The Blockade of Phalsburg: An Episode of the End of the Empire Page 15

  XV

  TRIAL OF THE DESERTER

  You can believe, Fritz, that I did not sleep much that night,notwithstanding my fatigue. The thought of the deserter tormented me.I knew that if he should be shot, Zeffen and Sorle would beinconsolable; and I knew, too, that after three or four years the vilerace would say: "Look at this Moses, with his large brown cloak, hiscape turned down over the back of his neck, and his respectablelook--well, during the blockade he caused the arrest of a poordeserter, who was shot: so much you can trust a Jew's appearance!"

  They would have said this, undoubtedly; for the only consolation ofvillains is to make people think that everybody is like themselves.

  And then how often should I reproach myself for this man's death, intimes of misfortune or in my old age, when I should not have a minute'speace! How often should I have said that it was a judgment of theLord, that it was on account of this deserter.

  So I wanted to do immediately all that I could, and by six o'clock inthe morning I was in my old shop in the market with my lantern,selecting epaulettes and my best clothes. I put them in a napkin andtook them to Harmantier at daybreak.

  The special council of war, which was called--I do not know why--the_Ventose_ council, was to meet at nine o'clock. It was composed of amajor, president, four captains, and two lieutenants. Monbrun, thecaptain of the foreign legion, was judge-advocate, and Brigadier Duphotrecorder.

  It was astonishing how the whole city knew about it beforehand, andthat by seven o'clock the Nicaises, and Pigots, and Vinatiers, etc.,had left their rickety quarters, and had already filled the wholemayoralty, the arch, the stairway, and the large room above, laughing,whistling, stamping, as if it were a bear-fight at Klein's inn, the"Ox."

  You do not see things like that nowadays, thank God! men have becomemore gentle and humane. But after all these wars, a deserter met withless pity than a fox caught in a trap, or a wolf led by the muzzle.

  As I saw all this, my courage failed; all my admiration for Burguet'stalents could not keep me from thinking:

  The man is lost! Who can save him, when this crowd has come on purposeto see him condemned to death, and led to the Glaciere bastion?

  I was overwhelmed by the thought.

  I went trembling into Harmantier's little room, and said to him: "Thisis for the deserter; take it to him from me." "All right!" said he.

  I asked him if he had confidence in Burguet. He shrugged hisshoulders, and said: "We must have examples."

  The stamping outside continued, and when I went out there was a greatwhistling in the balcony, the arch, and everywhere, and shouts of"Moses! hey, Moses! this way!"

  But I did not turn my head, and went home very sad.

  Sorle handed me a summons to appear as a witness before thecourt-martial, which a gendarme had just brought; and till nine o'clockI sat meditating behind the stove, trying to think of some way ofescape for the prisoner.

  Safel was playing with the children; Zeffen and Sorle had gone down tocontinue our sales.

  A few minutes before nine I started for the townhouse, which wasalready so crowded that, had it not been for the guard at the door, andthe gendarmes scattered within the building, the witnesses could hardlyhave got in.

  Just as I got there, Captain Monbrun was beginning to read his report.Burguet sat opposite, with his head leaning on his hand.

  They showed me into a little room, where were Winter, Chevreux,Dubourg, and the gendarme Fiegel; so that we didn't hear anythingbefore being called.

  On the wall at the right it was written in large letters that anywitness who did not tell the truth, should be delivered to the council,and suffer the same penalty as the accused. This made one consider,and I resolved at once to conceal nothing, as was right and sensible.The gendarme also informed us that we were forbidden to speak to eachother.

  After a quarter of an hour Winter was summoned, and then, at intervalsof ten minutes, Chevreux, Dubourg, and myself.

  When I went into the court-room, the judges were all in their places;the major had laid his hat on the desk before him; the recorder wasmending his pen. Burguet looked at me calmly. Without they werestamping, and the major said to the brigadier:

  "Inform the public that if this noise continues, I shall have themayoralty cleared."

  The brigadier went out at once, and the major said to me:

  "National guard Moses, make your deposition. What do you know?"

  I told it all simply. The deserter at the left, between two gendarmes,seemed more dead than alive. I would gladly have acquitted him ofeverything; but when a man fears for himself, when old officers in fulldress are scowling at you as if they could see through you, thesimplest and best way is not to lie. A father's first thought shouldbe for his children! In short, I told everything that I had seen,nothing more or less, and at last the major said to me:

  "That is enough; you may go."

  But seeing that the others, Winter, Chevreux, Dubourg, remained sittingon a bench at the left, I did the same.

  Almost immediately five or six good-for-nothings began to stamp andmurmur, "Shoot him! shoot him!" The president ordered the brigadier toarrest them, and in spite of their resistance they were all led toprison. Silence was then established in the court-room, but thestampings without continued.

  "Judge-advocate, it is your turn to speak," said the major.

  This judge-advocate, who seems now before my eyes, and whom I canalmost hear speak, was a man of fifty, short and thick, with a shortneck, long, thick, straight nose, very wide forehead, shining blackhair, thin mustaches, and bright eyes. While he was listening, hishead turned right and left as if on a pivot; you could see his longnose and the corner of his eye, but his elbows did not stir from thetable. He looked like one of those large crows which seem to besleeping in the fields at the close of autumn, and yet see everythingthat is going on around them.

  Now and then he raised his arm as if to draw back his sleeve, asadvocates have a way of doing. He was in full dress, and spoketerribly well, in a clear and strong voice, stopping and looking at thepeople to see if they agreed with him; and if he saw even a slightgrimace, he began again at once in some other way, and, as it were,obliged you to understand in spite of yourself.

  As he went on very slowly, without hurrying or forgetting anything, toshow that the deserter was on the road when we arrested him, that henot only had the intention of escaping, but was already outside of thecity, quite as guilty as if he had been found in the ranks of theenemy--as he clearly showed all this, I was angry because he was right,and I thought to myself, "Now, what was there to be said in reply."

  And then, when he said that the greatest of crimes was to abandon one'sflag, because one betrays at once his country, his family, all that hasa right to his life, and makes himself unworthy to live; when he saidthat the court would follow the conscience of all who had a heart, ofall who held to the honor of France; that he would give a new exampleof his zeal for the safety of the country and the glory of the Emperor;that he would show the new recruits that they could only succeed bydoing their duty and by obeying orders; when he said all this withterrible power and clearness, and I heard from time to time, a murmurof assent and admiration, then, Fritz, I thought that the Lord alonewas able to save that man!

  The deserter sat motionless, his arms folded on the dock, and his faceupon them. He felt, doubtless, as I did, and every one in the room,and the court itself. Those old men seemed pleased as they heard thejudge-advocate express so well what had all along been their ownopinion. Their faces showed their satisfaction.

  This lasted for more than an hour. The captain sometimes stopped amoment to give his audience time to reflect on what he had said. Ihave always thought that he must have been attorney-general, orsomething more dangerous still to deserters.

  I remember that he said, in closing, "You will make an example! Youwill be of one mind. You will not forget that, at this time, firmnessin the court is more necessary than ever to the safe
ty of the country."

  When he sat down, such a murmur of approbation arose in the room thatit reached the stairway at once, and we heard the shouts outside,"_Vive l'Empereur_!"

  The major and the other members of the council looked smilingly at eachother, as if to say, "It is all settled. What remains is a mereformality!"

  The shouts without increased. This lasted more than ten minutes. Atlast the major said:

  "Brigadier, if the tumult continues, clear the town-house! Begin withthe court-room!"

  There was silence at once, for every one was curious to know whatBurguet would say in reply. I would not have given two farthings forthe life of the deserter.

  "Counsel for the prisoner, you have the floor!" said the major, andBurguet rose.

  Now, Fritz, if I had an idea that I could repeat to you what Burguetsaid, for a whole hour, to save the life of a poor conscript; if Ishould try to depict his face, the sweetness of his voice, and then hisheart-rending cries, and then his silent pauses and his appeals--if Ihad such an idea, I should consider myself a being full of pride andvanity!

  No; nothing finer was ever heard. It was not a man speaking; it was amother, trying to snatch her babe from death! Ah! what a great thingit is to have this power of moving to tears those who hear us! But weought not to call it talent, it is heart.

  "Who is there without faults? Who does not need pity?"

  This is what he said, as he asked the council if they could find aperfectly blameless man; if evil thoughts never came to the bravest; ifthey had never, for even a day or a moment, had the thought of runningaway to their native village, when they were young, when they wereeighteen, when father and mother and the friends of their childhoodwere living, and they had not another in the world. A poor childwithout instruction, without knowledge of the world, brought up athap-hazard, thrown into the army--what could you expect of him? Whatfault of his could not be pardoned? What does he know of country, thehonor of his flag, the glory of his Majesty? Is it not later in lifethat these great ideas come to him?

  And then he asked those old men if they had not a son, if they weresure that, even at that moment, that son were not committing an offencewhich was liable to the punishment of death. He said to them:

  "Plead for him! What would you say? You would say, 'I am an oldsoldier. For thirty years I have shed my blood for France. I havegrown gray upon the battle-fields, I am riddled with wounds, I havegained every rank at the point of the sword. Ah, well! take myepaulettes, take my decorations, take everything; but save my child!Let my blood be the ransom for his offence! He does not know thegreatness of his crime; he is too young; he is a conscript; he lovedus; he longed to embrace us, and then go back again--he loved a maiden.Ah! you, too, have been young! Pardon him. Do not disgrace an oldsoldier in his son.'

  "Perhaps you could say, too, 'I had other sons. They died for theircountry. Let their blood answer for his, and give me back thisone--the last that I have left!'

  "This is what you would say, and far better than I, because you wouldbe the father, the old soldier speaking of his own services! Well, thefather of this youth could speak like you! He is an old soldier of theRepublic! He went with you, perhaps, when the Prussians enteredChampagne! He was wounded at Fleurus! He is an old comrade in arms!His oldest son was left behind in Russia!"

  And Burguet turned pale as he spoke. It seemed as if grief had robbedhim of his strength, and he were about to fall. The silence was sogreat that we heard the breathing throughout the court-room. Thedeserter sobbed. Everybody thought, "It is done! Burguet need say nomore! It must be that he has gained his cause!"

  But all at once he began again in another and more tender manner.Speaking slowly, he described the life of a poor peasant and his wife,who had but one comfort, one solitary hope on earth--their child! Aswe listened we saw these poor people, we heard them talk together, wesaw over the door the old chapeau of the time of the Republic. Andwhen we were thinking only of this, suddenly Burguet showed us the oldman and his wife learning that their son had been killed, not byRussians or Germans, but by Frenchmen. We heard the old man's cry!

  But it was terrible, Fritz! I wanted to run away. The officers of thecouncil, several of whom were married men, looked before them withfixed eyes, and clinched hands; their gray mustaches shook. The majorhad raised his hand two or three times, as if to signify that it wasenough, but Burguet had always something still more powerful, morejust, more grand to add. His plea lasted till nearly eleven, when hesat down. There was not a murmur to be heard in the three rooms noroutside. And the judge-advocate on the other side began again, sayingthat all that signified nothing, that it was unfortunate for the fatherthat his son was unworthy, that every man clung to his children, thatsoldiers must be taught not to desert in face of the enemy; that, ifthe court yielded to such arguments, nobody would ever be shot,discipline would be utterly destroyed, the army could not exist, andthat the army was the strength and glory of the country.

  Burguet replied almost immediately. I cannot recall what he said; myhead could not hold so many things at once: but I shall never forgetthis, that about one o'clock, the council having sent us away that theymight deliberate--the prisoner meanwhile having been taken back to hiscell--after a few minutes we were allowed to return, and the major,standing on the platform where conscriptions were drawn, declared thatthe accused Jean Balin was acquitted, and gave the order for hisimmediate release.

  It was the first acquittal since the departure of the Spanish prisonersbefore the blockade; the rowdies, who had come in crowds to see a mancondemned and shot, could not believe it; several of them exclaimed:"We are cheated!"

  But the major ordered Brigadier Descarmes to take the names of thesebrawlers, so that they should be seen to; then the whole mass trampleddown the stairs in five minutes, and we, in our turn, were able todescend.

  I had taken Burguet by the arm, my eyes full of tears.

  "Are you satisfied, Moses?" said he, already quite his own joyous selfagain.

  "Burguet!" said I, "Aaron himself, the own brother of Moses, and thegreatest orator of Israel, could not have spoken better than you did;it was admirable! I owe my peace of mind to you! Whatever you may askfor so great a service I am ready to give to the extent of my means."

  We went down the stairs; the members of the council following usthoughtfully, one by one. Burguet smiled.

  "Do you mean it, Moses?" said he, stopping under the arch.

  "Yes, here is my hand."

  "Very well!" said he, "I ask you to give me a good dinner at the_Ville-de-Metz_."

  "With all my heart!"

  Several citizens, Father Parmentier, Cochois the tax-gatherer, andAdjutant Muller, were waiting for Burguet at the foot of the mayoraltysteps, to congratulate him. As they were surrounding and shaking handswith him, Safel came and rushed into my arms; Zeffen had sent him tolearn the news. I embraced him, and said joyously: "Go, tell yourmother that we have won! Take your dinner. I am going to dine at the_Ville-de-Metz_ with Burguet. Make haste, my child!"

  He started running.

  "You dine with me, Burguet," said Father Parmentier.

  "Thank you, Mr. Mayor, I am engaged to dine with Moses; I will go atanother time."

  And, with our arms around each other, we entered Mother Barriere'slarge corridor, where there was still the odor of good roasts, in spiteof the blockade.

  "Listen, Burguet," said I; "we are going to dine alone, and you shallchoose whatever wines and dishes you like best; you know them betterthan I do."

  I saw his eyes sparkle.

  "Good! good!" said he, "it is understood."

  In the large dining-hall the war-commissioner and two officers weredining together; they turned round, and we saluted them.

  I sent for Mother Barriere, who came at once, her apron on her arm, assmiling and chubby as usual. Burguet whispered a couple of words inher ear, and she instantly opened the door at the right, and said:

  "Walk
in, gentlemen, walk in! You will not have to wait long."

  We went into the square room at the corner of the square, a small, highroom, with two large windows covered with muslin curtains, and theporcelain stove well heated, as it should be in winter.

  A servant came to lay the table, while we warmed our hands upon themarble.

  "I have a good appetite, Moses; my pleading is going to cost you dear,"said Burguet, laughing.

  "So much the better; it cannot be too dear for the gratitude I owe you."

  "Come," said he, putting his hand on my shoulder, "I won't ruin you,but we must have a good dinner."

  When the table was ready, we sat down, opposite each other, in soft,comfortable arm-chairs; and Burguet, fastening his napkin in hisbutton-hole, as was his custom, took up the bill of fare. He ponderedover it a long time; for you know, Fritz, that though nightingales aregood singers, they have the sharpest beaks in the world. Burguet waslike them, and I was delighted at seeing him thus meditating.

  At last he said to the servant, slowly and solemnly:

  "This and that, Madeleine, cooked so and so. And such a wine to beginwith, and such another at the end."

  "Very well, M. Burguet," replied Madeleine, as she went out.

  Two minutes afterward she brought us a good toast soup. During ablockade this was something greatly to be desired; three weeks later weshould have been very fortunate to have got one.

  Then she brought us some Bordeaux wine, warmed in a napkin. But you donot suppose, Fritz, that I am going to tell you all the details of thisdinner? although I remember it all, with great pleasure, to this day.Believe me, there was nothing wanting, meats nor fresh vegetables, northe large well-smoked ham, nor any of the things which are dreadfullyscarce in a shut-up city. We had even salad! Madame Barriere had keptit in the cellar, in earth, and Burguet wished to dress it himself witholive oil. We had, too, the last juicy pears which were seen inPhalsburg, during that winter of 1814.

  Burguet seemed happy, especially when the bottle of old Lironcourt wasbrought, and we drank together.

  "Moses," said he with softened eyes, "if all my pleas had as good payas you give, I would resign my place in college; but this is the firstfee I have received."

  "And if I were in your place, Burguet," I exclaimed, "instead ofstaying in Phalsburg, I would go to a large city. You would haveplenty of good dinners, good hotels, and the rest would soon follow."

  "Ah! twenty years ago this might have been good advice," said he,rising, "but it is too late now. Let us go and take our coffee, Moses."

  Thus it is that men of great talents often bury themselves in smallplaces, where nobody values them at their true worth; they fallgradually into their own ruts, and disappear without notice.

  Burguet never forgot to go to the coffee-house at about five o'clock,to play a game of cards with the old Jew Solomon, whose trade it was.Burguet and five or six citizens fully supported this man, who took hisbeer and coffee twice a day at their expense, to say nothing of thecrowns he pocketed for the support of his family.

  So far as the others were concerned, I was not surprised at this, forthey were fools! but for a man like Burguet I was always astonished atit; for, out of twenty deals, Solomon did not let them win more thanone or two, with the risk before his eyes of losing his best practice,by discouraging them altogether.

  I had explained this fifty times to Burguet; he assented, and kept onall the same.

  When we reached the coffee-house, Solomon was already there, in thecorner of a window at the left--his little dirty cap on his nose, andhis old greasy frock hanging at the foot of the stool. He wasshuffling the cards all by himself. He looked at Burguet out of thecorner of his eye, as a bird-catcher looks at larks, as if to say:

  "Come! I am here! I am expecting you!"

  But Burguet, when with me, dared not obey the old man; he was ashamedof his weakness, and merely made a little motion of his head while heseated himself at the opposite table, where coffee was served to us.

  The comrades came soon, and Solomon began to fleece them. Burguetturned his back to them; I tried to divert his attention, but his heartwas with them; he listened to all the throws, and yawned in his hand.

  About seven o'clock, when the room was full of smoke, and the ballswere rolling on the billiard tables, suddenly a young man, a soldier,entered, looking round in all directions.

  It was the deserter.

  He saw us at last, and approached us with his foraging cap in his hand.Burguet looked up and recognized him; I saw him turn red; the deserter,on the contrary, was very pale; he tried to speak, but could not say aword.

  "Ah! my friend!" said Burguet, "here you are, safe!"

  "Yes, sir," replied the conscript, "and I have come to thank you formyself, for my father, and for my mother!"

  "Ah!" said Burguet, coughing, "it is all right! it is all right!"

  He looked tenderly at the young man, and asked him softly, "You areglad to live?"

  "Oh! yes, sir," replied the conscript, "very glad."

  "Yes," said Burguet, in a low voice, looking at the clock; "it wouldhave been all over now! Poor child!"

  And suddenly beginning to use the _thou_ he said, "Thou hast hadnothing with which to drink my health, and I have not another sou.Moses, give him a hundred sous."

  I gave him ten francs. The deserter tried to thank me.

  "That is good!" said Burguet, rising. "Go and take a drink with thycomrades. Be happy, and do not desert again."

  He made as if he would follow Solomon's playing; but when the desertersaid, "I thank you, too, for her who is expecting me!" he looked at mesideways, not knowing what to answer, so much was he moved. Then Isaid to the conscript, "We are very glad that we have been ofassistance to you; go and drink the health of your advocate, and behaveyourself well."

  He looked at us for a moment longer, as if he were unable to move; wesaw his thanks in his face, a thousand times better than he had beenable to utter them. At length he slowly went out, saluting us, andBurguet finished his cup of coffee.

  We meditated for some minutes upon what had passed. But soon thethought of seeing my family seized me.

  Burguet was like a soul in purgatory. Every minute he got up to lookon, as one or another played, with his hands crossed behind his back;then he sat down with a melancholy look. I should have been very sorryto plague him longer, and, as the clock struck eight, I bade himgood-evening, which evidently pleased him.

  "Good-night, Moses," said he, leading me to the door. "My complimentsto Madame Sorle, and Madame Zeffen."

  "Thank you! I shall not forget it."

  I went, very glad to return home, where I arrived in a few minutes.Sorle saw at once that I was in good spirits, for, meeting her at thedoor of our little kitchen, I embraced her joyfully.

  "It is all right, Sorle," said I, "all just right!"

  "Yes," said she, "I see that it is all right!"

  She laughed, and we went into the room where Zeffen was undressingDavid. The poor little fellow, in his shirt, came and offered me hischeek to kiss. Whenever I dined in the city, I used to bring him someof the dessert, and, in spite of his sleepy eyes, he soon found his wayto my pockets.

  You see, Fritz, what makes grandfathers happy is to find out how brightand sensible their grandchildren are.

  Even little Esdras, whom Sorle was rocking, understood at once thatsomething unusual was going on; he stretched out his little hands tome, as if to say, "I like cake too!"

  We were all of us very happy. At length, having sat down, I gave theman account of the day, setting forth the eloquence of Burguet, and thepoor deserter's happiness. They all listened attentively. Safel,seated on my knees, whispered to me, "We have sold three hundredfrancs' worth of brandy!"

  This news pleased me greatly: when one makes an outlay, he ought toprofit by it.

  About ten o'clock, after Zeffen had wished us good-night, I went downand shut the door, and put the key underneath for the sergeant, if h
eshould come in late.

  While we were going to bed, Sorle repeated what Safel had said, addingthat we should be in easy circumstances when the blockade was over, andthat the Lord had helped us in the midst of great calamities.

  We were happy and without fear of the future.