Chapter 6

Then Ball-of-Bat，blushing and embarrassed，looked at the four travelers who had fasted and stammered：“Goodness knows！if I cared to offer anything to these gentlemen and ladies，I would—”Then she was silent，as if fearing an insult．Loiseau took up the word：“Ah！certainly，in times like these all the world are brothers and ought to aid each other．Come，ladies，without ceremony；why the devil not accept？We do not know whether we shall even find a house where we can pass the night．At the pace we are going now，we

They still hesitated，no one daring to assume the responsibility of a“Yes．”The Count decided the question．He turned toward the fat，intimidated girl and，taking on a grand air of condescension，he said to her：

“We accept with gratitude，Madame．”

It is the first step that counts．The Rubicon passed，one lends himself to

pears，a loaf of hard bread，some wafers， and a full cup of pickled gherkins and onions，of which crudities Ball-of-Fat，like all women，was extremely fond．

They could not eat this girl's provisions without speaking to her．And so they chatted， with reserve at first；then，as she carried herself well，with more abandon．The ladies De Breville and Carré-Lamadon，who were acquainted with all the ins and outs of good-breed-ing，were gracious with a certain delicacy．The Countess，especially，showed that amiable condescension of very noble ladies who do not fear being spoiled by con－tact with anyone，and was charming．But the great Madame Loiseau，who had the soul of a plebeian， remained crabbed，saying little and eating much．

The conversation was about the war，naturally．They related the horrible deeds of the Prussians， the brave acts of the French；and all of them，although running away，did homage to those who stayed behind．Then personal stories began to be told，and Ball-of-Fat related，with sincere emotion，and in the heated words that such girls sometimes use in expressing their natural feelings，how she had left Rouen：

“I believed at first that I could remain，”she said．“I had my house full of provisions，and I preferred to feed a few soldiers rather than expatriate myself，to go I knew not where．But as soon as I saw them，those Prussians，that was too much for me！They made my blood boil with anger，and I wept for very shame all day long．Oh！if I were only a man！I watched them from my windows，the great porkers with their pointed helmets，and my maid held my hands to keep me from throwing the furniture down upon them．Then one of them came to lodge at my house；I sprang at his throat the first thing；they are no more difficult to strangle than other people．And I should have put an end to that one then and there had they not pulled me away by the hair．After that，it was necessary to keep out of sight．And finally，when I found an opportunity，I left town and-here I am！”

They congratulated her．She grew in the estimation of her companions，who had not shown themselves so hot-brained，and Cornudet，while listening to her，took on the approving，benevolent smile of an apostle，as a priest would if he heard a devotee praise God，for the long-bearded democrats have a monopoly of patriotism，as the men in cassocks have a religion．In his turn he spoke，in a doctrinal tone，with the emphasis of a proclamation such as we see pasted on the walls about town，and finished by a bit of eloquence whereby he gave that“scamp of a Badinguet”a good lashing．

Then Ball-of-Fat was angry，for she was a Bona-partist．She grew redder than a cherry and，stammering with indignation，said：

“I would like to have seen you in his place， you other people．Then everything would have been quite right；oh，yes！It is you who have betrayed this man！One would never have had to leave France if it had been governed by blackguards like you！”

Cornudet，undisturbed，preserved a disdainful，superior smile，but all felt that the high note had been struck，until the Count，not without some difficulty，calmed the exasperated girl and proclaimed with a manner of authority that all sincere opinions should be respected．But the Countess and the manufacturer's wife，who had in their souls an unreasonable hatred for the people that favor a Republic，and the same instinctive tenderness that all women have for a decorative，despotic government，felt themselves drawn，in spite of them－selves，toward this prostitute so full of dignity，whose sentiments so strongly resembled their own．

The basket was empty．By ten o'clock they had easily exhausted the contents and regretted that there was not more．Conversation continued for some time，but a little more coldly since they had finished eating．

The night fell，the darkness little by little became profound，and the cold，felt more during digestion，made Ball－of－Fat shiver in spite of her plumpness．Then Madame de Breville offered her the little footstove，in which the fuel had been renewed many times since morning；she accepted it immediately，for her feet were becoming numb with cold．The ladies Carré-Lamadon and Loiseau gave theirs to the two religious sisters．

The driver had lighted his lanterns．They shone out with lively glimmer showing a cloud of foam beyond，the sweat of the horses；and，on both sides of the way，the snow seemed to roll itself along under the moving reflection of the lights．

Inside the carriage one could distinguish nothing．But a sudden movement seemed to be made between Ball-of-Fat and Cornudet；and Loiseau，whose eye penetrated the shadow，believed that he saw the big－bearded man start back quickly as if he had received a swift，noiseless blow．

Then some twinkling points of fire appeared in the distance along the

hours given to resting and feeding the horses，made thirteen．They en-tered the town and stopped before the Hotel of Commerce．

The carriage door opened！A well－known sound gave the travelers a start；it was the scabbard of a sword hitting the ground．Immediately a German voice was heard in the darkness．

Although the diligence was not moving，no one offered to alight，fearing some one might be waiting to murder them as they stepped out．Then the conductor appeared，holding in his hand one of the lanterns which lighted the carriage to its depth，and showed the two rows of frightened faces，whose mouths were open and whose eyes were wide with surprise and fear．

Outside beside the driver，in plain sight，stood a German officer，an excessively tall young man，thin and blond，squeezed into his uniform like a girl in a corset，and wearing on his head a flat，oilclotn cap which made him resemble the porter of an English hotel．His enormous mustache，of long straight hairs，growing gradually thin at each side and terminating in a single blond thread so fine that one could not perceive where it ended，seemed to weigh heavily on the corners of his mouth and，drawing down the cheeks，left a decided wrinkle about the lips．