Part 12 (1/2)
A little surprised--and hurt that the commandant had said no word of commendation to them, for the service they had performed--the boys hurried off to their quarters, to get their rifles.
”Sure, Master Ralph, and what is the matter, at all?” Tim Doyle said, as they entered. ”Sure the major, honest man, must have gone off his head, entirely! Scarcely had we finished our male, and began to smoke the first pipe in aise and comfort, when the bugle blows for parade.
”'Confound the bugle!' says I, and I shoved me pipe aside, and put on my belt and fell in.
”Hardly had we begun the maneuvers when your honors arrived and said a word, private, to the major. The words weren't out of your mouth before he dismisses us from drill.
”'Botheration!' says I, 'is there no pace for the wicked?'
”Back I comes again, and takes off me belt and piles me firelock; and before I had got three draws at me pipe, and was just beginning to enjoy the creetur when, crack! and there goes the a.s.simbly again. Sure and the major, honest man, has lost his head entirely; and it's a pity, for he is an illegant man, and a good officer, says I.”
”Come along, Tim,” Ralph said, laughing, ”else you'll be late for parade. You will hear all about it in time, I have no doubt.”
In five minutes the men were all a.s.sembled in a hollow square, two deep, facing the officers in the center The men saw at once, by the faces of Major Tempe and the officers, that something very serious had happened; and they had no sooner taken their places than there was a deep hush of expectancy, for it was evident that the commandant was about to address them.
”My men,” he said, after a pause of a minute or two, ”a great calamity has happened; and a still greater one would have happened, had we not providentially received warning in time. It had been resolved--as you would have heard this evening, had all gone well--that tonight we should attack the German sentries, and blow up the rock tunnel of Saverne. The affair would have been hot, but it would have been a vital service to France; and the franc tireurs of Dijon would have merited, and obtained, the thanks of all France. It was for the purpose of the attack that the two companies detached from us were recalled.
”All promised well for success. Two of your number had been down into Saverne, in disguise, and had brought us full information respecting the force and disposition of the enemy. All was prepared, the chance of success favorable, and the force the enemy could have brought against us was no larger than our own. We should have saved France, and immortalized ourselves.
”At the present moment there are two thousand five hundred men in Saverne. Tomorrow night this village is to be attacked, and every franc tireur found here put to the sword.”
A cry of surprise and rage broke from the men.
”And how, think you, has the change been wrought? By treachery!”
Those cries of rage were renewed.
”By treachery! A Frenchman has been found, base and vile enough to sell us to Prussia. All hope of success is over, and we have only to retreat.”
”Who is he? Who is he?” burst from the infuriated men. ”Death to the traitor! Death to the traitor!”
”Yes, men, death to the traitor!” the major said, solemnly. ”It is the schoolmaster of Grunsdorf who has sold you to the Prussians; who wrote that letter to their general, telling him of your intentions, which has caused these great reinforcements to be sent; and who has offered to guide a force to surround us, tomorrow night.”
Another low cry of horror and indignation broke from the men.
”Is it your opinion that this man has deserved death?”
”Yes,” was the unanimous answer.
”Then he dies,” Major Tempe said, solemnly. ”You were to have been his victims; you are his judges.
”Grunsdorf is three miles from here, in the woods, not far from Saverne. A party will be told off, presently, who will be charged with the execution of this sentence.
”I have now another duty. The corps has been saved from destruction. You--all of us--have been preserved from death by the intelligence and courage of two of your number.
”Ralph and Percy Barclay, stand forward!”
The two boys stepped two paces forward into the hollow square.
”Selected by me,” continued Major Tempe, ”for the duty, from their perfect acquaintance with German; they, upon their first visit to Saverne, obtained all the information required. Upon their second visit, this morning--finding the enemy had been immensely reinforced--they perceived the extreme importance of discovering the reason for the arrival of the reinforcements, and their intention. With a coolness and tact which does them the greatest credit, they contrived to arrive, and to remain within hearing of, a number of officers; and then learned the whole particulars of the treachery of this man, and of the intention of our enemies. So important was the secret judged that the Germans were afraid of telling it in German, or in French, lest they might be overheard.