dusted the articles in her pretty shop, the gendarmes brought their prisoners before the commissaire de police, the doulairiere commenced to tell her fortunes, the maitresse de maison sipped her coffee, the white-headed jardinier de cimetiere raked his gravel walks, the commissionnaires ran about on people's errands, at the Trois Dauphins the conducteur de diligence waited for his horses to be put in. The life of the town had begun, and still the Widow Pasquin sat motionless in her high-backed chair. Was she asleep, forgetting that she, too, must be about and doing? Ah, no! That in the chair was no longer Widow Pasquin: she had gone to join her Robert and pere Amand. When Henri came down into the room where he and his daughter took breakfast, he found Marie crying bitterly. Now, how can she have learned anything of this? thought Henri. "Do not cry, Marie," he said, "the young Pasquin was a plucky fellow and I am sorry that he is dead, but" 66 'Why, father, he is not dead!" exclaimed Marie. "What!" cried Henri. "Why, only yesterday I had a letter from Jean Deteau telling me so." "And I have had a letter from Pierre this morning," answered Marie. "But, oh, father! dreadful things have happened! Jean tried to kill Pierre, and also told him that I was to marry an officer of dragoons. Ah, pere Henri!" And Marie's eyes were full of tears. 66 Henri looked strangely puzzled, Give me the letter," he said. He read it slowly, his eyes growing larger and larger and his face redder and redder as he did so. "Le grand diable!" he roared as he finished, striking his thigh with his hand. Then, seizing his hat, he hurried from the room, leaving Marie sad and bewildered. Henri hastened along toward the Rue Montorge and his crutch thumped vigorously on the cobblestones. "The pere Henri is in a great hurry this morning," said dame Bovard to her husband as he passed their door. The shop of the Widow Pasquin was quiet, and Henri, passing through it, knocked at the door of her room. There was no response. He tried the door, it opened and he entered. Why, there she was before the fireplace! "Cheer up, mere Pasquin," he cried gaily, "your son." And then he stopped and came slowly forward, looking at the pale face and closed eyes. He lifted one of the thin hands, put down his head and held his ear against the heart some minutes. Then he went softly out and closed the door. As he came through the shop the facteur de la poste entered. "Here is a letter for the Widow Pasquin," he said. "Good Andre," answered Henri slowly, "the Widow Pasquin will receive no more letters. She is dead." "Well, that's a pity," answered Andre. She's been looking badly for a good while, I've been thinking." And he hurried on. Henri took up the letter and then drew from his pocket Pierre's letter to Marie and compared them. The handwriting was the same. He went back and quietly placed the letter in the mere Pasquin's hand, and as he came out and locked the door, there were tears in the eyes of stern old Henri Jodelle. "Marie," said he, when he reached the cafe, "the mere Pasquin died last night. You must write to the young Pierre. Tell him I will attend to the funeral, and tell him—in the same letter, mind you—that if he proves himself a brave soldier and comes home safe and sound, he shall marry you. Tell him Henri Jodelle says that, and Henri Jodelle always keeps his word!" "I owe that much to la veuve Pasquin," he muttered. When he was alone he took Jean Deteau's letter from his pocket, tore it into small fragments and threw it into the fireplace, saying fiercely, "le grand diable!" In the cemetery of Grenoble there stands a small gravestone, placed there by Henri Jodelle, and bearing this inscription: La Veuve Pasquin, Nee a Vizille le 13 Avril 1758. CHAPTER X The Night Before Eckmuhl Tout soldat francais porte dans sa giberne le baton de Marechal de France.—Napoleon. Great events were in progress, for it was now evident that war with Austria was imminent, and this time they were to fight on the battlegrounds of Europe under the eyes of the Emperor himself. Leaving Alagon, the 115th of the Line had marched to Bayonne, and then northeast across France, through Mont de Marsan, Cahors, Aurillac and St. Etienne, to Lyons. This city, situated at the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone, is, by reason of its industry and commerce, next to Paris in municipal importance. Here the 115th went into quarters, and they were kept constantly at work. It was drill, drill, drill, from morning till night, in the Place Bellecour. The Boudet and Molitor divisions were there, too, and Pierre began to know some of those old soldiers who had followed the victorious French eagles on so many battlefields. At that time a division of the corps d'armee consisted of four regiments of infantry of the Line (forming two brigades), one regiment of light infantry and one regiment of chasseurs (forming the vanguard), four regiments of cavalry, chasseurs and cuirassiers, two companies of light artillery, eight pieces of heavy artillery, twelve-pounders and eight inch howitzers, a park of reserve with the necessary ammunition for heavy and light artillery, and cartridges for infantry and cavalry. Then, too, there were butchers, bakers, sutlers and all the baggage-train. What tremendous enthusiasm there was among the old soldiers of the Boudet and Molitor divisions! The 115th of the Line, who had been merged into the Boudet division, quickly caught the spirit and longed only for the day when the order should come to march. Finally the order came, and, on a bright March morning, the Boudet and Molitor divisions left Lyons and took the road to Strassburg. The various Marshals of the Empire were not all at the Emperor's service for the present campaign. Ney, Soult, Victor, and Mortier were carrying on the war in Spain; Murat, recovering from his indisposition, caused mainly by his disappointment at being declared King of Naples instead of King of Spain, was not available. But the Emperor had three whom he valued most highly; Davout, Massena, and the brave Lannes, whom he had summoned after the fall of Saragossa. To each of these he had assigned fifty thousand men. Davout, with the Morand, Friant and Gudin divisions and the splendid St. Sulpice cuirassiers, was stationed between Bayreuth and Ratisbon. Massena, with the Carra St. Cyr, Legrand, Boudet and Molitor divisions, light cavalry, Hessians and Badens, was to have his rendezvous at Ulm. The St. Hilaire division, the three divisions of General Oudinot and the cuirassiers of General Espagne were at Augsburg, awaiting Marshal Lannes, who had not yet arrived. At Munich, Landshut and Straubing were the Bavarians, Wurtem |