The partisans had approached near the fire. Marc Divès bent over the cinders to light his pipe; on rising, he exclaimed: "I ask thee one thing only, Jérome; I know beforehand that they fought well under thy command----" "We have done our duty," replied the shoemaker. "There are sixty men stretched on the slopes of the Grosmann who will tell you so at the last day." "Yes; but who, then, guided the Germans? They could not have discovered the pass of the Blutfeld by themselves." "Yégof the madman--Yégof," said Jérome, whose gray eyes, encircled by deep wrinkles and thick white eyebrows, seemed to sparkle in the darkness. "Ah! art thou certain of it?" "Labarbe's men saw him climbing up; he led the others." The partisans looked at each other with indignation. At this moment Doctor Lorquin, who had remained outside to unharness the horse, opened the door, shouting: "The battle is lost! Here are our men from the Donon. I have just heard Lagarmitte's horn." It is easy to imagine the emotion of the recipients of these tidings. Each thought of the relations and friends that he might never see again; and from the kitchen and the granary everybody at once rushed on to the "plateau." At the same time Robin and Dubourg, posted as sentinels above Bois-de-Chênes, cried out, "Who goes there?" "France!" replied a voice. Notwithstanding the distance, Louise, fancying she could recognize her father's voice, was seized with such a fit of trembling that Catherine was compelled to support her. Just then the noise of many footsteps resounded over the hardened snow, and Louise, unable to contain herself any longer, exclaimed, "Papa Jean-Claude!" "I am coming," replied Hullin, "I am coming." "My father?" exclaimed Frantz Materne, rushing to meet Jean-Claude. "He is with us, Frantz." "And Kasper?" "He has received a slight scratch, but it is nothing. Thou wilt see them both again." Catherine threw herself into Jean-Claude's arms. "Oh, Jean-Claude, what joy to behold you once more!" "Yes," replied the worthy man, in a suppressed voice, "there are many who will never see their friends again." "Frantz," said old Materne, "here, this way!" And one could only see, on all sides, people seeking each other in the dim light, squeezing hands, and embracing. Some called for, "Niclau! Sapheri!" but many did not answer to their names. Then the voices became hoarse, as though stifled, and relapsed into silence. The joy of some, and the consternation of others, produced a terrible sensation. Louise was in Hullin's arms, sobbing bitterly. "Ah, Jean-Claude," said Mother Lefèvre, "you will hear strange things about that child. I will say no more now, but we have been attacked----" "Yes, we will talk of that later; our time is short," said Hullin. "The road to the Donon is lost, the Cossacks may be here at daylight, and we have many things to arrange."