CHAPTER IX.
WHERE THE INVASION PASSES.
Never was there solitude more complete and more magnificent than at fiveo'clock that January morning among the Vosges mountains. The snow waspiled up, softening the rugged outlines of the mountain peaks andthrough the pale darkness dim shadows were silently moving. Theseshadows are the brave mountaineers, who have come to defend France atthe summons of Simon, who, in spite of his wooden leg, displayed immenseactivity. Among these there were no youths. The conscription had longsince swallowed them up. They were elderly men and boys. Two of themwere but fourteen, but they were vigorous and determined.
"We have arrived in time," said Simon, "but you are sure that there isno other road by which they can reach the village?"
"Only the one by which the wagon came with the wounded, but that, too,is well guarded."
"Yes," answered Simon, "a few brave fellows could keep an army backthere, and you know we are continually receiving reinforcements. As soonas they understand that the gorge is impracticable, they will give upthe point, and we shall feel that we have rendered effectual aid toFrance."
In the souls of these patriots there was a singular instinct ofdiscipline. They listened in silence to Simon's words, and obeyed himwhom they had taken for their leader without question or argument.
Simon called two men and bade them climb the high rocks on one side ofthe gorge. From thence they could look down the whole valley. The mistsof the night had slowly drifted away, and the wind had died out. A gleamof sunshine, as pale as moonlight, rested on the mountain top.
The mountaineers waited long on the rocks, whither they had been sent,but returned to say that there was not a sound nor a movement.
"Let us go on," said Simon.
The gorge now became so narrow that only three men could move abreast.On each side rose high walls.
"Now, then," said Simon, "hide here. Keep your eyes open, and waste noammunition. And you others will pass through that cleft which commandsthe lower road. Conceal yourselves well, and as soon as a Cossackappears, fire. Hans!"
A peasant ran at the sound of his name.
"If you hear firing from either of these posts, you are to advance atonce with twenty men. Select them now, so that there will be noconfusion."
Michel listened to these orders in silence.
"Well, comrade," said Simon, "what do you think of my arrangements?"
"They are excellent, and you ought to be a general."
"I could serve only the Republic," answered Simon, "I resigned in1804."
Michel looked at him as if he did not more than half understand, then hemuttered, reluctantly:
"Well, every man is entitled to his opinions."
"Now that our arrangements are made, we two will go on," said Simon.
They walked for some five minutes and reached the entrance of the gorge.There the road suddenly widened, and gently descended to the valley. Onthe left there was an enormous rock forty feet high. It was shaped likea pyramid standing on its apex. Simon went round it, feeling with hishands, tearing off bits of moss from time to time.
"Ah! we have it. Here, Michel, dig out this place with your bayonet!"
Michel obeyed, though without the smallest idea of what was to be done,and soon a hole of about a square foot was discovered.
"Now," said Simon, triumphantly, "I defy the Cossacks to pass thispoint!"
He laid on the ground a box that he had been carrying over his shoulderwith great care.
"I have ten pounds of powder here!"
He proceeded to place this box in the hole, which it entirely filled.Then he produced a long wick, one end of which he inserted in the box.Then he nearly closed the box, leaving it only sufficiently open for thewick to burn easily.
"If our guns fail us," said Simon, grimly, "this will soon settle thematter!"
At this moment, from out of the woods on the side of the road sprang aman, shouting:
"Save me! Save me!"
Simon saw that the fellow was a gipsy, and that he had been wounded.
"Save me!" repeated the gipsy, "they will kill me!"
"Zounds! fellow," cried Michel, "who are you afraid of? I believe youare a spy!"
Simon motioned to Michel to be silent, and questioned the man whoproceeded to say that he and his companions had been seized to act asguides through the forest.
"We refused," he said, "because you French had always been good to us.Then the soldiers killed one after the other of us as fast as werefused, and I ran away. They fired at me, and wounded me in the head.Oh! save me!"
Neither Simon nor Michel noticed the almost theatrical exaggeration ofthis fellow's gestures.
"The Cossacks are near?" asked Simon. "How many?"
"About five hundred."
"On this road?"
"Yes. Hark!"
The three men listened, and distinctly heard the smothered footfall ofhorses in the snow.
"They are coming!" said Simon.
The Bohemian crouched against the rock, and hiding his face, shiveredwith fear.
Simon entered the gorge, and carrying his fingers to his lips made anoise that sounded like the hoarse caw of a crow. Other signals answeredthis, showing that all were ready.
Simon stood listening. The sounds came nearer and nearer, and,presently, some fifty yards away, appeared the Cossacks. They cameslowly, uneasy at the profound silence. Simon aimed at the leader, firedand the Cossack fell. Frightful yells filled the air, but they continuedto advance.
Then from every rock and tree came a rain of balls, the echoes from thegranite walls making the invaders suppose that the opposing force was ahundred times what it really was.
The Cossacks were ready enough to return the fire, but they saw noenemy; not a human being. Still they moved on, closing up their ranks,and their horses trampling on the dead bodies of their comrades. Theyreached the gorge. The peasants, sure of their prey, now forgot allprudence, and showed themselves. The Cossacks, with cries of rage,answered their fusillade. The scene was an absolute butchery.
Suddenly, a man in the uniform of the Helmans waved his sword, and theCossacks pulled up their horses and turned them with inconceivabledexterity. This movement showed the length of their column. The gipsywas right, there were hundreds.
Simon, at this moment, uttered the exclamation:
"Back with you!" he cried. "To your places among the rocks!"
The mountaineers had seen the Cossacks fall, and all the old hatred thathad sent their fathers to the Rhine in '92, again sprang to life intheir veins. They rushed from out their shelter, regardless of danger.They heard Simon's voice, but did not understand his order, their ragedeafened them. They had hitherto been amenable to discipline, but theywere intoxicated by victory. It seemed to them that they could crush theinvasion then and there. In vain did Simon shout "Halt!" They went on,and reached the rock.
"I don't like this," said Simon. "This retreat of the Cossacks lookslike a ruse. Our men must go no further."
Then took place a horrible thing. The peasants were trying to crowdthrough the narrow passage by the rock. They were in such haste thatthey formed a struggling mass. Then from the dark corner rose the gipsywith the Judas face, and glided to the corner where hung the torcharranged by Simon. Presently, there was a little flash of light, and thegipsy threw himself far down the slope, just as a fearful explosion washeard. The rock split and fell upon the peasants. Of these valiantpatriots only five remained--seven with Michel and Simon. They all stoodnailed to the ground with horror.
And back came the Cossacks at full gallop. The rock had cut off allretreat. These seven men were between the barred-up gorge and theCossacks.
Michel was the first to fall pierced by a lance. Simon realized thatthese men will reach his home, his wife and children, before he wasnailed to the trunk of an oak by a Cossack's sword, and now Simon isdead!
Over this body of this hero, rolls the horrible flood that is to engulfFrance.
Talizac, Simon's bro
ther, had said that the invasion should take thisdirection!