'General! general!' shouted Douay, whose voice, in his surprise and emotion, thundered so loudly that it resounded above all the roar of the artillery. 'General, it is no longer Ducrot who commands, but Wimpffen! Yes, he arrived yesterday, at the very moment of the Beaumont rout, to take De Failly's place at the head of the Fifth Corps--and he writes me that he has a letter from the Minister of War placing him at the head of the army in the event of any vacancy in the command--and the orders to retreat are cancelled, we are to regain and defend our original positions.' General Bourgain-Desfeuilles was listening with dilated eyes. 'Thunder!' he exclaimed at last, 'we ought to know what we are to do--though for my own part I don't care a rap!' Then away he galloped, really indifferent as to the issue of the affair, having merely viewed the war at the outset as a means of rapidly attaining to divisional rank, and now simply desiring that this stupid campaign should be brought to an end as soon as possible, since it gave so little satisfaction to everybody. And now the men of Beaudoin's company burst into a derisive laugh. Maurice said nothing, but he shared the opinion of Chouteau and Loubet, who began to jeer and joke, pouring forth their contempt. Right wheel, left wheel, go as you're told. Nice commanders they had, and no mistake; commanders who agreed so well together, and who didn't want all the blanket to themselves--oh! no, of course not! When men had such generals as those, wasn't it best to go off to bed? Three commanders-in-chief in the space of a couple of hours, three fine fellows who didn't know what ought to be done, and each of whom gave different orders! Really, it was enough to make you feel exasperated, enough to demoralise a saint! And then those fatal charges of treason cropped up afresh--Ducrot and Wimpffen were like MacMahon, they wanted to earn Bismarck's three millions! General Douay had halted at some little distance in advance of his staff, and there he remained quite alone, gazing at the Prussian positions, and absorbed in a reverie of infinite sadness. For a long time he continued scanning the Hattoy hill, the shells from which were falling close around him. Then, after turning towards the plateau of Illy, he summoned an officer to carry an order to a brigade of the Fifth Corps, which he had obtained from General de Wimpffen the day before, and which connected him with Ducrot's left wing. And he was distinctly heard to remark: 'If the Prussians should obtain possession of the Calvary we could not hold out here for an hour; we should be thrown back on Sedan.' Thereupon he went off, disappearing with his escort at a bend of the hollow road, whilst the enemy's fire increased in intensity. Very possibly he had been remarked.