Nevertheless, the impatience increased every minute. A few village mayors in cocked hats called upon their people to deliberate. Happily the wagon of Catherine Lefevre at last appeared, and a thousand enthusiastic shouts arose on all sides. "Here they are! They have come!" Old Materne stood up upon the trunk of a tree and then descended, gravely saying: "It is they." Much excitement now prevailed; the scattered groups collected. Scarcely could the old woman be seen distinctly, seated upon a truss of straw with Louise by her side, when the echoes rang with the cry: "Long live France! Long live Mother Catherine!" Hullin, behind, his musket strapped upon his back, was crossing the field of Eichmath, grasping hands and saluting his friends: "Is it you, Daniel? Good-morning, Colon!" "Ha! Things look stormy, Hullin." "Yes, yes; we shall soon have lively times. You here, old Jerome! What think you of the state of affairs?" "All will yet go well, Jean-Claude, with God's help." Catherine, when she arrived in front of the saw-mill, ordered Labarbe to open the little cask of brandy she had brought from the farm-house. Hullin, approaching the fire, met Materne and his two sons. "You come late," said the old hunter. "True, but there was much to be done, and too much yet remains to be done to lose more time. Lagarmitte, wind your horn." Lagarmitte blew until his cheeks seemed bursting, and the groups scattered along the path, and at the skirts of the wood hastened to assemble, and soon all were collected before the saw-mill. Hullin mounted a pile of logs, and spoke amid the deepest silence: "The enemy," said he, "crossed the Rhine the night before last. He is pressing on to our mountains to enter Lorraine. Strasbourg and Huningue are blockaded. In three or four days at most the Germans and the Russians will be upon us." A shout of "Long live France!" arose. "Ay, long live France!" cried Jean-Claude; "for, if the allies reach Paris, all our liberties are gone! Forced labor, tithes, privileges, and gibbets will flourish once more. If you wish that they should, let the allies pass." {178} A dark scowl seemed to settle on every man's face. "I have said what I have to say!" cried Hullin, pale with emotion. "As you are here, you are here to fight!" "Ay, to fight!" "It is well; but one word more. I would not deceive you; I see among you fathers of families. We will be one against ten--against fifty. We must expect to perish! Therefore, let those whose hearts may grow faint ere the end comes, go. All are free!" Each in the crowd looked round to see his neighbors' faces, but no one left his place. Jean-Claude spoke in a firmer tone: "No one moves! All are ready for battle! A chief--a leader--must be named, for in times of danger everything depends on order and discipline. He whom you shall appoint must be obeyed in all things. Reflect well, for on him depends the fate of every one of us."