By some intuition or suggestion my vision increased at this point. I had the feeling that I could see from one end to the other of our front. On the Ourcq just by, and farther off on the Marne, the Meuse, the Moselle, this very Destiny was being pronounced; this very morning, at this very hour, the success of our counter-offensive; the hostile rabble dislocated, broken, forced to retreat. Paris and France saved! A grand date in the history of the world! What did it matter how long the War might last. I greeted the day of glory. This noble stretch of country, the Île-de-France, stood forth before us--our adopted land--and lay stretched at our feet, presenting a fertile appearance for our sakes. Preserved for the sons of my race, the acres which nourished us with their substance of life-giving properties. I thought not at all of my wound, of my life, no doubt in danger. Content to have lived until this sublime instant, I united in the same love, the freed territory, the luminary shining on my country, the beings dear to my heart; and enlacing the rugged tree, I eagerly stretched myself up to follow to the very horizon our victorious colours. * * * * * My strength suddenly gave way. The leaden weight became aggravated. I yielded with the one idea of falling upon my sound limb. My forehead struck the ground and I fell into a deep swoon. PART IV _BOOK X_ _Epilogue_ CHAPTER I APPREHENSIONS "That's doing very well--very well indeed!" It was Bujard, the house-surgeon, who was speaking. "If everyone got on as quickly as you----" I no longer felt any pain. My gaze wandered round the huge room. It was warm and prettily decorated--the smoking-room in the M---- hotel, which had been converted into a hospital. My temperature was normal again and I experienced a sensation of relief and deliverance. How delightful it was to rest on this pliant mattress, in these cool sheets, to distinguish the prattle of my neighbours, and the patter of the sister's feet standing out from the subdued hubbub in the ward. When the light tired me, I closed my eyes on this scene, and went over the vicissitudes of the nightmare I had just left behind.... My long prostration in a dying condition, on that deserted plateau; swoons from which I awoke at intervals; that deadly cycle; two days and two nights. ... Ah! Faces were leaning over me. They pick me up and carry me away. Where am I? A stretcher, a motor.... Heavens, how my leg tears me! How thirsty I am!