The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack: 20 Classic Novels and Short Stories

by Émile Erckmann

  The honest man immediately remembered the fearful story told in the kitchen of Bois-de-Chênes, and he felt afraid; but quite another feeling came over him when behind the fool, at fifteen or twenty paces, he beheld, stealthily approaching in their turn, five gray wolves, two big and three smaller ones.

  At first he took them for dogs, but they were wolves. They followed Yégof step by step, and he did not appear to see them; his raven hovered overhead, flitting from the full moonlight to the shadow of the rocks, and then returning; the wolves, with flaming eyes, their sharp muzzles turned up, were sniffing the air; the fool raised his sceptre.

  The shepherd pulled-to the door of the shed as quick as lightning, but Yégof did not see him. He advanced into the gorge as into a spacious chamber, to the right and left rose the steep rocks, above which myriads of stars were shining. You might have heard a fly move; the wolves made no noise in walking; all was silent, and the raven had just perched on the top of an old withered oak that grew upon one of the rocks opposite; his shining plumage looked still darker than usual, as he turned his head, and seemed to be listening.

  It was a strange sight.

  Robin said to himself: “The fool sees nothing, hears nothing; they will devour him. If he stumbles, if his foot slips, it is all over with him.”

  But in the middle of the gorge, Yégof, having turned round, sat down upon a stone, and the five wolves round him, still sniffing the air, squatted on their haunches in the snow.

  And then, a really terrible sight—the fool raising his sceptre, made them a speech, calling them each by his name.

  The wolves answered him with dismal howls.

  Now this is what he said to them: “Hé, Child, Bléd, Merweg, and thou, Sirimar, my ancient, we are met together, then, once again! You have returned fat. There has been good cheer in Germany, eh?”

  Then, pointing to the snow-covered gorge: “You remember the great battle?”

  First one of the wolves began to howl slowly in a dismal voice, then another, then all the five together.

  This lasted a good ten minutes.

  The raven, perched on the withered branch, did not stir.

  Robin would gladly have fled. He put up his prayers, invoked all the saints, and, in particular, his own patron, for whom all the shepherds of the mountain have the highest veneration.

  But the wolves still continued howling, awakening all the echoes of the Blutfeld.

  At last one, the oldest of the number, was silent, then another, then all, and Yégof continued: “Yes, yes: that is a dismal story. Look! there is the river down which our blood flowed in streams! No matter, Merweg, no matter; the others have left their bones to whiten on the common, and the cold moon has seen their women tearing their hair for three days and three nights! Oh, that frightful day! Oh, the dogs! were they proud of their great victory? Let them be accursed—accursed.”

  The fool had cast his crown to the ground. He now picked it up, groaning as he did so.

  The wolves, still crouching round, listened to him like attentive spectators. The biggest among them began to howl, and Yégof answered his complaint.

  “You are hungry, Sirimar; take comfort, take comfort; you will not want for food much longer; the men of our side are coming, and the strife will begin afresh.”

  Then rising, and striking his sceptre on a stone, “See,” said he, “behold thy bones!”

  He approached another. “And thine, Merweg, behold them!” said he.

  All the troop followed him, while he, raising himself upon a low rock, and glancing round upon the silent gorge, exclaimed: “Our war-song is silent! our war-song is now a groan! The hour is near; it will reawaken, and you will be among the warriors; you will possess once more these valleys and these mountains. Oh! that sound of wheels, those cries of women, those blows from crushing rocks and stones; I hear them; the air is full of them. Yes, yes; they fell on us from above, and we were surrounded. And now all is dead; hear! all is dead; your bones sleep, but your children are on their way, and your turn will come. Sing! sing!”

  And this time he himself began to howl, while the wolves took up again their savage song.

  These dismal howls grew more and more loud and appalling; and the silence of the rocks around, some plunged in darkness, while others were fully revealed in the moon’s rays, the solemn stillness of every tree and shrub beneath its weight of snow, the distant echoes replying with a sad voice to the mournful concert, all were calculated to strike terror into the breast of the old shepherd.

  But by degrees his fears grew less, for Yégof and his gloomy procession were getting farther and farther away from him, and gradually retreating toward Hazlach.

  The raven, in his turn, with a hoarse cry unfurled his wings, and took his flight through the sky.

  The whole scene vanished like a dream.

  Robin heard for a long while after the howlings of the retreating wolves. They had completely ceased for more than twenty minutes. The silence of winter reigned on all sides, when the worthy man felt himself sufficiently recovered from his fright to come out of his hiding-place, and take his way back at full speed to the farm.

  On arriving at Bois-de-Chênes, he found everybody stirring. They were preparing to kill an ox for the troops from the Donon. Hullin, Doctor Lorquin, and Louise were already set out with those from the Sarre. Catherine Lefèvre was loading her great four-horse wagon with bread, meat, and brandy. People were coming and going in all directions, and all lending a helping hand in the preparations.

  Robin could not bring himself to relate to any one all that he had seen and heard. Besides, it seemed to himself so incredible that he really dared not open his mouth about it.

  When he had retired to rest in his crib in the middle of the stable, he said to himself that no doubt Yégof had, during the winter, tamed a litter of young wolves, and that he talked nonsense to them just as one talks sometimes to one’s dog.

  But, for all that, this strange encounter left a superstitious dread upon his mind, and even when he had arrived at a great age, the old fellow never spoke of these things without shuddering.

  CHAPTER XI

  A RECONNOISSANCE

  Hullin’s orders had all been carried out; the defiles of the Zorne and of the Sarre were well guarded; while that of Blanru, the extreme point of the position, had been put into a state of defence by Jean-Claude himself and the three hundred men who composed his principal force.

  We must now transport ourselves to the southern slopes of the Donon, two kilomètres from Grandfontaine, and await further events.

  Above the high-road which winds round the hillside up to within two-thirds of the summit, was a farm, surrounded with a few acres of tilled land, the freehold of Pelsly the anabaptist: it was a large building with a flat roof, much needed, so as to prevent its being blown away by the high winds. The out-houses and pigsties were situated at the back, toward the summit of the mountain.

  The partisans were encamped near: at their feet lay Grandfontaine and Framont; in a narrow gorge farther on, at the point where the valley takes a turn, rose Schirmeck and its old mass of feudal ruins; lastly, among the undulations of the chain, the Bruche disappears in a zigzag, under the grayish mists of Alsace. To their left arose the arid peak of the Donon, covered with rocks and a few stunted pines. Before them was the rugged road, its shelving banks thrown down over the snow, and great trees flung across it with all their branches.

  The melting snow let the yellow soil be seen in patches here and there, or else formed great drifts, heaped up by the north wind.

  It was a grand and severe spectacle. Not a single traveller, not a carriage appeared along the whole length of the road in the valley, winding as far as the eye can reach: it was like a desert. The fires scattered round the farm-house sent up their puffs of damp smoke to the sky, and alone indicated the position of the bivouac.

  The mountaineers, seated by their kettles, with their hats slouched over their faces, were very melancholy: three days they ha
d been awaiting the enemy. Among one of the groups, sitting with their legs doubled up, bent shoulders, and pipes in their mouths were old Materne and his two sons.

  From time to time Louise appeared on the step of the farm, then quickly re-entered, and set herself again to her work. A great cock was scratching up the manure with his claws, and crowing hoarsely; two or three fowls were strutting up and down among the bushes. All that was pleasant to look upon; but the chief pleasure of the partisans was to contemplate some magnificent quarters of bacon, with red-and-white sides, which were spitted on greenwood sticks, the fat melting drop by drop on to the small coals—and to fill their flasks at a small cask of brandy placed on Catherine Lefèvre’s cart.

  Toward eight o’clock in the morning a man suddenly appeared between the great and little Donon; the sentinels perceived him at once; he descended, waving his hat.

  A few minutes later Nickel Bentz, the old forest-keeper of the Houpe, was recognized.

  The whole camp was roused; they ran to awaken Hullin, who had been sleeping for an hour in the farm-house, on a great straw mattress, side by side with Doctor Lorquin and his dog Pluto.

  The three came out, accompanied by the herdsman Lagarmitte, nicknamed Trumpet, and the anabaptist Pelsly—a silent man, having his arms buried to the elbows in the deep pockets of his gray woollen tunic trimmed with pewter clasps, with an immense beard, and the tassel of his cotton cap half way down his back.

  Jean-Claude seemed light-hearted. “Well, Nickel, what is going on down there?” cried he.

  “At present, nothing new, Master Jean-Claude; only on the Phalsbourg side one hears something like the rumbling of a storm. Labarbe says that it is cannon, for all night we have seen flashes through the forest of Hildehouse, and since the morning gray clouds have been spreading over the plain.”

  “The town is attacked,” said Hullin; “but what about the Lutzelstein side?”

  “One can hear nothing,” replied Bentz.

  “Then the enemy is trying to turn the place. In any case, the allies are down there: there must be hosts of them in Alsace.” And turning toward Materne, who was standing behind him, “We cannot remain any longer in uncertainty,” said he; “thou, with thy two sons, go on a reconnoissance.”

  The old hunter’s face brightened. “So be it! I can stretch my legs a little,” said he, “and see if I can’t knock over one of those rascally Austrians or Cossacks.”

  “Stop an instant, my old fellow! it is not now a question of knocking anybody over; we want to see what is going on. Frantz and Kasper will remain armed; but I know thee: thou must leave thy carbine here, thy powder-flask, and thy hunting-knife.”

  “What for?”

  “Because thou wilt have to go into the villages, and if thou art taken in arms, thou wilt be shot directly.”

  “Shot?”

  “Certainly. We do not belong to the regular troops; they do not take us prisoners; they shoot us. Thou wilt follow, then, the road to Schirmeck, stick in hand, and thy sons will accompany thee at a distance, in the underwood, within musket-range. If any marauders attack thee, they will come to thy rescue; if it is a column, or a handful of troops, they must allow thee to be taken.”

  “They are to let me be taken!” cried the old hunter, indignantly. “I should like to see that.”

  “Yes, Materne; it will be the best plan: for an unarmed man would be released, an armed shot. I do not need to tell thee not to sing out to the Germans that thou art come to spy upon them.”

  “Ah, ah! I comprehend. Yes, yes, that is not badly planned. As for me, I never quit my gun, Jean-Claude, but war is war. Hold! there is my carbine, and my powder-flask, and my knife. Who will lend me his blouse and his stick?”

  Nickel Bentz handed him his blue blouse and his cap. They were surrounded by an admiring crowd.

  After he had changed his clothes, notwithstanding his large gray mustaches, one would have taken the old hunter for a simple peasant from the high mountains.

  His two sons, proud to be of this first expedition, looked to the priming of their muskets, and fixed to the end of the barrel a boar-spear, straight and long as a sword. They felt their hunting-knives, flung their bags upon their backs, and confident that all was in order, they glanced proudly round them.

  “Ah,” said Doctor Lorquin, laughing, “do not forget Master Jean-Claude’s advice. Be careful. One German more or less in a hundred thousand would not make much difference in our affairs; whereas if one or the other of you came back to us injured, you would be replaced with difficulty.”

  “Oh, fear nothing, doctor: we shall have our eyes open.”

  “My boys,” replied Materne, haughtily, “are true hunters; they know how to wait the moment and profit by it. They will only fire when I call. You can rest assured! and now, let us start; we must be back before night.”

  They departed.

  “Good luck to you!” shouted Hullin, while they mounted the snow in order to avoid the breastworks.

  They soon descended toward the narrow path, which turns sharply on the right of the mountain.

  The partisans watched them. Their red frizzy hair, long muscular legs, their broad shoulders, and supple, quick movements,—all showed that in case of an encounter, five or six “kaiserlichs” would have little chance against such fine fellows.

  In a quarter of an hour they had reached the pine-forest and disappeared.

  Then Hullin quietly returned to the farm, talking to Nickel Bentz.

  Doctor Lorquin walked behind, followed by Pluto, and all the others returned to their places round the bivouac fires.

  CHAPTER XII

  THE LANDLORD OF THE “PINEAPPLE”

  Materne and his two boys walked for some time in silence. The weather had become fine; the pale winter sun shone over the brilliant snow without melting it, and the ground remained firm and hard.

  In the distance, along the valley, stood out, with surprising clearness, the tops of the fir-trees, the reddish peaks of the rocks, the roofs of the hamlets, with their icy stalactites hanging from the eaves, their small sparkling windows, and sharp gables.

  People were walking in the street of Grandfontaine. A troupe of young girls were standing round the washing-place; a few old men in cotton caps were smoking their pipes on the doorsteps of the little houses. All this little world, lying in the depths of the blue expanse, came, and went, and lived, without a sound or sigh reaching the ears of the foresters.

  The old hunter halted on the outskirts of the wood, and said to his sons: “I am going down to the village to see Dubreuil, the innkeeper of the ‘Pineapple.’”

  And he pointed with his stick to a long white building, the doors and windows of which were surrounded with a yellow bordering, a pine-branch being suspended to the wall as a signboard.

  “You must await me here. If there is no danger, I will come out on to the doorstep and raise my hat; you can then come and take a glass of wine with me.”

  He immediately descended the snowy slopes to the little gardens lying above Grandfontaine, which took about ten minutes; he then made his way between two furrows, reached the meadow, and crossed the village square: his two sons, with their arms at their feet, saw him enter the inn. A few seconds after he reappeared on the doorstep and raised his hat.

  Fifteen minutes later they had rejoined their father in the great room of the “Pineapple.” It was a rather low room with a sanded floor, and heated by a large iron stove.

  Excepting the innkeeper Dubreuil, the biggest and most apoplectic landlord in the Vosges, with immense paunch, round eyes, flat nose, a wart on his left cheek, and a triple chin reaching over his collar—with the exception of this curious individual, seated near the stove in a leather arm-chair, Materne was alone. He had just filled the glasses. The clock was striking nine, and its wooden cock flapped its wing with a peculiar scraping sound.

  “Good-day, Father Dubreuil,” said the two youths in a gruff voice.

  “Good-day, my brave fellows,” replied
the innkeeper, trying to smile.

  Then, in an oily voice, he asked them, “Nothing new?”

  “Faith, no!” replied Kasper; “here is winter, the time for hunting boars.”

  And they both, putting their carbines in the corner of the window, within reach, in case of attack, passed one leg across the bench, and sat down, facing their father, who was at the head of the table.

  At the same time they drank, saying, “To our healths!” which they were always very careful to do.

  “Thus,” said Materne, turning to the fat man, as though taking up the threads of an interrupted conversation, “you think, Father Dubreuil, that we have nothing to fear from the wood of Baronies, and that we may hunt boar peaceably?”

  “Oh, as to that, I know nothing!” exclaimed the innkeeper; “only at present the allies have not passed Mutzig. Besides, they harm no one; they receive all well-disposed people to fight against the usurper.”

  “The usurper? Who is he?”

  “Why, Napoleon Bonaparte, the usurper, to be sure. Just look at the wall.”

  He pointed to a great placard stuck on the wall, near the clock.

  “Look at that, and you will see that the Austrians are our true friends.”

  Old Materne’s eyebrows nearly met, but, repressing his feelings, “Oh, ah!” said he.

  “Yes, read that.”

  “But I do not know how to read, Monsieur Dubreuil, nor my boys either. Explain to us what it is.”

  Then the old innkeeper, leaning with his hands on the arms of his chair, arose, breathing like a calf, and placed himself in front of the placard, with his arms folded on his enormous paunch; and in a majestic tone he read a proclamation from the allied sovereigns, declaring “that they made war on Napoleon personally, and not on France. Therefore everybody ought to keep quiet and not meddle in their affairs, under pain of being burnt, pillaged, and shot.”

  The three hunters listened, and looked at each other with a strange air.

  When Dubreuil had finished, he reseated himself and said, “Now do you see?”