too much absorbed in the thoughts of what they had lost to bestow even a thought of satisfaction on what they had saved.

Major Tempé, grieved and touched at the painful. scene of which he and his men had been the cause, called the franc-tireurs together, and made a proposition to them, which was at once heartily agreed to. He then called together the curé and schoolmaster, and after a few well-chosen words of regret at the ills which he and his had involuntarily brought upon the village, he handed over to them, in the name of the whole corps, the hundred pounds in thaler notes which had been found upon the schoolmaster whom they had executed for treachery, to be distributed among the inhabitants according to their necessities. The offer was gratefully received, and the priest and schoolmaster at once went round and told the poor people, whose gratitude and delight were unbounded.

To so poor a population the sum seemed immense; and although it would not replace what was destroyed, it would go far towards making their abodes habitable. The village only contained about twenty houses. The walls were still standing. Timber for the roofs and floors was to be had for cutting in the forest. Bushes for thatching could be found in abundance. The principal portion of the houses, therefore, would cost only labour; and this money would suffice to keep them alive while engaged upon it; and enough would remain to get at least a few blankets to lay upon the straw, which would for the time serve for beds, together with a few other simple necessaries. The sale of a portion of the animals

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would do the rest; and in their gratitude to the franctireurs for having thus relieved their first and most pressing difficulties, the inhabitants altogether forgot the illfeeling which they had before felt against them as the authors of their disaster.

After burying their dead, the men set to work to assist the villagers in building temporary huts, or rather bowers, to the edge of the forest, in which, before nightfall, they had the satisfaction of seeing them installed. The few articles of bedding, blankets, &c., saved at the approach of the Prussians, were spread on heaps of freshly-cut grass; and one of the oxen of the franctireurs, which had arrived the day before, was killed and divided. Great fires were lighted; and, had it not been for the bandages on the heads, and the arms in slings, of several of the franc-tireurs, no one coming upon the scene would have guessed how desperate a skirmish had raged here.

The next day the carts which had been sent for arrived, and the wounded were placed in them upon heaps of straw, and sent off with one of the surgeons, with instructions to travel among the hills, until they reached a point where it would be quite safe to descend into the valley, and take the train to Dijon at the first station at which it was open. Among them was Philippe Duburg, who was accompanied by his brother. Louis had obtained a week's leave of absence for the purpose, and was the bearer of letters and innumerable messages from the boys to their parents and sisters. A few hours later the remnants of the first and second companies marched to join their comrades.

CHAPTER X.

THE BRIDGE OF THE VESOUZE.

HE very day after the fight news arrived which induced a sudden change of position. Upon the

16th of September the Baden troops occupied Mulhouse, having entered Colmar on the preceding day. It was evident that the railway was so strongly guarded between Strasburg and Nancy, that it was hopeless to expect to be able to interrupt it seriously with so small a force as that at Major Tempé's command, still less possible was it to render any assistance whatever to the doomed city of Strasburg. After taking council, therefore, with his officers, Major Tempé decided to march more to the south, so as to assist to oppose the passage of the enemy west from Colmar or Mulhouse through the passes of the Vosges. The alarm was, however, but temporary, for, having made requisitions as usual, the Prussians retired, and the corps returned to their old quarters. There another ten days passed: spent not in ease, but in constant marchings and counter-marchings.

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Whenever news arrived that any parties of Uhlans were approaching the mountains with the object of making requisitions, the corps were instantly set in motion. Sometimes severe skirmishes were the result, sometimes the news turned out to be untrue, and after a long day's march and a night spent in watching, the men had nothing to do but to march back again. Upon the 28th came the news of the surrender of Strasburg upon the preceding day, after one of the most heroic defences in history. There was now no doubt that the Germans would ere long advance seriously.

By this time the total of the French forces among the Vosges mountains was considerable. Scarce a day passed without the arrival of a corps of franc-tireurs, and had all these corps been animated with a spirit such as that evinced by the franc-tireurs of Dijon, and had they acted in unity, with discipline and intelligence, they might have rendered immense services to France. Unfortunately this was very far from being the case. Very many of the men had entered the ranks only to avoid being called upon to go out with the Mobiles or mobilized National Guard; others had only entered from the impulse of the Very many were altogether unwilling to submit to any steady discipline, while in a great number of cases the corps were completely paralyzed from the utter incapacity of their officers. Owing to these various causes the corps of franc-tireurs distinguished themselves in a great number of cases only by the extreme ingenuity and foresight which they displayed in keeping at a prudent distance from the enemy. Some, too, earned a bad name not only for themselves but for the whole body of

moment.

franc-tireurs by their conduct towards the villagers, helping themselves freely to what they required, and making themselves almost as much dreaded by the peasantry as even the Germans themselves.

At the same time the villagers had in very many cases only themselves to blame for the rough measures adopted by the franc-tireurs, for often, instead of doing all in their power for the men who had taken up arms in the cause of France, the villagers looked upon them only as strangers out of whom the richest possible harvest was to be obtained, and charged the most exorbitant prices for all articles of necessity supplied to them. In fact, they sometimes did not hesitate to say that they would not provide them at any price with the provisions required, as these would be wanted to satisfy the requisition of the Germans upon their arrival.

Perhaps in the whole world there is no class of people so completely engrossed by the thought of gain as are the French bourgeois and rustic population. Every change of government, every political alteration, every law passed, is regarded by them simply and solely from the view of how it will affect their own pockets. Thus, instead of driving away their flocks and herds at the approach of the invaders, the people remained quietly in their houses, and shamelessly trafficked with the invaders. This apathy, faintheartedness, and want of patriotism upon the part of the inhabitants of the small towns and villages caused innumerable difficulties to the franc-tireurs, and Major Tempé was sometimes obliged to take the law into his own hands when the villagers absolutely refused to sell provisions or to give quarters to his men. In these cases