forcedinto
his
hand
the
written
statement
of
Cecil
's
name
and
station
.
All
the
hot
blood
was
back
in
her
cheek
,
all
the
fiery
passion
back
in
her
eyes
.
She
lashed
this
potent
ruler
with
the
scourge
of
her
scorn
as
she
had
lashed
a
drunken
horde
of
plunderers
with
her
whip
.
She
was
reckless
of
what
she
said
;
she
was
conscious
only
of
one
thing
—
the
despair
that
consumed
her
.
The
French
Marshal
glanced
his
eye
on
the
fragment
,
carelessly
and
coldly
.
As
he
saw
the
words
,
he
started
,
and
read
on
with
wondering
eagerness
.
"
Royallieu
!
"
he
muttered
—
"
Royallieu
!
"
The
name
was
familiar
to
him
;
he
it
was
who
,
when
he
had
murmured
,
"
That
man
has
the
seat
of
the
English
Guards
,
"
as
a
Chasseur
d'Afrique
had
passed
him
,
had
been
ignorant
that
in
that
Chasseur
he
saw
one
whom
he
had
known
in
many
a
scene
of
Court
splendour
and
Parisian
pleasure
.
The
years
had
been
many
since
Cecil
and
he
had
met
,
but
not
so
many
but
that
the
name
brought
memories
of
friendship
with
it
,
and
moved
him
with
emotion
.
He
turned
with
grave
anxiety
to
Cigarette
.
"
You
speak
strangely
;
how
came
this
in
your
hands
?
"
"
Thus
:
the
day
that
you
gave
me
the
Cross
,
I
saw
Madame
la
Princesse
Corona
.
I
hated
her
,
and
I
went
—
no
matter
!
From
her
I
learned
that
he
whom
we
call
Louis
Victor
was
of
her
rank
,
was
of
old
friendship
with
her
house
,
was
exiled
and
nameless
,
but
for
some
reason
unknown
to
her
.
She
needed
to
see
him
;
to
bid
him
farewell
,
so
she
said
.
I
took
the
message
for
her
;
I
sent
him
to
her
.
"
Her
voice
grew
husky
and
savage
,
but
she
forced
her
words
on
with
the
reckless
sacrifice
of
self
that
moved
her
.
"
He
went
to
her
tent
,
alone
,
at
night
;
that
was
,
of
course
,
whence
he
came
when
Châteauroy
met
him
.
I
doubt
not
the
Black
Hawk
had
some
foul
thing
to
hint
of
his
visit
,
and
that
the
blow
was
struck
for
her
—
for
her
!
Well
;
in
the
streets
of
Algiers
I
saw
a
man
with
a
face
like
his
own
;
different
,
but
the
same
race
,
look
you
.
I
spoke
to
him
;
I
taxed
him
.
When
he
found
that
the
one
whom
I
spoke
of
was
under
sentence
of
death
,
he
grew
mad
—
he
cried
out
that
he
was
his
brother
,
and
had
murdered
him
;
that
it
was
for
his
sake
that
the
cruelty
of
this
exile
had
been
borne
,
and
that
if
his
brother
perished
,
he
would
be
his
destroyer
.
Then
I
bade
him
write
down
that
paper
,
since
these
English
names
were
unknown
to
me
,
and
I
brought
it
hither
to
you
that
you
might
see
under
his
hand
and
with
your
own
eyes
that
I
have
uttered
the
truth
.
And
now
is
that
man
to
be
killed
like
a
mad
beast
whom
you
fear
?
Is
that
death
the
reward
France
will
give
for
Zarâila
?
"
Her
eyes
were
fixed
with
a
fearful
intensity
of
appeal
upon
the
stern
face
bent
above
her
;
her
last
arrow
was
sped
;
if
this
failed
,
all
was
over
.
As
he
heard
,
he
was
visibly
moved
;
he
remembered
the
felon
's
shame
that
in
years
gone
by
had
fallen
across
the
banished
name
of
Bertie
Cecil
;
the
history
seemed
clear
as
crystal
to
him
seen
beneath
the
light
shed
on
it
from
other
days
.
His
hand
fell
heavily
on
the
gun-carriage
.
"
Mort
de
Dieu
!
it
was
his
brother
's
sin
,
not
his
!
"
There
was
a
long
silence
;
those
present
who
knew
nothing
of
all
that
was
in
his
memory
felt
instinctively
that
some
dead
weight
of
alien
guilt
was
lifted
off
a
blameless
life
for
ever
.
She
drew
a
deep
,
long
,
sighing
breath
;
she
knew
that
he
was
safe
.
Her
hands
unconsciously
locked
on
the
great
Chief
's
arms
;
her
eyes
looked
up
,
senselessly
in
their
rapture
and
their
dread
,
to
his
.
"
Quick
,
quick
!
"
she
gasped
.
"
The
hours
go
so
fast
;
while
we
speak
here
,
he
—
—
"
The
words
died
in
her
throat
.
The
Marshal
swung
round
with
a
rapid
sign
to
a
staff
officer
.
"
Pens
and
ink
!
instantly
!
My
brave
child
,
what
can
we
say
to
you
?
I
will
send
an
Aide-de-camp
to
arrest
the
execution
of
the
sentence
.
It
must
be
deferred
till
we
know
the
whole
truth
of
this
;
if
it
be
as
it
looks
now
,
he
shall
be
saved
if
the
Empire
can
save
him
!
"
She
looked
up
in
his
eyes
with
a
look
that
froze
his
very
heart
.
"
His
honour
!
"
she
muttered
;
"
his
honour
—
if
not
his
life
!
"
He
understood
her
;
he
bowed
his
haughty
head
low
down
to
hers
.
"
True
.
We
will
cleanse
that
,
if
all
other
justice
be
too
late
.
"
The
answer
was
infinitely
gentle
,
infinitely
solemn
.
Then
he
turned
and
wrote
his
hurried
order
,
and
bade
his
Aide-de-camp
go
with
it
without
a
second
's
loss
;
but
Cigarette
caught
it
from
his
hand
.
"
To
me
!
to
me
!
No
other
will
go
so
fast
!
"
"
But
,
my
child
,
you
are
worn
out
already
.
"
She
turned
on
him
her
beautiful
wild
eyes
,
in
which
the
blinding
passionate
tears
were
floating
.
"
Do
you
think
I
would
tarry
for
that
?
Ah
!
I
wish
that
I
had
let
them
tell
me
of
God
,
that
I
might
ask
Him
now
to
bless
you
!
Quick
,
quick
!
Lend
me
your
swiftest
horse
,
one
that
will
not
tire
.
And
send
a
second
order
by
your
officer
;
the
Arabs
may
kill
me
as
I
go
,
and
then
they
will
not
know
!
"
He
stooped
and
touched
her
little
brown
,
scorched
,
feverish
hand
with
reverence
.
"
My
child
,
Africa
has
shown
me
much
heroism
,
but
none
like
yours
.
If
you
fall
,
he
shall
be
safe
,
and
France
will
know
how
to
avenge
its
darling
's
loss
.
"
She
turned
and
gave
him
one
look
,
infinitely
sweet
,
infinitely
eloquent
.
"
Ah
!
—
France
!
"
she
said
,
so
softly
that
the
word
was
but
a
sigh
of
unutterable
tenderness
.
The
old
imperishable
early
love
was
not
dethroned
;
it
was
there
still
before
all
else
.
France
was
without
rival
with
her
.
Then
,
without
another
second
's
pause
,
she
flew
from
them
,
and
vaulting
into
the
saddle
of
a
young
horse
which
stood
without
in
the
court-yard
,
rode
once
more
,
at
full
speed
,
out
into
the
pitiless
blaze
of
the
sun
,
out
to
the
wasted
desolation
of
the
plains
.
The
order
of
release
,
indeed
,
was
in
her
bosom
;
but
the
chances
were
as
a
million
to
one
that
she
would
reach
him
with
it
in
time
,
ere
with
the
rising
of
the
sun
his
life
would
have
set
for
ever
.
All
the
horror
of
remorse
was
on
her
;
the
bitter
jealousy
in
which
she
had
desired
vengeance
on
him
seemed
to
have
rendered
her
a
murderess
.
She
loved
him
with
an
exceeding
passion
;
and
only
in
this
extremity
,
when
it
was
confronted
with
the
imminence
of
death
,
did
the
fulness
and
the
greatness
of
that
love
make
their
way
out
of
the
petulant
pride
and
the
wounded
vanity
which
had
obscured
them
.
She
had
been
ere
now
a
child
and
a
hero
;
beneath
this
blow
which
struck
at
him
she
changed
—
she
became
a
woman
and
a
martyr
.
And
she
rode
at
full
speed
through
the
night
,
as
she
had
done
through
the
daylight
,
her
eyes
glancing
all
around
in
the
keen
instinct
of
a
trooper
,
her
hand
always
on
the
butt
of
her
belt
pistol
.
For
she
knew
well
what
the
danger
was
of
these
lonely
,
unguarded
,
untravelled
leagues
that
yawned
in
such
distance
between
her
and
her
goal
.
The
Arabs
,
beaten
,
but
only
rendered
furious
by
defeat
,
swept
down
on
to
those
plains
with
the
old
guerilla
skill
,
the
old
marvellous
rapidity
.
She
knew
that
with
every
second
shot
or
steel
might
send
her
reeling
from
her
saddle
,
that
with
every
moment
she
might
be
surrounded
by
some
desperate
band
who
would
spare
neither
her
sex
nor
her
youth
.
But
this
intoxication
of
peril
,
the
wine-draught
she
had
drunk
from
her
infancy
,
was
all
which
sustained
her
in
that
race
with
death
.
It
filled
her
veins
with
their
old
heat
,
her
heart
with
its
old
daring
,
her
nerves
with
their
old
matchless
courage
:
but
for
it
she
would
have
dropped
,
heart-sick
with
terror
and
dispair
,
ere
her
errand
could
have
been
done
;
under
it
she
had
the
coolness
,
the
keenness
,
the
sagacity
,
the
sustained
force
,
and
the
supernatural
strength
of
some
young
hunted
animal
.
They
might
slay
her
so
that
she
left
perforce
her
mission
unaccomplished
;
but
no
dread
of
such
a
fate
had
power
to
appal
her
or
arrest
her
.
While
there
should
be
breath
in
her
,
she
would
go
on
to
the
end
.
There
were
many
hours
'
hard
riding
before
her
,
at
the
swiftest
pace
her
horse
could
make
;
and
she
was
already
worn
by
the
leagues
already
traversed
.
Although
this
was
nothing
new
that
she
did
now
,
yet
as
time
flew
on
and
she
flew
with
it
,
ceaselessly
,
through
the
dim
solitary
barren
moonlit
land
,
her
brain
now
and
then
grew
giddy
,
her
heart
now
and
then
stood
still
with
a
sudden
numbing
faintness
.
She
shook
the
weakness
off
her
with
the
resolute
scorn
for
it
of
her
nature
,
and
succeeded
in
its
banishment
.
They
had
put
in
her
hand
,
as
she
had
passed
through
the
fortress
gates
,
a
lance
with
a
lantern
muffled
in
Arab
fashion
,
so
that
the
light
was
unseen
from
before
,
while
it
streamed
over
her
herself
,
to
enable
her
to
guide
her
way
if
the
moon
should
be
veiled
by
clouds
.
With
that
single
starry
gleam
,
aslant
on
a
level
with
her
eyes
,
she
rode
through
the
ghastly
twilight
of
the
half-lit
plains
,
now
flooded
with
lustre
as
the
moon
emerged
,
now
engulfed
in
darkness
as
the
stormy
western
winds
drove
the
cirri
over
it
.
But
neither
darkness
nor
light
differed
to
her
;
she
noted
neither
;
she
was
like
one
drunk
with
strong
wine
,
and
she
had
but
one
dread
—
that
her
horse
would
give
way
under
the
unnatural
strain
,
and
that
she
would
reach
too
late
,
when
the
life
she
went
to
save
would
have
fallen
for
ever
,
silent
unto
death
,
as
she
had
seen
the
life
of
Marquise
fall
.
Hour
on
hour
,
league
on
league
,
passed
away
;
she
felt
the
animal
quiver
under
the
spur
,
and
she
heard
the
catch
in
his
panting
breath
as
he
strained
to
give
his
fleetest
and
best
that
told
her
how
,
ere
long
,
the
racing
speed
,
the
extended
gallop
,
at
which
she
kept
him
,
would
tell
,
and
beat
him
down
despite
his
desert
strain
.
She
had
no
pity
;
she
would
have
killed
twenty
horses
under
her
to
reach
her
goal
;
she
was
giving
her
own
life
,
she
was
willing
to
lose
it
if
by
its
loss
she
did
this
thing
,
to
save
the
man
condemned
to
die
with
the
rising
of
the
sun
.
She
did
not
spare
herself
;
and
she
would
have
spared
no
living
thing
,
to
fulfil
the
mission
that
she
undertook
.
She
loved
with
the
passionate
blindness
of
her
sex
,
with
the
absolute
abandonment
of
the
southern
blood
.
If
to
spare
him
she
must
have
bidden
thousands
fall
,
she
would
have
given
the
word
for
their
destruction
without
a
moment
's
pause
.
Once
from
some
screen
of
gaunt
and
barren
rock
a
shot
was
fired
at
her
,
and
flew
within
a
hair
's
breadth
of
her
brain
;
she
never
even
looked
around
to
see
whence
it
had
come
;
she
knew
it
was
from
some
Arab
prowler
of
the
plains
.
Her
single
spark
of
light
through
the
half-veiled
lantern
passed
as
swiftly
as
a
shooting-star
across
the
plateau
.
And
as
she
felt
the
hours
steal
on
—
so
fast
,
so
hideously
fast
—
with
that
horrible
relentlessness
,
"
ohne
hast
,
ohne
rast
,
"
which
tarries
for
no
despair
,
as
it
hastens
for
no
desire
,
her
lips
grew
dry
as
dust
,
her
tongue
clove
to
the
roof
of
her
mouth
,
the
blood
beat
like
a
thousand
hammers
on
her
brain
.
What
she
dreaded
came
.
Midway
in
her
course
,
when
,
by
the
stars
,
she
knew
midnight
was
past
,
the
horse
vainly
strove
with
hard-drawn
gasps
to
answer
the
demand
made
on
him
by
the
spur
and
by
the
lance-shaft
with
which
he
was
goaded
onward
.
In
the
lantern-light
she
saw
his
head
stretched
out
in
the
racing
agony
,
his
distended
eyeballs
,
his
neck
covered
with
foam
and
blood
,
his
heaving
flanks
that
seem
bursting
with
every
throb
that
his
heart
gave
;
she
knew
that
,
half
a
league
more
forced
from
him
,
and
he
would
drop
like
a
dead
thing
never
to
rise
again
.
Her
eyes
swept
over
the
dusky
plains
with
all
the
horror
in
them
of
one
who
sees
murder
done
and
cannot
raise
his
hand
to
ward
it
off
:
the
dawn
was
near
at
hand
,
and
the
leagues
betwixt
her
and
the
camp
were
so
many
!
She
let
the
bridle
drop
upon
the
poor
beast
's
neck
,
and
threw
her
arms
above
her
head
with
a
shrill
wailing
cry
,
whose
despair
echoed
over
the
noiseless
plains
like
the
cry
of
a
shot-stricken
animal
.
She
saw
it
all
:
the
rising
of
the
rosy
golden
day
;
the
stillness
of
the
hushed
camp
;
the
tread
of
the
few
picked
men
;
the
open
coffin
by
the
open
grave
;
the
levelled
carbines
gleaming
in
the
first
rays
of
the
sun
.
...
She
had
seen
it
so
many
times
—
seen
it
,
to
the
awful
end
,
when
the
living
man
fell
down
in
the
morning
light
a
shattered
,
senseless
,
soulless
,
crushed-out
mass.
That
single
moment
was
all
the
soldier
's
nature
in
her
gave
to
the
abandonment
of
despair
,
to
the
paralysis
that
seized
her
.
With
that
one
cry
from
the
depths
of
her
breaking
heart
,
the
weakness
spent
itself
:
she
knew
that
action
alone
could
aid
him
.
She
looked
across
,
southward
and
northward
,
east
and
west
,
to
see
if
there
were
aught
near
from
which
she
could
get
aid
.
If
there
were
none
,
the
horse
must
drop
down
to
die
,
and
with
his
life
the
other
life
would
perish
as
surely
as
the
sun
would
rise
.
Her
eyes
caught
sight
in
the
distance
of
some
dark
thing
moving
rapidly
—
a
large
cloud
skimming
the
earth
.
She
kept
her
gaze
fixed
on
the
advancing
cloud
,
till
,
with
the
marvellous
surety
of
her
deserttrained
vision
,
she
disentangled
it
from
the
floating
mists
and
wavering
shadows
,
and
recognised
it
,
as
it
was
,
—
a
band
of
Arabs
.
If
she
turned
eastward
out
of
her
route
,
the
failing
strength
of
her
horse
would
be
fully
enough
to
take
her
into
safety
from
their
pursuit
,
or
even
from
their
perception
,
for
they
were
coming
straightly
and
swiftly
across
the
plain
.
If
she
were
seen
by
them
,
she
was
certain
of
her
fate
.
They
could
only
be
the
desperate
remnant
of
the
decimated
tribes
—
the
foraging
raiders
of
starving
and
desperate
men
,
hunted
from
refuge
to
refuge
,
and
carrying
fire
and
sword
in
their
vengeance
wherever
an
unprotected
caravan
or
a
defenceless
settlement
gave
them
the
power
of
plunder
and
of
slaughter
,
that
spared
neither
age
nor
sex
.
She
was
known
throughout
the
length
and
the
breadth
of
the
land
to
the
Arabs
:
she
was
neither
child
nor
woman
to
them
;
she
was
but
the
soldier
who
had
brought
up
the
French
reserve
at
Zarâila
;
she
was
but
the
foe
who
had
seen
them
defeated
,
and
ridden
down
with
her
comrades
in
their
pursuit
in
twice
a
score
of
vanquished
,
bitter
,
intolerably
shameful
days
.
Some
amongst
them
had
sworn
by
their
God
to
put
her
to
a
fearful
death
if
ever
they
made
her
captive
,
for
they
held
her
in
superstitious
awe
,
and
thought
the
spell
of
the
Frankish
successes
would
be
broken
if
she
were
slain
.
She
knew
that
;
yet
,
knowing
it
,
she
looked
at
their
advancing
band
one
moment
,
then
turned
her
horse
's
head
and
rode
straight
towards
them
.
"
They
will
kill
me
,
but
that
may
save
him
,
"
she
thought
.
"
Any
other
way
he
is
lost
.
"
So
she
rode
directly
towards
them
;
rode
so
that
she
crossed
their
front
,
and
placed
herself
in
their
path
,
standing
quite
still
,
with
the
cloth
torn
from
the
lantern
,
so
that
its
light
fell
full
about
her
,
as
she
held
it
above
her
head
.
In
an
instant
they
knew
her
.
They
were
some
two
score
of
the
remnant
who
had
escaped
from
the
carnage
of
Zarâila
;
they
recognised
her
with
all
the
rapid
unerring
surety
of
hate
.
They
gave
the
shrill
wild
war-shout
of
their
tribe
,
and
the
whole
mass
of
gaunt
,
dark
,
mounted
figures
with
their
weapons
whirling
round
their
heads
enclosed
her
;
a
cloud
of
kites
settled
down
with
their
black
wings
and
cruel
beaks
upon
one
young
silvery-plumed
gerfalcon
.
She
sat
unmoved
,
and
looked
up
at
the
naked
blades
that
flashed
above
her
:
there
was
no
fear
upon
her
face
,
only
a
calm
resolute
proud
beauty
,
very
pale
,
very
still
in
the
light
that
gleamed
on
it
from
the
lantern-rays
.
"
I
surrender
,
"
she
said
,
briefly
:
she
had
never
thought
to
say
these
words
of
submission
to
her
scorned
foes
;
she
would
not
have
been
brought
to
utter
them
to
spare
her
own
existence
.
Their
answer
was
a
yell
of
furious
delight
,
and
their
bare
blades
smote
each
other
with
a
clash
of
brutal
joy
:
they
had
her
,
the
Frankish
child
who
had
brought
shame
and
destruction
on
them
at
Zarâila
,
and
they
longed
to
draw
their
steel
through
the
fair
young
throat
,
to
plunge
their
lances
into
the
bright
bare
bosom
,
to
twine
her
hair
round
their
spear
handles
,
to
rend
her
delicate
limbs
apart
,
as
a
tiger
rends
the
antelope
,
to
torture
,
to
outrage
,
to
wreak
their
vengeance
on
her
.
Their
chief
,
only
,
motioned
their
violence
back
from
her
,
and
bade
them
leave
her
untouched
.
At
him
she
looked
,
still
with
the
same
fixed
,
serene
,
scornful
resolve
:
she
had
encountered
these
men
often
in
battle
,
she
knew
well
how
rich
a
prize
she
was
to
him
.
But
she
had
one
thought
alone
with
her
;
and
for
it
she
subdued
contempt
,
and
hate
,
and
pride
,
and
every
passion
in
her
.
"
I
surrender
,
"
she
said
,
with
the
same
tranquillity
.
"
I
have
heard
that
you
have
sworn
by
your
God
and
your
Prophet
to
tear
me
limb
from
limb
because
that
I
—
a
child
,
and
a
woman-child
—
brought
you
to
shame
and
to
grief
on
the
day
of
Zarâila
.
Well
,
I
am
here
;
do
it
.
You
can
slake
your
will
on
me
.
But
inasmuch
as
you
are
brave
men
,
and
as
I
have
ever
met
you
in
fair
fight
,
let
me
speak
one
word
with
you
first
.
"
Through
the
menaces
and
the
rage
around
her
,
fierce
as
the
yelling
of
starving
wolves
around
a
frozen
corpse
,
her
clear
brave
tones
reached
the
ear
of
the
chief
in
the
lingua-sabir
that
she
used
.
He
was
a
young
man
,
and
his
ear
was
caught
by
that
tuneful
voice
,
his
eyes
by
that
youthful
face
with
the
glow
of
the
lantern-light
upon
its
colourless
,
scornful
,
earnest
features
.
He
signed
upward
the
swords
of
his
followers
,
and
motioned
them
back
as
their
arms
were
stretched
to
seize
her
,
and
their
shouts
clamoured
for
her
slaughter
.
"
Speak
on
,
"
he
said
briefly
to
her
.
"
You
have
sworn
to
take
my
body
,
sawn
in
two
,
to
Ben-Ihreddin
?
"
she
pursued
,
naming
the
Arab
leader
whom
her
Spahis
had
driven
off
the
field
of
Zarâila
.
"
Well
,
here
it
is
;
you
can
take
it
to
him
;
and
you
will
receive
the
piasters
,
and
the
horse
,
and
the
arms
that
he
has
promised
to
whosoever
shall
slay
me
.
I
have
surrendered
;
I
am
yours
.
But
you
are
bold
men
,
and
the
bold
are
never
mean
;
therefore
I
will
ask
one
thing
of
you
.
There
is
a
man
yonder
,
in
my
camp
,
condemned
to
death
with
the
dawn
.
He
is
innocent
.
I
have
ridden
from
Algiers
to-day
with
the
order
of
his
release
.
If
it
is
not
there
by
sunrise
,
he
will
be
shot
;
and
he
is
guiltless
as
a
child
unborn
.
My
horse
is
worn
out
;
he
could
not
go
another
half
league
.
I
knew
that
,
since
he
had
failed
,
my
comrade
would
perish
,
unless
I
found
a
fresh
beast
or
a
messenger
to
go
in
my
stead
.
I
saw
your
band
come
across
the
plain
.
I
knew
that
you
would
kill
me
,
because
of
your
oath
and
of
your
Emir
's
bribe
;
but
I
thought
that
you
would
have
greatness
enough
in
you
to
save
this
man
who
is
condemned
,
without
crime
,
who
must
perish
unless
you
,
his
foes
,
have
pity
on
him
.
Therefore
I
came
.
Take
the
paper
that
frees
him
;
send
your
fleetest
and
surest
with
it
,
under
a
flag
of
truce
,
into
our
camp
by
the
dawn
;
let
him
tell
them
there
that
I
,
Cigarette
,
gave
it
him
—
he
must
say
no
word
of
what
you
have
done
to
me
,
or
his
white
flag
will
not
protect
him
from
the
vengeance
of
my
Army
—
and
then
receive
your
reward
from
your
Emir
when
you
lay
my
head
down
for
his
horse
's
hoofs
to
trample
into
the
dust
.
Answer
me
—
is
the
pact
fair
?
Ride
on
with
this
paper
northward
,
and
then
kill
me
with
what
torments
you
choose
.
"
She
spoke
with
calm
unwavering
resolve
,
meaning
that
which
she
uttered
to
its
very
uttermost
letter
.
She
knew
that
these
men
had
thirsted
for
her
blood
;
she
offered
it
to
be
shed
to
gain
for
him
that
messenger
on
whose
speed
his
life
was
hanging
;
she
knew
that
a
price
was
set
upon
her
head
,
but
she
delivered
herself
over
to
the
hands
of
her
tormentors
so
that
thereby
she
might
purchase
his
redemption
.
As
they
heard
,
silence
fell
upon
the
brutal
clamorous
herd
around
—
the
silence
of
amaze
and
of
respect
.
The
young
chief
listened
gravely
;
by
the
glistening
of
his
keen
black
eyes
,
he
was
surprised
and
moved
,
though
,
true
to
his
teaching
,
he
showed
neither
emotion
as
he
answered
her
:
"
Who
is
this
Frank
for
whom
you
do
this
thing
?
"
"
He
is
the
warrior
to
whom
you
offered
life
on
the
field
of
Zarâila
because
his
courage
was
as
the
courage
of
gods
.
"
She
knew
the
qualities
of
the
desert
character
;
knew
how
to
appeal
to
its
reverence
and
to
its
chivalry
.
"
And
for
what
does
he
perish
?
"
he
asked
.
"
Because
he
forgot
for
once
that
he
was
a
slave
;
and
because
he
has
borne
the
burden
of
a
guilt
that
was
not
his
own
.
"
They
were
quite
still
now
,
closed
around
her
;
these
ferocious
plunderers
,
who
had
been
thirsty
a
moment
before
to
sheathe
their
weapons
in
her
body
,
were
spellbound
by
the
sympathy
of
courageous
souls
;
some
vague
perception
that
there
was
a
greatness
in
this
little
tigress
of
France
,
whom
they
had
sworn
to
hunt
down
and
slaughter
,
which
surpassed
all
they
had
known
or
dreamed
.
"
And
you
have
given
yourself
up
to
us
,
that
by
your
death
you
may
purchase
a
messenger
from
us
for
this
errand
?
"
pursued
their
leader
.
He
had
been
reared
as
a
boy
in
the
high
tenets
and
the
pure
chivalries
of
the
school
of
Abd-el-Kader
;
and
they
were
not
lost
in
him
,
despite
the
crimes
and
the
desperation
of
his
life
.
She
held
the
paper
out
to
him
with
a
passionate
entreaty
breaking
through
the
enforced
calm
of
despair
with
which
she
had
hitherto
spoken
.
"
Cut
me
in
ten
thousand
pieces
with
your
swords
,
but
save
him
,
as
you
are
brave
men
,
as
you
are
generous
foes
!
"
Then
,
with
a
single
sign
of
his
hand
,
their
leader
waved
them
back
where
they
crowded
around
her
,
and
leaped
down
from
his
saddle
,
and
led
the
horse
he
had
dismounted
to
her
.
"
Maiden
,
"
he
said
,
gently
,
"
we
are
Arabs
,
but
we
are
not
brutes
.
We
swore
to
avenge
ourselves
on
an
enemy
;
we
are
not
vile
enough
to
accept
a
martyrdom
.
Take
my
horse
—
he
is
the
swiftest
of
my
troop
—
and
go
you
on
your
errand
;
you
are
safe
from
me
.
"
She
looked
at
him
in
stupor
;
the
sense
of
his
words
was
not
tangible
to
her
;
she
had
had
no
hope
,
no
thought
,
that
they
would
ever
deal
thus
with
her
;
all
she
had
ever
dreamed
of
was
so
to
touch
their
hearts
and
their
generosity
that
they
would
spare
one
from
amongst
their
troop
to
do
the
errand
of
mercy
she
had
begged
of
them
.
"
You
play
with
me
!
"
she
murmured
,
while
her
lips
grew
whiter
and
her
great
eyes
larger
in
the
intensity
of
her
emotion
.
"
Ah
!
for
pity
's
sake
make
haste
and
kill
me
,
so
that
only
this
may
reach
him
!
"
The
chief
,
standing
by
her
,
lifted
her
in
his
sinewy
arms
,
up
on
to
the
saddle
of
his
charger
.
His
voice
was
very
solemn
,
his
glance
was
very
gentle
;
all
the
nobility
of
the
highest
Arab
nature
was
aroused
in
him
at
the
heroism
of
a
child
,
a
girl
,
an
infidel
—
one
,
in
his
sight
,
abandoned
and
shameful
amongst
her
sex
.
"
Go
in
peace
,
"
he
said
,
simply
;
"
it
is
not
with
such
as
thee
that
we
war
.
"
Then
,
and
then
only
,
as
she
felt
the
fresh
reins
placed
in
her
hand
,
and
saw
the
ruthless
horde
around
her
fall
back
and
leave
her
free
,
did
she
understand
his
meaning
,
did
she
comprehend
that
he
gave
her
back
both
liberty
and
life
,
and
,
with
the
surrender
of
the
horse
he
loved
,
the
noblest
and
most
precious
gift
that
the
Arab
ever
bestows
or
ever
receives
.
The
unutterable
joy
seemed
to
blind
her
,
and
gleam
upon
her
face
like
the
blazing
light
of
noon
,
as
she
turned
her
burning
eyes
full
on
him
.
"
Ah
!
now
I
believe
that
thine
Allah
is
a
greater
god
than
the
god
of
the
Christians
!
If
I
live
,
thou
shalt
see
me
back
ere
another
night
;
if
I
die
,
France
will
know
how
to
thank
thee
!
"
"
We
do
not
do
the
thing
that
is
right
for
the
sake
that
men
may
recompense
us
,
"
he
answered
her
,
gently
.
"
Fly
to
thy
friend
,
and
,
hereafter
,
do
not
judge
that
those
who
are
in
arms
against
thee
must
needs
be
as
the
brutes
that
seek
out
whom
they
shall
devour
.
"
Then
,
with
one
word
in
his
own
tongue
,
he
bade
the
horse
bear
her
southward
,
and
,
as
swiftly
as
a
spear
launched
from
his
hand
,
the
animal
obeyed
him
and
flew
across
the
plains
.
He
looked
after
her
awhile
,
through
the
dim
tremulous
darkness
that
seemed
cleft
by
the
rush
of
the
gallop
as
the
clouds
are
cleft
by
lightning
,
while
his
tribe
sat
silent
in
their
saddles
in
moody
unwilling
consent
,
savage
in
that
they
had
been
deprived
of
prey
,
moved
in
that
they
were
sensible
of
this
martyrdom
which
had
been
offered
to
them
.
"
Verily
the
courage
of
a
woman
has
put
the
best
amongst
us
unto
shame
,
"
he
said
,
rather
to
himself
than
them
,
as
he
mounted
the
stallion
brought
him
from
the
rear
and
rode
slowly
northward
,
unconscious
that
the
thing
he
had
done
was
great
,
because
conscious
only
that
it
was
just
.
And
,
borne
by
the
fleetness
of
the
desert-bred
beast
,
she
went
away
through
the
heavy
bronze-hued
dulness
of
the
night
.
Her
brain
had
no
sense
,
her
hands
had
no
feeling
,
her
eyes
had
no
sight
;
the
rushing
as
of
waters
was
loud
on
her
ears
,
the
giddiness
of
fasting
and
of
fatigue
sent
the
gloom
eddying
round
and
round
like
a
whirlpool
of
shadow
.
Yet
she
had
remembrance
enough
left
to
ride
on
,
and
on
,
and
on
without
once
flinching
from
the
agonies
that
racked
her
cramped
limbs
and
throbbed
in
her
beating
temples
;
she
had
remembrance
enough
to
strain
her
blind
eyes
towards
the
east
and
murmur
,
in
her
terror
of
that
white
dawn
which
must
soon
break
,
the
only
prayer
that
had
been
ever
uttered
by
the
lips
no
mother
's
kiss
had
ever
touched
:
"
O
God
!
keep
the
day
back
!
"
CHAPTER
XII
.
IN
THE
MIDST
OF
HER
ARMY
.
There
was
a
line
of
light
in
the
eastern
sky
.
The
camp
was
very
still
.
It
was
the
hour
for
the
mounting
of
the
guard
,
and
,
as
the
light
spread
higher
and
higher
,
whiter
and
whiter
,
as
the
morning
came
,
a
score
of
men
advanced
slowly
and
in
silence
to
a
broad
strip
of
land
screened
from
the
great
encampment
by
the
rise
and
fall
of
the
ground
,
and
stretching
far
and
even
,
with
only
here
and
there
a
single
palm
to
break
its
surface
,
over
which
the
immense
are
of
the
sky
bent
,
grey
and
serene
,
with
only
the
one
colourless
gleam
eastward
that
was
changing
imperceptibly
into
the
warm
red
flush
of
opening
day
.
Sunrise
and
solitude
:
they
were
alike
chosen
lest
the
army
that
honoured
,
the
comrades
that
loved
him
,
should
rise
to
his
rescue
,
casting
off
the
yoke
of
discipline
,
and
remembering
only
that
tyranny
and
that
wretchedness
under
which
they
had
seen
him
patient
and
unmoved
throughout
so
many
years
of
servitude
.
He
stood
tranquil
beside
the
coffin
within
which
his
broken
limbs
and
shot-pierced
corpse
would
so
soon
be
laid
for
ever
.
There
was
a
deep
sadness
on
his
face
,
but
it
was
perfectly
serene
.
To
the
words
of
the
priest
who
approached
him
he
listened
with
respect
,
though
he
gently
declined
the
services
of
the
Church
.
He
had
spoken
but
very
little
since
his
arrest
;
he
was
led
out
of
the
camp
in
silence
,
and
waited
in
silence
now
,
looking
across
the
plains
to
where
the
dawn
was
growing
richer
and
brighter
with
every
moment
that
the
numbered
seconds
of
his
life
drifted
slowly
and
surely
away
.
When
they
came
near
to
bind
the
covering
over
his
eyes
,
he
motioned
them
away
,
taking
the
bandage
from
their
hands
and
casting
it
far
from
him
.
"
Did
I
ever
fear
to
look
down
the
depths
of
my
enemies
'
muskets
?
"
It
was
the
single
outbreak
,
the
single
reproach
,
that
escaped
from
him
—
the
single
utterance
by
which
he
ever
quoted
his
services
to
France
.
Not
one
who
heard
him
dared
again
force
on
him
that
indignity
which
would
have
blinded
his
sight
,
as
though
he
had
ever
dreaded
to
meet
death
.
That
one
protest
having
escaped
from
him
,
he
was
once
more
calm
,
as
though
the
vacant
grave
yawning
at
his
feet
had
been
but
a
couch
of
down
to
rest
his
tired
limbs
.
His
eyes
watched
the
daylight
deepen
,
and
widen
,
and
grow
into
one
sheet
of
glowing
roseate
warmth
;
but
there
was
no
regret
in
the
gaze
;
there
was
a
fixed
fathomless
resignation
that
moved
with
a
vague
sense
of
awe
those
who
had
come
to
slay
him
,
and
who
had
been
so
used
to
slaughter
that
they
were
wont
to
fire
their
volley
into
their
comrade
's
breast
as
callously
as
into
the
ranks
of
their
antagonists
.
"
It
is
best
thus
,
"
he
thought
,
"
if
only
she
never
knows
—
—
"
Over
the
slope
of
brown
and
barren
earth
that
screened
the
camp
from
view
there
came
,
at
the
very
moment
that
the
ramrods
were
drawn
out
with
a
shrill
sharp
ring
from
the
carbine-barrels
,
a
single
figure
,
tall
,
stalwart
,
lithe
,
with
the
spring
of
the
deerstalker
in
its
rapid
step
,
and
the
sinew
of
the
northern
races
in
its
mould
.
Cecil
never
saw
it
;
he
was
looking
at
the
east
,
at
the
deepening
of
the
morning
flush
,
and
his
head
was
turned
away
.
The
new
comer
went
straight
to
the
Adjutant
in
command
,
and
addressed
him
with
brief
preface
,
hurriedly
and
low
.
"
Your
prisoner
is
Victor
of
the
Chasseurs
?
—
he
is
to
be
shot
this
morning
?
"
The
officer
assented
;
he
suffered
the
interruption
,
recognising
the
rank
of
the
speaker
.
"
I
heard
of
it
yesterday
;
I
rode
all
night
from
Oran
.
I
feel
great
pity
for
this
man
,
though
he
is
unknown
to
me
,
"
the
stranger
pursued
,
in
rapid
whispered
words
.
"
His
crime
was
—
—
?
"
"
A
blow
to
his
Colonel
,
Monseigneur
.
"
"
And
there
is
no
possibility
of
a
reprieve
?
"
"
None
.
"
"
May
I
speak
with
him
an
instant
?
I
have
heard
it
thought
that
he
is
of
my
country
,
and
of
a
rank
above
his
standing
in
his
regiment
here
.
"
"
You
may
address
him
,
M
.
le
Duc
;
but
be
brief
.
Time
presses
.
"
He
thanked
the
officer
for
the
unusual
permission
,
and
turned
to
approach
the
prisoner
.
At
that
moment
Cecil
turned
also
,
and
their
eyes
met
.
A
great
shuddering
cry
broke
from
them
both
;
his
head
sank
as
though
the
bullets
had
already
pierced
his
breast
,
and
the
friend
who
believed
him
dead
stood
gazing
at
him
,
paralysed
.
For
a
moment
there
was
an
awful
silence
;
then
the
Seraph
's
voice
rang
out
with
a
horror
in
it
that
thrilled
through
the
careless
,
callous
hearts
of
the
watching
soldiery
.
"
Who
is
that
man
?
He
died
—
he
died
so
long
ago
!
And
yet
—
—
"
Cecil
's
head
was
sunk
on
his
chest
;
he
never
spoke
,
he
never
moved
;
he
knew
the
helpless
,
hopeless
misery
that
waited
for
the
one
who
found
him
living
only
to
find
him
also
standing
beside
his
open
grave
.
He
saw
nothing
;
he
only
felt
the
crushing
force
of
his
friend
's
arms
flung
round
him
,
as
though
seizing
him
to
learn
whether
he
were
a
living
creature
or
a
spectre
dreamed
of
in
delirium
.
"
Who
are
you
?
Answer
me
,
for
pity
's
sake
!
"
As
the
swift
,
hoarse
,
incredulous
words
poured
on
his
ear
,
he
,
not
seeking
to
unloose
the
other
's
hold
,
lifted
his
head
and
looked
full
in
the
eyes
that
had
not
met
his
own
for
twelve
long
years
.
In
that
one
look
all
was
uttered
;
the
strained
,
eager
,
doubting
gaze
that
read
answer
in
it
needed
no
other
.
"
You
live
still
!
Oh
!
thank
God
—
thank
God
!
"
And
as
the
thanksgiving
escaped
him
,
he
forgot
all
save
the
breathless
joy
of
this
resurrection
;
forgot
that
at
their
feet
the
yawning
grave
was
open
and
unfilled
.
Then
,
and
only
then
,
under
that
recognition
of
the
friendship
that
had
never
failed
and
never
doubted
,
the
courage
of
the
condemned
gave
way
,
and
his
limbs
shook
with
a
great
shiver
of
intolerable
torture
;
and
at
the
look
that
came
upon
his
face
,
the
man
who
loved
him
remembered
all
—
remembered
that
he
stood
there
in
the
morning
light
only
to
be
shot
down
like
a
beast
of
prey
.
Holding
him
there
still
,
he
swore
a
great
oath
that
rolled
like
thunder
down
the
air
.
"
You
!
and
perishing
here
!
If
they
send
their
shots
through
you
,
they
shall
reach
me
first
in
their
passage
!
Why
have
you
lived
like
this
?
Why
have
been
lost
to
me
,
if
you
were
dead
to
all
the
world
beside
?
"
They
were
the
words
that
his
sister
had
spoken
;
Cecil
's
lips
quivered
as
he
heard
,
his
voice
was
scarcely
audible
as
it
panted
through
them
.
"
I
was
accused
—
—
"
"
Ay
!
But
by
whom
?
Not
by
me
.
Never
by
me
!
"
"
God
reward
you
.
You
have
never
doubted
?
"
"
Doubted
?
Was
your
honour
not
as
my
own
?
"
"
I
can
die
at
peace
then
;
you
know
me
guiltless
—
—
"
"
Great
Heaven
!
Death
shall
not
touch
you
.
As
I
stand
here
,
not
a
hair
of
your
head
shall
be
harmed
—
—
"
"
Hush
!
Justice
must
take
its
course
.
One
thing
only
—
has
she
heard
?
"
"
Nothing
.
She
is
in
Algiers
.
But
you
can
be
saved
;
you
shall
be
saved
;
they
do
not
know
what
they
do
!
"
"
Yes
!
They
but
follow
the
sentence
of
the
law
.
Do
not
regret
it
.
It
is
best
thus
.
"
"
Best
!
—
that
you
should
be
slaughtered
in
cold
blood
!
"
He
knew
what
the
demands
of
discipline
exacted
,
he
knew
what
the
inexorable
tyranny
of
the
Army
enforced
,
he
knew
that
he
had
found
the
life
lost
to
him
for
so
long
only
to
stand
by
and
see
it
struck
down
like
a
shot
stag
's
.
Cecil
's
eyes
looked
at
him
with
a
regard
in
which
all
the
sacrifice
,
all
the
patience
,
all
the
martyrdom
of
his
life
were
spoken
.
"
Best
,
because
a
lie
I
could
never
speak
to
you
,
and
the
truth
I
could
never
tell
to
you
.
Do
not
let
your
sister
know
;
it
might
give
her
pain
.
I
have
loved
her
;
that
is
useless
,
like
all
the
rest
.
Give
me
your
hand
once
more
,
and
then
—
let
them
do
their
duty
.
Turn
your
head
away
;
it
will
soon
be
over
!
"
Almost
ere
he
asked
it
,
his
friend
's
hands
closed
upon
both
his
own
,
keeping
the
promise
made
so
long
before
in
the
old
years
gone
:
those
gentle
weary
words
rent
his
very
soul
,
and
he
knew
that
he
was
powerless
here
;
he
knew
that
he
could
no
more
stay
this
doom
of
death
than
he
could
stay
the
rising
of
the
sun
up
over
the
eastern
heavens
.
The
clear
voice
of
the
officer
in
command
rang
shrilly
through
the
stillness
.
"
Monseigneur
,
make
your
farewell
.
I
can
wait
no
longer
.
"
The
Seraph
started
,
and
flung
himself
round
with
the
grand
challenge
of
a
lion
struck
by
a
puny
spear
;
his
face
flushed
crimson
;
his
words
were
choked
in
his
throbbing
throat
.
"
As
I
live
,
you
shall
not
fire
!
I
forbid
you
!
I
swear
by
my
honour
and
the
honour
of
England
that
he
shall
not
perish
.
He
is
of
my
country
;
he
is
of
my
order
.
I
will
appeal
to
your
Emperor
;
he
will
accord
me
his
life
the
instant
I
ask
it
.
Give
me
only
an
hour
's
reprieve
—
a
few
moments
'
space
,
to
speak
to
your
chiefs
,
to
seek
out
your
General
—
—
"
"
It
is
impossible
,
Monseigneur
.
"
The
curt
,
calm
answer
was
inflexible
:
against
the
sentence
and
its
execution
there
could
be
no
appeal
.
Cecil
laid
his
hand
upon
his
old
friend
's
shoulders
.
"
It
will
be
useless
,
"
he
murmured
.
"
Let
them
act
;
the
quicker
the
better
.
"
"
What
!
you
think
I
can
look
on
and
see
you
die
?
"
"
Would
you
had
never
known
I
lived
—
—
"
The
officer
made
a
gesture
to
the
guard
to
separate
them
.
"
Monseigneur
,
submit
to
the
execution
of
the
law
,
or
I
must
arrest
you
.
"
The
Seraph
flung
off
the
detaining
hand
of
the
guard
,
and
swung
round
,
gazing
close
into
the
Adjutant
's
immovable
face
,
which
before
that
gaze
lost
its
coldness
and
its
rigour
,
and
changed
to
a
great
pity
for
this
stranger
who
had
found
the
companion
of
his
youth
in
the
trooper
who
stood
condemned
to
perish
there
.
"
An
hour
's
reprieve
;
for
mercy
's
sake
,
grant
that
!
"
"
I
have
said
,
it
is
impossible
.
"
"
But
you
do
not
dream
who
he
is
—
—
"
"
It
matters
not
.
"
"
He
is
an
English
noble
,
I
tell
you
—
—
"
"
He
is
a
soldier
who
has
broken
the
law
;
that
suffices
.
"
"
O
Heaven
!
have
you
no
humanity
?
"
"
We
have
justice
.
"
"
Justice
!
If
you
have
justice
,
let
your
chiefs
hear
his
story
;
let
his
name
be
made
known
;
give
me
an
hour
's
space
to
plead
for
him
.
Your
Emperor
would
grant
me
his
life
,
were
he
here
;
yield
me
an
hour
—
a
half-hour
—
anything
that
will
give
me
time
to
save
him
—
—
"
"
It
is
out
of
the
question
;
I
must
obey
my
orders
.
I
regret
you
should
have
this
pain
;
but
if
you
do
not
cease
to
interfere
,
my
soldiers
must
make
you
.
"
Where
the
guards
held
him
,
Cecil
saw
and
heard
.
His
voice
rose
with
all
its
old
strength
and
sweetness
:
"
My
friend
,
do
not
plead
for
me
.
For
the
sake
of
our
common
country
and
our
old
love
,
let
us
both
meet
this
with
silence
and
with
courage
.
"
"
You
are
a
madman
!
"
cried
the
man
,
whose
heart
felt
breaking
under
this
doom
he
could
neither
avert
nor
share
.
"
You
think
that
they
shall
kill
you
before
my
eyes
?
—
you
think
I
shall
stand
by
to
see
you
murdered
?
What
crime
have
you
done
?
None
,
I
dare
swear
,
save
being
moved
,
under
insult
,
to
act
as
the
men
of
your
race
ever
acted
!
Why
have
lived
as
you
have
done
?
why
not
have
trusted
my
faith
and
my
love
?
If
you
had
believed
in
my
faith
as
I
believed
in
your
innocence
,
this
misery
never
had
come
to
us
!
"
"
Hush
!
hush
!
or
you
will
make
me
die
like
a
coward
.
"
He
dreaded
lest
he
should
do
so
;
this
ordeal
was
greater
than
his
power
to
bear
it
.
With
the
mere
sound
of
this
man
's
voice
a
longing
,
so
intense
in
its
despairing
desire
,
came
on
him
for
this
life
which
they
were
about
to
kill
in
him
for
ever
.
The
words
stung
his
hearer
well-nigh
to
madness
;
he
turned
on
the
soldiers
with
all
the
fury
of
his
race
that
slumbered
so
long
,
but
when
it
awoke
was
like
the
lion
's
rage
.
Invective
,
entreaty
,
conjuration
,
command
,
imploring
prayer
,
and
ungoverned
passion
poured
in
tumultuous
words
,
in
agonised
eloquence
,
from
his
lips
:
all
answer
was
a
quick
sign
of
the
hand
;
and
,
ere
he
saw
them
,
a
dozen
soldiers
were
round
him
,
his
arms
were
seized
,
his
magnificent
frame
was
held
as
powerless
as
a
lassoed
bull
;
for
a
moment
there
was
a
horrible
struggle
,
then
a
score
of
ruthless
hands
locked
him
in
as
in
iron
gyves
,
and
forced
his
mouth
to
silence
and
his
eyes
to
blindness
;
this
was
all
the
mercy
they
could
give
—
to
spare
him
the
sight
of
his
friend
's
slaughter
.
Cecil
's
eyes
strained
on
him
with
one
last
longing
look
,
then
he
raised
his
hand
and
gave
the
signal
for
his
own
death-shot
:
"
Droit
à
mon
coeur
!
"
The
levelled
carbines
covered
him
;
he
stood
erect
,
with
his
face
full
towards
the
sun
:
ere
they
could
fire
,
a
shrill
cry
pierced
the
air
:
"
Wait
!
in
the
name
of
France
.
"
Dismounted
,
breathless
,
staggering
,
with
her
arms
flung
upward
,
and
her
face
bloodless
with
fear
,
Cigarette
came
over
the
rising
ground
.
The
cry
of
command
pealed
out
upon
the
silence
in
the
voice
that
the
Army
of
Africa
loved
as
the
voice
of
their
Little
One
.
And
the
cry
came
too
late
;
the
volley
was
fired
,
the
crash
of
sound
thrilled
across
the
words
that
bade
them
pause
,
the
heavy
smoke
rolled
out
upon
the
air
,
the
death
that
was
doomed
was
dealt
.
But
beyond
the
smoke-cloud
he
staggered
slightly
,
yet
stood
erect
still
,
unharmed
,
grazed
only
by
some
few
of
the
balls
.
The
flash
of
fire
had
not
been
so
fleet
as
the
swiftness
of
her
love
;
and
on
his
breast
she
had
thrown
herself
,
and
flung
her
arms
about
him
,
and
tossed
her
head
backward
with
her
old
dauntless
sunlit
smile
as
the
balls
pierced
her
bosom
,
and
broke
her
limbs
,
and
were
turned
away
by
that
shield
of
warm
young
life
from
him
.
She
had
saved
him
.
She
would
perish
in
his
stead
.
Her
arms
were
gliding
from
about
his
neck
,
and
her
failing
limbs
were
sinking
to
the
earth
,
as
he
caught
her
up
ere
she
dropped
to
his
feet
.
"
O
God
!
my
child
!
they
have
killed
you
!
"
He
suffered
more
,
as
the
cry
broke
from
him
,
than
if
the
bullets
had
brought
him
that
death
which
he
saw
at
one
glance
had
stricken
down
for
ever
all
the
glory
of
her
childhood
,
all
the
gladness
of
her
youth
.
She
laughed
—
all
the
clear
,
imperious
,
arch
laughter
of
her
sunniest
hours
unchanged
.
"
Chut
!
It
is
the
powder
and
ball
of
France
!
that
does
not
hurt
.
If
it
was
an
Arbico
's
bullet
now
!
But
wait
!
Here
is
the
Marshal
's
order
.
He
suspends
your
sentence
;
I
have
told
him
all
.
You
are
safe
!
—
do
you
hear
?
—
you
are
safe
!
How
he
looks
!
Is
he
grieved
to
live
?
Mes
Français
!
tell
him
clearer
than
I
can
tell
—
here
is
the
order
.
The
General
must
have
it
.
No
—
not
out
of
my
hand
till
the
General
sees
it
.
Fetch
him
,
some
of
you
—
fetch
him
to
me
.
"
"
Great
Heaven
!
you
have
given
your
life
for
mine
!
"
The
words
broke
from
him
in
an
agony
as
he
held
her
upward
against
his
heart
,
himself
so
blind
,
so
stunned
,
with
the
sudden
recall
from
death
to
life
,
and
with
the
sacrifice
whereby
life
was
thus
brought
to
him
,
that
he
could
scarce
see
her
face
,
scarce
hear
her
voice
,
but
only
dimly
,
incredulously
,
terribly
knew
,
in
some
vague
sense
,
that
she
was
dying
,
and
dying
thus
for
him
.
She
smiled
up
in
his
eyes
,
while
even
in
that
moment
,
when
her
limbs
were
broken
down
like
a
wounded
bird
's
,
and
the
shots
had
pierced
through
from
her
shoulder
to
her
bosom
,
a
hot
scarlet
flush
came
over
her
cheeks
as
she
felt
his
touch
and
rested
on
his
heart
.
"
A
life
!
Tiens
!
what
is
it
to
give
?
We
hold
it
in
our
hands
every
hour
,
we
soldiers
,
and
toss
it
in
change
for
a
draught
of
wine
.
Lay
me
down
on
the
ground
—
at
your
feet
—
so
!
I
shall
live
longest
that
way
,
and
I
have
much
to
tell
.
How
they
crowd
round
!
Mes
soldats
,
do
not
make
that
grief
and
that
rage
over
me
.
They
are
sorry
they
fired
;
that
is
foolish
.
They
were
only
doing
their
duty
,
and
they
could
not
hear
me
in
time
.
"
But
the
brave
words
could
not
console
those
who
had
killed
the
Child
of
the
Tricolour
;
they
flung
their
carbines
away
,
they
beat
their
breasts
,
they
cursed
themselves
and
the
mother
who
had
borne
them
;
the
silent
,
rigid
,
motionless
phalanx
that
had
stood
there
in
the
dawn
to
see
death
dealt
in
the
inexorable
penalty
of
the
law
was
broken
up
into
a
tumultuous
,
breathless
,
heart-stricken
,
infuriated
throng
,
maddened
with
remorse
,
convulsed
with
sorrow
,
turning
wild
eyes
of
hate
on
him
as
on
the
cause
through
which
their
darling
had
been
stricken
.
He
,
laying
her
down
with
unspeakable
gentleness
as
she
had
bidden
him
,
hung
over
her
,
leaning
her
head
against
his
arm
,
and
watching
in
paralysed
horror
the
helplessness
of
the
fleeting
spirit
,
the
slow
flowing
of
the
blood
beneath
the
Cross
that
shone
where
that
young
heroic
heart
so
soon
would
beat
no
more
.
"
Oh
,
my
child
,
my
child
!
"
he
moaned
,
as
the
full
might
and
meaning
of
this
devotion
which
had
saved
him
at
such
cost
rushed
on
him
.
"
What
am
I
worth
that
you
should
perish
for
me
?
Better
a
thousand
times
have
left
me
to
my
fate
!
Such
nobility
,
such
sacrifice
,
such
love
—
—
"
The
hot
colour
flushed
her
face
once
more
;
she
was
strong
to
the
last
to
conceal
that
passion
for
which
she
was
still
content
to
perish
in
her
youth
.
"
Chut
!
We
are
comrades
,
and
you
are
a
brave
man
.
I
would
do
the
same
for
any
of
my
Spahis
.
Look
you
,
I
never
heard
of
your
arrest
till
I
heard
too
of
your
sentence
.
Then
I
knew
it
was
too
late
,
unless
I
could
get
to
the
Chief
.
So
I
went
—
—
"
She
paused
a
moment
,
and
her
features
grew
white
,
and
quivered
with
the
pain
of
the
death-wounds
,
and
with
the
oppression
that
seemed
to
lie
like
lead
upon
her
chest
.
But
she
forced
herself
to
be
stronger
than
the
anguish
which
assailed
her
strength
;
and
she
motioned
them
all
to
be
silent
as
she
spoke
on
while
her
voice
still
should
serve
her
.
"
They
will
tell
you
how
I
did
it
—
I
have
not
time
.
The
Marshal
gave
his
word
you
shall
be
saved
;
there
is
no
fear
.
That
is
your
friend
who
bends
over
me
,
is
it
not
?
A
fair
face
,
—
a
brave
face
.
You
will
go
back
to
your
land
—
you
will
live
among
your
own
people
—
and
she
,
she
will
love
you
now
—
now
she
knows
you
are
of
her
Order
!
"
Something
of
the
old
thrill
of
jealous
dread
and
hate
quivered
through
the
words
,
but
the
purer
,
nobler
nature
vanquished
it
;
she
smiled
up
in
his
eyes
,
heedless
of
the
tumult
round
them
:
"
You
will
be
happy
.
That
is
well
.
Look
you
—
it
is
nothing
that
I
did
.
I
would
have
done
it
for
any
one
of
my
soldiers
.
And
for
this
"
—
she
touched
the
blood
flowing
from
her
side
with
the
old
,
bright
,
brave
smile
—
"
it
was
an
accident
;
they
must
not
grieve
for
it
.
My
men
are
good
to
me
;
they
will
feel
such
regret
and
remorse
;
but
do
not
let
them
.
I
am
glad
to
die
.
"
The
words
were
unwavering
and
heroic
,
but
for
one
moment
a
convulsion
went
over
her
face
;
the
young
life
was
so
strong
in
her
,
the
young
spirit
was
so
joyous
in
her
,
existence
was
so
new
,
so
fresh
,
so
bright
,
so
dauntless
a
thing
to
Cigarette
.
She
loved
life
:
the
darkness
,
the
loneliness
,
the
annihilation
of
death
were
horrible
to
her
as
the
blackness
and
the
solitude
of
night
to
a
young
child
.
Death
,
like
night
,
can
be
welcome
only
to
the
weary
,
and
she
was
weary
of
nothing
on
the
earth
that
bore
her
buoyant
steps
;
the
suns
,
the
winds
,
the
delights
of
the
sight
,
the
joys
of
the
senses
,
the
music
of
her
own
laughter
,
the
mere
pleasure
of
the
air
upon
her
cheeks
,
or
of
the
blue
sky
above
her
head
,
were
all
so
sweet
to
her
.
Her
welcome
of
her
death-shot
was
the
only
untruth
that
had
ever
soiled
her
fearless
lips
.
Death
was
terrible
;
yet
she
was
content
—
content
to
have
come
to
it
for
his
sake
.
There
was
a
ghastly
stricken
silence
round
her
.
The
order
she
had
brought
had
just
been
glanced
at
,
but
no
other
thought
was
with
the
most
callous
there
than
the
heroism
of
her
act
,
than
the
martyrdom
of
her
death
.
The
colour
was
fast
passing
from
her
lips
,
and
a
mortal
pallor
settling
there
in
the
stead
of
that
rich
bright
hue
,
once
warm
as
the
scarlet
heart
of
the
pomegranate
.
Her
head
leant
back
on
Cecil
's
breast
,
and
she
felt
the
great
burning
tears
fall
one
by
one
upon
her
brow
as
he
hung
speechless
over
her
:
she
put
her
hand
upward
and
touched
his
eyes
softly
:
"
Chut
!
What
is
it
to
die
—
just
to
die
?
You
have
lived
your
martyrdom
;
I
could
not
have
done
that
.
Listen
,
just
one
moment
.
You
will
be
rich
.
Take
care
of
the
old
man
—
he
will
not
trouble
you
long
—
and
of
Vole-qui-veut
and
Etoile
,
and
Boule
Blanche
,
and
the
rat
,
and
all
the
dogs
,
will
you
?
They
will
show
you
the
Château
de
Cigarette
in
Algiers
.
I
should
not
like
to
think
that
they
would
starve
.
"
She
felt
his
lips
move
with
the
promise
he
could
not
find
voice
to
utter
;
and
she
thanked
him
with
that
old
child-like
smile
which
had
lost
nothing
of
its
light
:
"
That
is
good
;
they
will
be
happy
with
you
.
And
see
that
the
Arab
has
back
his
horse
,
—
it
was
he
who
saved
you
;
they
must
never
harm
him
.
And
make
my
grave
somewhere
where
my
Army
passes
;
where
I
can
hear
the
trumpets
,
and
the
arms
,
and
the
passage
of
the
troops
—
O
God
!
I
forgot
!
I
shall
not
wake
when
the
bugles
sound
.
It
will
all
end
now
,
will
it
not
?
That
is
horrible
,
horrible
!
"
A
shudder
shook
her
as
,
for
the
moment
,
the
full
sense
that
all
her
glowing
,
redundant
,
sunlit
,
passionate
life
was
crushed
out
for
ever
from
its
place
upon
the
