'In twenty minutes' time he returns. '"You see I am as good as my word. I made haste, eh?" '"Is my aunt better?" '"Your aunt? Yes--no--that is, yes, much better." '"Jean," he says to me after dinner, "you were to go back the day after to-morrow, but as I must go on business to Versailles in the morning early, I will take you with me. Does it disappoint you, eh?" '"A little, yes." '"Bah! you shall make up for it another time. You shall come again soon for several days, and send your lessons to the deuce." 'I laugh. I think I must have been mistaken. The man whom I saw must have been really a peasant. My grandsire could not be so gay if there were to be fighting at Maussy this evening. However, before going to bed I look out over the country, and when I lie down I strain my ear to catch a sound. All night long I cannot sleep; I can only listen. All at once a hand touches my elbow. I start up, screaming. Germaine laughs. '"What is the matter, Monsieur Jean? Were you dreaming?" 'I stare round me in amaze. It is broad day. '"Make haste and get up; the chocolate is ready; master is waiting." 'Half an hour later we leave the house. We are at the end of the street which opens on to the Versailles road, when a platoon of Prussian soldiers, with bayonets fixed, appears upon that road. My grandfather seizes me brutally and throws me down under a fence behind a hedge. I look through the branches. The Prussians pass at quick march. Amidst them marches a man, with his hands tied behind his back. I see a broad-leafed hat, a pale proud face, an old blue blouse. It is the man of yesterday. I know him at a glance. '"Grandfather, who is that?" '"Eh! Who? who? Some vagabond a Prussian patrol has picked up out of some ditch. The Prussians are very severe for--for--for wayfarers. It is better not to be seen in these affairs--it is better not to be mixed up--I mean--" 'My grandfather is lying, I am certain; I feel it. Why should he lie? Where are they taking this fettered man? Why force me to lie hidden under a hedge? From behind the village a loud volley thunders through the air. '"Grandpapa, grandpapa, did you hear that?" 'The old man is livid. '"It is the Prussians who practise--who practise at firing--in the morning. It is their custom--their custom--every morning--" 'His teeth chatter.' Or see this description of the troops leaving for the frontier:-- 'To-day the last regiment quartered here goes to the front; it is a regiment of the line. 'Léon and I wait in the market-place to go with the soldiers to the railway station.