I will not dwell upon the manner of her meeting with Léon, nor upon the amazement with which I beheld her in this situation. No magic of wonderland could have wrought such a change in men's condition as we then experienced when they carried us from the gloom of the prison to this princely mansion.
"Where is his Excellency the prefect?" I asked her when we had embraced for the twentieth time.
"Many miles from Elbing," says she. "I am mistress here. I have told him he must not be found in the city while the French are here."
"Good God," cried I, "what a turn about!"
Miraculous indeed it was that so young a girl had won so astonishing a victory. The coming of the French saved her and us. There was not a more frightened man in Prussia than the prefect, who fled directly French bugles blared at the gates. So much Valerie told us while she led us in and showed us the banquet she had prepared for us.
We lived gallantly at the prefect's expense during the days we spent in Elbing. They were happy days, and yet what regrets attended them! Of all the six hundred thousand who had set out so bravely from Moscow but a few short months ago, there were but twenty-two thousand of us, soldiers of the line and of the Guard--worn, weary, and ragged men--who survived to reach that haven.
Never shall I forget that last review when the marshal himself rode up and down our battered ranks and told us that our troubles were at an end. Henceforth we were to be carried in sledges to the French frontier and our homes. The day of battle was over; the night of our sorry victory had been won.
CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE,
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Great White Army, by Max Pemberton