,
THE BLOCKADE.
2G7
and we went out together. I led liiin to our room,
and shut the door, and began to sob.
" Moses," said he, " you are a man, do not weep !
Remember that you ought to set an example of
courage to two poor women."
" Is there no hope?" I asked him in a low voice,
afraid of being heard.
"It is the typhus!" said he. "We will do what
we can. There, that is the prescription; go to Tri-
bolin's; his boy is up at night now, and he will give
you the medicine. Be quick ! And then, in heaven's
name, take the other child out of that room, and
your daughter too, if possible. Try to find some
one out of the family, accustomed to sickness; the
typhus is contagious."
I said nothing.
He took his cap and -went.
Now what can I say more? The typhus is a
disease engendered by death itself; the prophet
speaks of it, when he says :
" Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet
thee at thy coming !"
How many have I seen die of the typhus in our
hospitals, on the Saverne hill, and elsewhere!
When men tear each other to pieces, without
mercy, why should not death come to help them ?
But what had this poor babe done that it must die
2G8
TIIE BLOCKADE.
so soon ? This, Fritz, is the most dreadful thing,
that all must suffer for the crimes of a few. Yes,
when I think that my child died of this pestilence,
which war had brought from the heart of Russia to
our homes, and which ravaged all Alsace and Lor¬
raine for six months, instead of accusing God, as the
impious do, I accuse men. Has not God given them
reason ? And when they do not use it—when they
let themselves rage against each other like brutes—
is lie to blame for it ?
But of what use are right ideas, when we are
suffering !
I remember that the sickness lasted for six days,
and those were the crudest days of my life. I
feared for my wife, for my daughter, for Safe], for
Esdras. I sat in a corner, listening to the babe's
7 O
breathing. Sometimes he seemed to breathe no
longer. Then a chill passed over me; I went to
him and listened. And when, by chance, Zeffen
came, in spite of the doctor's prohibition, I went
into a sort of fury; I pushed her out by the shoul¬
ders, trembling.
" But he is my child! He is my child !" she
said.
"And art thou not my child too?" said I. "I
do not want you all to die !"
Then I burst into tears, and fell into my chair,
TIIE BLOCKADE.
260
looking straight before me, my strength all gone; I
was exhausted with grief.
Sorle came and went, with firm-closed lips ; she
prepared everything, and cared for everybody.
At that time musk was the remedy for typhus;
the house was full of musk. Often the idea seized
me that Esdras, too, was going to be sick. Ah, if
having children is the greatest happiness in the
world, what agony is it to see them suffer! How
fearful to think of losing them !—to be there, to
hear their labored breathing, their delirium, to
watch their sinking from hour to hour, from minute
to minute, and to exclaim from the depths of the
soul:
"Death is near at hand ! There is nothing, noth¬
ing more that can be done to save thee, my child!
I cannot give thee my life! Death does not wish
for it!"
What heart-rending and what anguish, till the
last moment when all is over!
Then, Fritz, money, the blockade, the famine, the
general desolation—all were forgotten. I hardly
saw the sergeant open our door every morning, and
look in, asking:
" Well, Father Moses, well ?"
I did not know what he said; I paid no attention
to him.
270
THE BLOCKADE.
But. what I always think of with pleasure, what
I am always proud of, is that, in the midst of all
this trouble, when Sorle, Zeffen, myself, and every¬
body were beside ourselves, when we forgot all
about our business, and let everything go, little
Safel at once took charge of our shop. Every morn¬
ing we heard him rise at six o'clock, go down, open
the warehouse, take up one or two pitchers of brandy,
and begin to serve the customers.
lSro one had said a word to him about it, but
Safel had a genius for trade. And if anything could
console a father in such troubles, it would be to see
himself, as it were, living over again in so young a
child, and to say to himself; "At least the good
race is not extinct; it still remains to preserve com¬
mon-sense in the world." Yes, it is the only con¬
solation which a man can have.
Our Hchabes goie did the work in the kitchen, and
old Lanche helped us watch, but Safel took the
charge of the shop; his mother and I thought of
nothing but our little David.
lie died in the night of the eighteenth of March,
the day when the fire broke out in Captain Cabanier's
house.
That same night two shells fell upon our
house; the blindage made them roll into the court,
where they both burst, shattering the laundry
THE BLOCKADE.
271
windows and demolishing the butcher's door, which
fell down at once with a fearful crash.
It was the most powerful bombardment since the
blockade began, for, as soon as the enemy saw the
flame ascending, they fired from Mittelbronn, from
the Barracks, and the Fiquet lowlands, to prevent
its being extinguished.
I stayed all the while with Sorle, near the babe's
bed, and the noise of the bursting shells did not
disturb us.
The unhappy do not cling to life; and then the
child was so sick! There were blue spots all over
his body.
The end was drawing near.
I walked the room. Without they were crying
"Fire! Fire!"
People passed in the street like a torrent. We
heard those returning from the fire telling the news,
the engines hurrying by, the soldiers ranging the
crowd in the line, the shells bursting at the right
an 1 left.
Before our windows the long trails of red flame
descended upon the roofs in front, and shattered the
glass of the windows. Our cannon all around the
city replied to the enemy. Now and then we heard
the cry : " Room ! Room !" as the wounded were
carried away.
272
THE BLOCKADE.
Twice some pickets came up into my room to put
me in the line, but, on seeing me sitting with Sorle
by our child, they went down again.
The first shell burst at our house about eleven
o'clock, the second at four in the morning; every¬
thing shook, from the garret to the cellar; the floor,
the bed, the furniture seemed to be upheaved ; but,
in our exhaustion and despair, we did not speak a
single word.
Zeffen came running to us with Esdras and little
Safel, at the first explosion. It was evident that
little David was dying. Old Lanche and Sorle
were sitting, sobbing. Zeffen began to cry.
I opened the windows wide, to admit the air, and
the powder-smoke which covered the city came into
the room.
Safel saw at once that the hour was at hand. I
needed only to look at him, and he went out, and
soon returned by a side street, notwithstanding the
crowd, with Kalmes the chanter, who began to
recite the prayer of the dying:
" The Lord reigneth ! The Lord reigneth ! The
Lord shall reign everywhere and forever !
"Praise, everywhere and forever, the name of his
glorious reign !
" The Lord is God ! The Lord is God ! The
Lord is God!
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273
" Hoar, oh Israel, the Lord our God is one God !
" Go, then, where the Lord ealleth thee—go, and
may his mercy help thee !
"May the Lord, our God, be with thee ; may his
immortal angels lead thee to heaven, and may the
righteous be glad when the Lord shall receive thee
into his bosom!
" God of mercy, receive this soul into the midst
of eternal joys!"
Sorle and I repeated, weeping, those holy words.
Zeffen lav as if dead, her arms extended across the
•/ '
bed, over the feet of her child. Her brother Safel
stood behind her, weeping bitterly, and calling
softly, " Zeffen ! Zeffen !"
But she did not hear; her soul was lost in infinite
sorrows.
Without, the cries of "Fire!" the orders for the
engines, the tumult of the crowd, the rolling of the
cannonade still continued; the flashes, one after
another, lighted up the darkness.
What a night, Fritz ! What a night!
Suddenly Safel, who was leaning over under the
curtain, turned round to us in terror. My wife and
I ran, and saw that the child was dead. We raised
our hands, sobbing, to indicate it. The chanter
ceased his psalm. Our David was dead !
The most terrible thing was the mother's cry ! She
L'Ti
THE BLOCKADE.
lay, stretched out, as if she had fainted; but when
the chanter leaned over and closed the lips, saying
"Amen /" she rose, lifted the little one, looked at
him, then, raising hitn above her head, began to
run toward the door, crying out with a heart¬
rending voice :
" Baruch ! Baruch ! save our child !"
She was mad, Fritz! In this last terror I stopped
her, and, by main force, took from her the little
body which she was carrying away. And Sorle,
throwing her arms round her, with ceaseless groan-
ings, Mother Lanche, the chanter, Safel, all led her
away.
I remained alone, and I heard them go down,
leading away my daughter.
How can a man endure such sorrows?
I put David back in the bed and covered him,
because of the open windows. I knew that he was
dead, but it seemed to me as if he would be cold.
I looked at him for a long time, so as to retain that
beautiful face in my heart.
It was all heart-rending—all! I felt as if my
bowels were torn from me, and in my madness I
accused the Lord, and said :
" I am the man that hath seen affliction by the
rod of thy wrath. Surely against me is he turned.
My flesh and my skin hath he made old : he hath
THE BLOCKADE.
275
broken my bones. He hath set me in dark places
Also when I cry and shout he shutteth out my
prayer, lie was unto me as a lion in secret places!"
Thus I walked about, groaning and even bias-
* O O
pheming. But God in his mercy forgave me; he
knew that it was not myself that spoke, but my
despair.
At last I sat down, the others came back. Sorle
sat next to me in silence. Safel said to me:
" Zeffen has gone to the rabbi's with Esdras."
I covered my head without answering him.
Then some women came with old Lanche; I took
Sorle by the hand, and we went into the large room,
without speaking a word.
The mere sight of this room, where the two little
brothers had played so long, made my tears come
afresh, and Sorle, Safel, and I wept together. The
house was full of people; it might have been eight
o'clock, and they knew already that we had a child
dead.
XIX.
the passover.
Then, Fritz, the funeral rites began. All who died
of typhus had to be buried the same day: Christians
behind the church, and Jews in the trenches, in the
place now occupied by the riding-school.
Old women were already there to wash the poor
little body, and comb the hair, and cut the nails,
according to the law of the Lord. Some of them
6ewed the winding-sheet.
The open windows admitted the air, the shutters
struck against the walls. The schamess* went
through the streets, striking the doors with his
mace, to summon our brethren.
Sorle sat upon the ground with her head veiled.
Hearing Desmarets come up the stairs, I had
courage to go and meet him, and show him the
* Beadle.
THE BLOCKADE.
271
room. The poor angel was in his little shirt on the
floor, the head raised a little on some straw, and the
little thaleth in his fingers. He was so beautiful,
with his brown hair, and half-opened lips, that I
thought as I looked at him: "The Lord wanted to
have thee near his throne !"
And my tears fell silently: my beard was full of
them.
Desmarets then took the measure and went.
Half an hour afterward, he returned with the little
pine coffin under his arm, and the house was filled
anew with lamentations.
I could not see the coffin closed ! I went and sat
upon the sack of ashes, covering my face with both
hands, and crying in my heart iike Jacob, "Surely
I shall go down to the grave with this child ; I
shall not survive him."
Only a very few of our brethren came, for a panic
was in the city; men knew that the angel of death
was passing by, and that drops of blood rained
from his sword upon the houses ; each emptied the
water from his jug upon the threshold and entered
quickly. But the best of them came silently, and
as evening approached, it was necessary to go and
descend by the postern.
I was the only one of our family. Sorle was not
able to follow me, nor Zefien. I was the only one
278 the blockade
to throw the shovelful of earth. My strength all
left me, they had to lead rue back to our door. The
sergeant held me by the arm ; he spoke to me and
I did not hear him ; I was as if dead.
All else that I remember of that dreadful day, is
the moment when, having come into the house,
sitting on the sack, before our cold hearth, with bare
feet, and bent head, and my soul in the depths, the
schamess came to me, touched my shoulder and
made me rise; and then took his knife from his
pocket and rent my garment, tearing it to the hip.
This blow was the last and the most dreadful; I fell
back, murmuring with Job:
"Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the
night in which it was said, there is a man child con¬
ceived ! Let a cloud dwell upon it, let the blackness
of the day terrify it! For mourning, the true
mourning does not come down from the father to
the child, but goes up from the child to the father.
Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts
that I should suck ? For now I should have lain
still in the tomb and been at rest 1"
And my grief, Fritz, had no bounds; "What will
Baruch say," I exclaimed, "and what shall I answer
him when he asks me to give him back his child ?"
I felt no longer an}' interest in our business.
Zeffen lived with the old rabbi; her mother spent
THE BLOCKADE.
279
the days with her, to take care of Esdras and com¬
fort her.
Every part of our house was opened; the schabes
goit burned sugar and spices, and the air from with¬
out had free circulation. Safel went on selling.
As for myself, I sat before the hearth in the morn¬
ing, cooked some potatoes, and ate them with a little
salt, and then went out, without thought or aim. I
wandered sometimes to the right, sometimes to the
left, toward the old gen-d'armery, around the ram¬
parts, in out-of-the-way places.
I could not bear to see any one, especially those
who had known the child.
Then, Fritz, our miseries were at their height;
famine, cold, all kinds of sufferings weighed upon
the city; faces grew thin, and women and children
were seen, half-naked and trembling, groping in the
shadow in the deserted by-ways.
Ah! such miseries will never return! We have
no more such abominable wars, lasting twenty
years, when the highways looked like ruts, and the
roads like streams of mud; when the ground re¬
mained untilled for want of husbandmen, when
houses sank for want of inhabitants; when the poor
went barefoot and the rich in wooden shoes, while
the superior officers passed by on superb horses, look¬
ing down contemptuously on the whole human race.
280
THE BLOCKADE.
We could not endure that now!
But at that time everything in the nation was de¬
stroyed and humiliated ; the citizens and the people
had nothing left; force was everything. If a man
said, " But there is such a thing as justice, right,
truth !"' the wav was to answer with a smile, "I do
t! 1
not understand you !" and you were taken for a man
of sense and experience, who would make his way.
Then, in the midst of my sorrow, I saw these
things without thinking about them; but since then
they have come back to me, and thousands of
others; all the survivors of those days can remem¬
ber them, too.
One morning, I was under the old market, looking
at the wretches as they bought meat. At that time
they knocked down the horses of Rouge-Colas and
those of the gendarmes, as flesh less as the cattle in
the trenches, and sold the meat at very high prices.
I looked at the swarms of wrinkled old women,
of hollow-eyed citizens, all these wretched creatures
crowding before Frantz Sepel's stall, while he dis¬
tributed bits of carcass to them.
Frantz's large dogs were seen no longer prowling
about the market, licking up the bloody scraps.
The dried hands of old women were stretched out
at the end of their fleshless arms, to snatch every¬
thing ; weak voices called out entreatingly, " A little
THE BLOCKADE.
281
more liver, Monsieur Frantz, so that we can make
merry!"
I saw all this under the great dark roof, through
which a little light came, in the holes made by the
shells. In the distance, among the worm-eaten
pillars, some soldiers, under the arch of the guard¬
house, with their old capes hanging down their
thighs, were also looking on;—it seemed like a
dream.
My great sorrow accorded with these sad sights.
I was about leaving at the end of a half hour, when
I saw Burguet coming along by Father Brainstem's
old country-house, which was now staved in by the
shells, and leaning, all shattered, over the street.
Burguet had told me several days before our
affliction, that his maid-servant was sick. I had
thought no more of it, but now it came to me.
He looked so changed, so thin, his cheeks so
marked by wrinkles, it seemed as if years had passed
since I had seen him. His hat came down to his
eyes, and his beard, at least a fortnight old, had
turned gray. He came in, looking round in all
directions; but he could not see me where I was, in
the deep shadow, against the planks of the old
fodder-house; and he stopped behind the crowd of
old women, who were squeezed in a semicircle before
the stall, awaiting their turn.
282 THE BLOCKADE.
After a minute lie put some sous in Frantz Sepel'a
hand, and received his morsel, which he hid under
his cloak. Then looking round again, he was going
away quickly, with his head down.
This sight moved my heart: I hurried away,
raising my hands to heaven, and exclaiming ; "Is it
possible? Is it possible ? Burguet too! A man of
his genius to suffer hunger and eat carcasses! Oh,
what times of trial!"
I went home, completely upset.
We had not many provisions left; but, still, the
next morning, as Safel was going down to open the
shop, I said to him :
"Stop, my child, take this little basket to M. Bur-
guet; it is some potatoes and salt beef. Take care
that nobody sees it, they would take it from you.
Say that it is in remembrance of the poor deserter."
ddie child went. He told me that Burgnet wept.
This, Fritz, is what must be seen in a blockade,
where you are attacked from day to day. This is
what the Germans and Spaniards had to suffer, and
what we suffered in our turn. This is war!
Even the siege rations were almost gone; but
Moulin, the commandant of the place, having died
of typhus, the famine did not prevent the lieutenant-
colonel, who took his place, from giving balls and
fetes to the envoys, in the old Thevenot house. The
THE BLOCKADE. 2S?
■windows "were bright, music played, the staff-officers
drank punch and warm wine, to make believe that
we were living in abundance. There was good rea¬
son for bandaging the eyes of these envoys till they
reached the very ball-room, for, if they had seen the
look of the people, all the punch-bowls and warm
wines in the world would not have deceived them.
All this time, the grave-digger Mouyot and his
two boys came every morning to take their two or
three drops of brandy. They might say " We drink
to the dead !" as the veterans said "We drink to the
Cossacks!" Nobody in the city would willingly
have undertaken to bury those who had died of
typhus; they alone, after taking their drop, dared
to throw the bodies from the hospital upon a cart,
and pile them up in the pit, and then they passed
for grave-diggers, with father Zebede.
The order was to wrap the dead in a sheet. But
who saw that it was done? Old Mouyot himself
told me that they were buried in their cloaks or
vests, as it might be, and sometimes entirely naked.
For every corpse, these men had their thirty-five
sous; Father Mouyot, the blind man, can tell you
so; it was his harvest.
Toward the end of March, in the midst of this
fearful want, when there was not a dog, and still
less a cat, to be seen in the streets, the city was full
2S4
THE BLOCKADE.
of evil tidings; rumors of battles lost, of marches
upon Paris, etc.
As the envoys had been received, and balls given
in their honor, something of our misfortunes became
known either through the family or the servants.
Often, in wandering through the streets which ran
along the ramparts, I mounted one of the bastions,
looking toward Strasburg, or Metz, or Paris. I had
no fear.then of stray balls. I looked forth upon the
thousand bivouac fires scattered over the plain, the
soldiers of the enemy returning from the villages
with their long poles hung with quarters of meat, at
others crouched around the little fires which shone
like stars upon the edge of the forest, and at their
patrols and their covered batteries from which their
flag was flying.
Sometimes I looked at the smoke of the chimneys
at Quatre-Yents, or Bibelberg, or Mittelbronn. Our
chimneys had no smoke, our festive days were over.
You can never imagine how many thoughts come
to you, when you are so shut up, as your eyes follow
the long white highways, and you imagine your¬
self walking there, talking with people about the
news, asking them what they have suffered, and
telling them what you have yourself endured.
From the bastion of the guard, I could see even
the white peaks of the Schneeberg; I imagined
TEE BLOCKADE.
285
myself in the midst of foresters, wood-cutters, and
wood-splitters. There was a rumor that they were
defending their route from Sehirmeck; I longed to
know if it were true.
As I looked toward the Maisons-Rouges, on the
road to Paris, I imagined myself to be with my old
friend Leiser; I saw him at his hearth, in despair at
having to support so many people, for the Russian,
Austrian, and Bavarian staff-officers remained upon
this route, and new regiments went by continually.
And spring came! The snow began to melt in
the furrows and behind the hedges. The great
forests of La Bonne Fontaine and the Barracks be¬
gan to change their tints.
The thing which affected me most, as I have often
remembered, was hearing the first lark at the end
of March. The sky was entirely clear, and I looked
up to see the bird. I thought of little David, and I
wept, I knew not why.
Men have strange thoughts; they are affected by
the song of a bird, and sometimes, years after, the
same sounds recall the same emotions, so as even to
make them weep.
At last the house was purified, and Zeffen and
Sorle came back to it.
The time of the Passover drew near; and the
floors must be washed, the walls scoured, the ves-
TILE BLOCKADE.
sels cleansed. In the midst of these cares, the poor
women forgot, in some measure, our affliction; but
as the time drew nearer our anxiety increased ; bow,
in the midst of this famine, were we to obey the
command of God:
" This month shall be the first month of the year
to you.
"In the tenth day of this month they shall take
to them every man a lamb, according to the house
of their fathers, a lamb for a house.
"Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the
goats.
" And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of
the same month.
"And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast
with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter
herbs shall they eat it."
But where was the sacrificial lamb to be found ?
Schmoule alone, the old sc/iamess, had thought of
it lor us all, three months before; he had nourished
a male goat of that year in his cellar, and that was
the goat that was killed.
Every Jewish family had a portion of it, small
indeed, but the law of the Lord was fulfilled.
We invited on that day, according to the law, one
of the poorest of our brethren, Kalmes. We went
together to the synagogue; the prayers were re-
THE BLOCKADE.
2S7
cited, and then we returned to partake of the feast
at our table.
Everything was ready and according to the proper
order, notwithstanding the great destitution; the
white cloth, the goblet of vinegar, the hard egg, the
horseradish, the unleavened bread, and the flesh of
the goat. The lamp with seven burners shone above
it; but we had not much bread.
Having taken my seat in the midst of my family,
Safel took the jug and poured water upon my hands;
then we all bent forward, each took a piece of bread,
saying with heavy hearts:
" This is the bread of affliction which our fathers
ate in Egypt. Whosoever is hungry, let him come
and eat with us. Whosoever is poor, let him come
and make the Passover!"
We sat down again, and Safel said to me :
"What mean ye by this service, my father?"
And I answered:
" We were slaves in Egypt, my child, and the Lord
brought us forth with a mighty hand and an out¬
stretched arm !"
These words inspired us with courage ; we hoped
that God would deliver us as he had delivered our
fathers, and that the Emperor would be his right
arm ; but we were mistaken ; the Lord wanted noth¬
ing more of that man !
XX.
PEACE.
TriE next morning, at daybreak, between six and
seven o'clock, when we were all asleep, the report
of a cannon made our windows rattle. The enemy
usually fired only at night. I listened; a second
report followed after a few seconds, then another,
then others, one by one.
I rose, opened a window, and looked out. The
sun was rising behind the arsenal. Not a soul was
in the street; but, as one report came after another,
doors and windows were opened; men in their shirts
leaned out, listening.
No shells hissed through the air; the enemy fired
blank cartridges.
As I listened, a great murmur came from the dis¬
tance, outside of the city. First it came from the
Mittelbronn hill, then it reached the Bibelberg,
Quatre-Vents, the upper and lower Barracks.
THE BLOCKADE.
289
Sorle had just risen also; I finished dressing, and
said to her:
" Something extraordinary is going on—God grant
that it may he for good !"
And I went down in great perturbation.
It was not a quarter of an hour since the first
report, and the whole city was out. Some ran to
the ramparts, others were in groups, shouting and
disputing at the corners of the streets. Astonish¬
ment, fear, and anger were depicted upon every
face.
A large number of soldiers were mingled with
the citizens, and all went up together in groups to
the right and left of the French gate.
I was about following one of these groups, when
Burguet came down the street. He looked thin and
emaciated, as on the day when I saw him in the
market.
"Well!" said I, running to meet him, "this is
something serious!"
" Very serious, and promising no good, Moses !"
said he.
"Yes, it is evident," said I, "that the allies have
gained victories; it may be that they are in Paris!"
lie turned around in alarm, and said in a low
voice:
"Take care, Moses, take care! If any one heard
13
290
THE BLOCKADE.
you, at a moment like this, the veterans would tear
you in pieces!"
I was dreadfully frightened, for I saw that he was
right, while, as for him, his cheeks shook. lie took
me by the arm and said:
" I owe you thanks for the provisions you sent
me ; they came very opportunely."
And when I answered that we should always
have a morsel of bread at his service, so long as we
had any left, he pressed my hand ; and we went
together up the street of the infantry quarters, as
far as to the ice-house bastion, where two batteries
had been placed to command the Mittelbronn hill.
There we could see the road to Paris as far as to
Petit Saint Jean, and even to Lixheim; but those
great heaps of earth, called cavaliers, were covered
with people; Baron Parmentier, his assistant Pipe-
lingre, the old curate Leth, and many other men of
note were there, in the midst of the crowd, looking
on in silence. We had only to see their faces to
know that something dreadful was happening.
From this height on the talus, we saw what was
riveting everybody's attention. All our enemies,
Austrians, Bavarians, Wurtemburgers, Russians,
cavalry and infantry mixed together, were swarm¬
ing around their intrenchments like ants, embracing
each other, shaking hands, lifting their shakos on
THE BLOCKADE.
291
tlie points of their bayonets, waving branches of
trees just beginning to turn green. Horsemen
dashed across the plain, with their colbacs on the
point of their swords, and rending the air with their
shouts.
The telegraph was in operation on the hill of
Saint Jean; Burguet pointed it out to me.
" If we understood those signals, Moses," said he,
we should know better what was going to happen
to us in the next fortnight."
Some persons having turned round to listen to us,
we went down again into the streets of the quarters,
very thoughtfully.
The soldiers at the upper windows of the barracks
were also looking out. Men and women in great
numbers were collecting in the street.
We went through the crowd. In the street of the
Capuchins, which was always deserted, Burguet,
who was walking with his head down, exclaimed:
"So it is all over! What things have we seen in
these last twenty-live years, Moses! What aston¬
ishing and terrible things! And it is all over!"
O ~
He took hold of my hand, and looked at me as
if he were astonished at his own words; then he
began to walk on.
"This winter campaign has been frightful to me,"
said he; " it has dragged along—dragged along—
292
THE BLOCKADE.
and the thunderbolt did not come ! But to-morrow,
the day after to-morrow, what are we going to
hear? Is the Emperor dead? How will that affect
us? Will France still be France? What will they
leave us ? What will they take from us ?"
Reflecting on these things, we came in front of
our house. Then, as if suddenly wakened, Burguet
said to me:
" Prudence, Moses ! If the Emperor is not dead,
the veterans will hold out till the last second. Re¬
member that, and whoever they suspect will have
everything to fear."
I thanked him, and went up, promising myself
that I would follow his advice.
My wife and children were waiting breakfast for
me, with the little basket of potatoes upon the
table. We sat down, and I told them in a low voice
what was to be seen from the top of the ramparts,
and charged them to keep silent, for the danger was
not over; the garrison might revolt and choose to
defend itself, in spite of the officers ; and those who
mixed themselves in these matters, either for or
against, even only in words, ran the risk of destruc¬
tion without profit to any one.
They saw that I was right, and I had no need of
saying more.
We were afraid that our sergeant would come,
THE BLOCKADE.
293
and tliat we should be obliged to answer him, if he
asked what we thought of these matters; but he did
not come in till about eleven, when we had all been
in bed for a long time.
The next day the news of the entrance of the
allies to Paris was affixed to the church doors and
the pillars of the market; it was never known by
whom ! M. de Vablerie, and three or four other
emigrants, capable of such a deed, were spoken of
at the time, but nothing was known with certainty.
The mounted guard tore down the placards, but
unfortunately not before the soldiers and citizens
had read them.
It was something so new, so incredible, after those
ten years of war, when the 'Emperor had been
everything, and the nation had been, so to speak, in
the shadow; when not a man had dared to speak or
write a word without permission; when men had
had no other rights than those of paying, and giv¬
ing their sons as conscripts,—it was such a great
matter to think that the Emperor could have been
conquered, that a man like myself in the midst of
his family shook his head three or four times, before
daring to breathe a single word.
So everybody kept quiet, notwithstanding the
placards. The officials stayed at home, so as not to
have to talk about it; the governor and council of
294 THE BLOCKADE.
defence did not stir; but the last recruits, in the
hope of going home to their villages, embracing
their families, and returning to their trades or farm¬
ing, did not conceal their joy, as was very natural.
The veterans, whose only trade and only means of
living was war, were full of indignation ! They did
not believe a word of it; they declared that the
reports were all false, that the Emperor had not
lost a battle, and that the placards and the cannon-
firing of the allies were only a stratagem to make
us open the gates.
And from that time, Fritz, the men began to
desert, not one at a time, but by sixes, by tens, by
twenties. Whole posts filed off over the mountain
with their arms and baggage. The veterans fired
upon the deserters ; they killed some of them, and
were ordered to escort the conscripts who carried
soup to the outposts. * * * * *
During this time, the flag of truce officers did
nothing but come and go, one after another. All,
Russian, Austrian, Bavarian, staff-officers stayed
whole hours at the head-quarters, having, no doubt,
important matters to discuss.
Our sergeant came to our room only for a moment
in the evening, to complain of the desertions, and
we were glad of it; Zefl'en was still sick, Sorle could
THE BLOCKADE.
295
not leave lier, and I had to help Safel until the
people went home.
The shop was always full of veterans; as soon
as one set went away another came.
These old, gray-headed men swallowed down
glass after glass of brandy; they paid by turns,
and grew more and more down-hearted. They
trembled with rage, and talked of nothing but
treason, while they looked at you as if they would
see through you.
Sometimes they would smile and say:
"I tell you! if it is necessary to blow up the fort¬
ress, it will go!"
Safel and I pretended not to understand ; but you
can imagine our agony; after having suffered all
that we had, to be in danger of being blown up
with those veterans!
That evening our sergeant repeated word for word
what the others had said : "It was all nothing but
lies and treason. The Emperor would put a stop to
it by sweeping oft* this rabble !"
"Just wait! Just wait!" he exclaimed, as he
smoked his pipe, with his teeth set. " It will all be
cleared up soon ! The thunderbolt is coming ! And,
this time, no pity, no mercy ! All the villains will
have to go then—all the traitors! The country
29G
T1IE BLOCKADE.
will have to be cleansed for a hundred years!
Never mind, Moses, we'll laugh!"
You may well suppose that we did not feel like
laughing.
But the day when I was most anxious was the
eighth of April, in the morning, when the decree of
the Senate, deposing the Emperor, appeared.
Our shop was full of marine artillery-men and
subalterns from the storehouses. We had just
served them, when the secretary of the treasury,
a short stout man, with full yellow cheeks, and the
regulation cap over his ears, came in and called for
a glass; he then took the decree from his pocket.
" Listen !" said he, as he began calmly to read it
to the others.
It seems as if I could hear it now:
" Whereas, Napoleon Bonaparte has violated the
compact which bound him to the French nation, by
levying taxes otherwise than in virtue of the law,
by unnecessarily adjourning the Legislative Body,
by illegally making many decrees involving sen¬
tence of death, by annulling the authority of the
ministers, the independence of the judiciary, the
freedom of the press, etc.; Whereas, Napoleon has
tilled up the measure of the country's misfortunes,
by his abuse of all the means of war committed to
him, in men and money, and by refusing to treat on
THE BLOCKADE.
297
conditions which the national interest required him
to accept; Whereas, the manifest wish of all the
French demands an order of things, the first result
of which shall be the re-establishment of general
peace, and which shall also be the epoch of solemn
reconciliation between all the States of the great
European family, the Senate decrees: Napoleon
Bonaparte has forfeited the throne; the right of
succession is abolished in his family; the people
and the army are released from the oath of allegi¬
ance to him."
He had scarcely begun to read when I thought:
" If that goes on they will tear down my shop over
my head."
In my fright, I even sent Safel out hastily by the
back door. But it all happened very differently
from what I expected. These veterans despised the
Senate; they shrugged their shoulders, and the one
who read the decree sniffed at it, and threw it under
the counter. "The Senate!" said he. "What is
the Senate ? A set of hangers-on, a set of sycophants
that the Emperor has bribed, right and left, to keep
saying to him—' God bless you P "
"Yes, major," said another; "but they ought to
be kicked out all the same."
" Bah ! It is not worth the trouble," replied the
sergeant-major• "a fortnight hence, when the Em
13*
208 THE BLOCKADE.
peror is master Strain, they will come and lick Ins
boots. Such men are necessary in a dynasty—men
who lick your boots—it has a good effect !—especi¬
ally old nobility, who are paid thirty or forty thou¬
sand francs a year. They will come back, and be
quiet, and the Emperor will pardon them, especially
since he cannot find others noble enough to fill
their places."
And as they all went away after emptying their
glasses, I thanked heaven for having given them
such confidence in the Emperor.
This confidence lasted till about the eleventh or
twelfth of April, when some officers, sent by the
general commanding the fourth military division,
came to say that the garrison of Metz recognized
the Senate and followed its orders.
This was a terrible blow for our veterans. We
saw, that evening, by our sergeant's face, that it
was a death-blow to him. lie looked ten years
older, and you would have wept merely to see his
face. Up to that time he had kept saying: "All
these decrees, all these placards are acts of treason !
The Emperor is down yonder with his army, all the
while, and we are here to support him. Don't fear,
Father Moses!"
But since the arrival of the officers from Metz, he
had lost his confidence. He came into our room,
THE BLOCKADE.
299
without speaking, and stood up, very pale, looking
at us.
I thought: " But this man loves us. He has been
kind to us. He gave us his fresh meat all through
the blockade; he loved our little David; he fondled
him on his knees. He loves Esdras too. He is a
good, brave man, and here he is, so wretched!"
I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that he had
friends, that we all loved him, that we would make
sacrifices to help him, if he had to change his employ¬
ment ; yes, I thought of all this, but as I looked at
him his grief seemed so terrible that I could not say
a word.
He took two or three turns and stopped again,
then suddenly went out. His sorrow was too great,
he would not even speak of it.
At length, on the sixteenth of April, an armistice
was concluded for burying the dead. The bridge of
the German Gate was lowered, and large numbers
of people went out and stayed till evening, to dig
the ground a little writh their spades, and try to
bring back a few green things. Zeffen being all this
time sick, we stayed at. home.
That evening two new officers from Metz, sent as
envoys, came in at night as the bridges were being
raised. They galloped along the street to the head¬
quarters. I saw them pass.
300
THE BLOCKADE
The arrival of these officers greatly excited the
hopes and fears of every one; important measures
were expected, and all night long we heard the
sergeant walk to and fro in his room, get up, walk
about, and lie down again, talking confusedly to
himself.
The poor man felt that a dreadful blow was
coming, and he had not a minute's rest. I heard
him lamenting, and his sighs kept me from sleeping.
The next morning at ten the assembly was beat.
The governor and the members of the council of
defence went, in full dress, to the infantry quarters.
Everybody in the city was at the windows.
Our sergeant went down, and I followed him in a
few minutes. The street was thronged with people.
I made my way through the crowd; everybody
kept his place in it, trying to move on.
When 1 came in front of the barracks, the com¬
panies had just formed in a circle; the quarter¬
masters in the midst were reading in a loud voice
the order of the day; it was the abdication of the
Emperor, the disbanding of the recruits of 1 SI3 and
1814, the recognition of Louis XVIII., the order to
6et up the white flag and change the cockade!
Not a murmur was heard from the ranks; all was
quiet, terrible, frightful! Those old soldiers, theii
teeth set, their moustaches shaking, their brows
THE BLOCKADE.
301
scowling fiercely, presenting arms in silence; the
voices of the quarter-masters stopping now and then
as if choking; the staff-officers of the place, at a
distance under the arch, sullen, with their eyes on
the ground ; the eager attention of all that crowd of
men, women, and children, through the whole length
of the street, leaning forward on tip-toe, with open
mouths and listening ears; all this, Fritz, would
have made you tremble.
1 was on cooper Sehweyer's steps, where I could
see everything and hear every word.
So long as the order of the day was read, nobody
stirred; but at the command:—Break ranks! a
terrible cry arose from all directions; tumult, con¬
fusion, fury burst forth at once.
People did not know what they were doing. The
conscripts ran in files to the postern gates, the old
soldiers stood a moment, as if rooted to the spot,
then their rage broke forth; one tore off his epau¬
lettes, another dashed his musket with both hands
against the pavement; some officers doubled up
their sabres and swords, which snapped apart with
a crash.
The governor tried to speak; he tried to form the
ranks again, but nobody heard him ; the new re¬
cruits were already in all the rooms at the barracks,
making up their bundles to start on their journey;
302
THE BLOCKADE.
the old ones were going to the right and left, as if
they were drunk or mad.
I saw some of these old soldiers stop in a corner
lean their heads against the wall, and weep bit¬
terly.
At last all were dispersed, and protracted cries
reached from the barracks to the square, incessant
cries, which rose and tell like sighs.
Some low, despairing shouts of " Vive VJEmpe-
reur!" but not a single shout of " Vive le Hoi/"
For my part, I ran home to tell about it all; I
had scarcely gone up, when the sergeant came also,
with his musket on his shoulder. We should have
liked to congratulate each other on the ending of
the blockade, but on seeing the sergeant standing
at the door, we were chilled to the bones, and our
attention was fixed upon him.
" Ah, well!" said he, placing the butt-end of his
musket upon the floor, " it is all ended!"
And for a moment he said no more.
Then he stammered out: "This is the shabbiest
piece of business in the world—the recruits are
disbanded—theyare leaving—France remains,bound
hand and foot, in the grip of the kaiserlieks ! Ah !
the rascals! the rascals!"
"Yes, sergeant," I replied with emotion, seeing
that his thoughts must be diverted: " now we are
THE BLOCKADE.
303
going to have peace, sergeant! You have a sister
left in the Jura, you will go to her "
" Oh !" he exclaimed, lifting his hand, " my poor
sister!"
This came like a sob; but he quickly recovered
himself, and went and placed his musket in the
corner by the door.
lie sat down at the table with us for a moment,
and took up little Safel, drawing him to him and
caressing his cheeks. Then he wanted to hold
Esdras also. We looked on in silence.
"I am going to leave you, Father Moses," said
he, " I am going to pack my bag. Thunder and
lightning ! I am sorry to leave you !"
"And we are sorry, too, sergeant," said Sorle,
mournfully; "but if you will live with us "
" It is impossible !"
" Then you remain in the service ?"
"Service of whom—of what?" said he; " of Louis
XVIII. ? Xo! no ! I know no one but my General
—but that makes it hard to go—when a man has
done his duty "
He started up, and shouted in a piercing voice:
" Vive PEmpereur /"
We trembled, we did not know why.
I reached out my hand to him, and rose; we em¬
braced each other like brothers.
304 THE BLOCKADE.
" Good-by, Father Moses," said he, "good-by for
a long while."
" You are going at once, then?"
O C5 7
"Yes!"
"You know, sergeant, that you will always have
friends here. You will come and see us. If you
need anything "
"Yes, yes, I know it. You are true friends—
excellent people !"
He shook my hand vehemently.
Then he took up his musket, and we were all fol¬
lowing him, expressing our good wishes, when he
turned, with tears in his eyes, and embraced my
wife, saying:
" I must embrace you, too; there is no harm in it,
is there, Madame Sorle ?"
"Oh, no!" said she, "you are one of the family,
and I will embrace Zetfen for you !"
He went out at once, exclaiming in a hoarse voice,
"Good-by! Farewell!"
I saw him go into his room at the end of the little
passage.
Twenty-five years of service, eight wounds, and
no bread in his old age! My heart bled at the
thought of it.
About a quarter of an hour after, the sergeant
came down with his musket. Meeting Safel on
TIIE BLOCK AVE.
305
the stairs, he said to him, "Stay, that is for your
father!"
It was the portrait of the. landwehr's wife and
children. Safel brought it to me at once. I took
the poor devil's gift, and looked at it for a long time,
very sadly; then I shut it up in the closet with the
letter.
It was noon, and, as the gates were about to be
opened, and abundance of provisions were to come,
we sat down before a large piece of boiled beef,
with a dish of potatoes, and opened a good bottle of
wine.
We were still eating when we heard shouts in the
street. Safel got up to look out.
" A wounded soldier that they are carrying to the
hospital!" said he.
Then he exclaimed, " It is our sergeant!"
A horrible thought ran through my mind. " Keep
still!" I said to Sorle, who was getting up, and I
went down alone.
Four marine gunners were carrying the litter by
on their shoulders ; children were running behind.
At the first glance I recognized the sergeant; his
face perfectly white and his breast covered with
blood. He did not move. The poor fellow had
gone from our house to the bastion behind the
arsenal, to shoot himself through the heart.
306
THE BLOCKADE.
I went up so overwhelmed, so sad and sorrowful,
that I could scarcely stand.
Sorle was waiting for me in great agitation.
"Our poor sergeant has killed himself," said I;
" may God forgive him !"
And, sitting down, I could not help bursting into
tears!
XXI. .
It is said with truth that misfortunes never come
singly ; one brings another in its train. The death
of our good sergeant was, however, the last.
That same day the enemy withdrew his outposts
to six hundred yards from the city, the white flag
was raised on the church, and the gates were opened.
Now, Fritz, you know about our blockade. Should
I tell you, in addition, about Baruch's coming, of
Zeffen's cries, and the groanings of us all, when we
had to say to the good man: "Our little David is
dead—thou wilt never see him again!"
No, it is enough ! If we were to speak of all the
miseries of war, and all their consequences in after
years, there would be no end!
I would rather tell you of my sons Itzig and
Fromel, and of my Safel, who has gone to join them
in America.
If I should tell you of all the wealth they have
acquired in that great country of freemen, of the
THE BLOCKADE.
lands they have bought, the money they have laid
up, the number of grandchildren they have given
me, and of all the blessings they have heaped upon
Sorle and myself, you would be full of astonishment
and admiration.
They have never allowed me to want for anything.
The greatest pleasure I can give them is to wish for
something; each of them wants to send it to me!
They do not forget that by my prudent foresight I
saved them from the war.
I love them all alike, Fritz, and I say of them,
like Jacob:
"May the God of Abraham and Isaac, our fathers,
the God which fed me all my life long unto this
day, bless the lads ; let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth, and their seed become a
multitude of nations!"
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From the Philadelphia Daily Ittquirer.
"Not only are they interesting historically, but intrinsically a pleasant, well-constructe
plot, serving in each case to connect the great events whit h they so giaphically treat, and th
style being as vigorous and charming as it is pure and refreshing."
INVASION OF FRANCE IN 1814. With the Night March pas
Phalsburg. With a Memoir of the Authors. With four full page Illus
trations. One vol. 121110. Price, cloth, $1.25.
Front the New York Evening Mail.
44 AH their novels are noted for the same admirable qualities,—simple and effective rerlisr
of plot, incident, and language, and a disclosure of the horrid individual aspects of wai
They are absolutely perfect of their kind."
MADAME THERESE; or, the Volunteers of fg2. Witb four full
page Illustrations. One vol. i2mo. Price, cloth, $1.25.
From the Boston Commonwealth.
44 It is a boy's story—that is, supposed to be written by a boy—and has all the freshness
the unconscious simplicity and naivete which the imagined anthorsbip should imply? wliil
nothing more graphic, more clearly and vividly pictorial, has been brought before the pubti
for many a day."
Sent post paid an receipt ofprice by the publishers,
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO.,
743 & 745 Broadway, New York.
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