"Is it you, Daniel? Good-morning, Colon!"
"Yes, yes; we shall soon have lively times. You here, old Jerome! What think you of the state of affairs?"
"All will yet go well, Jean-Claude, with God's help."
Catherine, when she arrived in front of the saw-mill, ordered Labarbe to open the little cask of brandy she had brought from the farm-house. Hullin, approaching the fire, met Materne and his two sons.
"True, but there was much to be done, and too much yet remains to be done to lose more time. Lagarmitte, wind your horn."
Lagarmitte blew until his cheeks seemed bursting, and the groups scattered along the path, and at the skirts of the wood hastened to assemble, and soon all were collected before the saw-mill. Hullin mounted a pile of logs, and spoke amid the deepest silence:
"The enemy," said he, "crossed the Rhine the night before last. He is pressing on to our mountains to enter Lorraine. Strasbourg and Huningue are blockaded. In three or four days at most the Germans and the Russians will be upon us."
"Ay, long live France!" cried Jean-Claude; "for, if the allies reach Paris, all our liberties are gone! Forced labor, tithes, privileges, and gibbets will flourish once more. If you wish that they should, let the allies pass."
A dark scowl seemed to settle on every man's face.
"I have said what I have to say!" cried Hullin, pale with emotion. "As you are here, you are here to fight!"
"It is well; but one word more. I would not deceive you; I see among you fathers of families. We will be one against ten--against fifty. We must expect to perish! Therefore, let those whose hearts may grow faint ere the end comes, go. All are free!"
Each in the crowd looked round to see his neighbors' faces, but no one left his place. Jean-Claude spoke in a firmer tone:
"No one moves! All are ready for battle! A chief--a leader--must be named, for in times of danger everything depends on order and discipline. He whom you shall appoint must be obeyed in all things. Reflect well, for on him depends the fate of every one of us."
So saying, Jean-Claude descended from his tribune, and earnest voices began at once to whisper in the crowd. Every village deliberated separately; each mayor proposed his man; time passed; Catherine Lefevre burned with anxiety and impatience. At length she could contain herself no longer, and rising upon her seat she made a sign that she wished to speak.