The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-10-15
FEAR.

On the 10th Of January, 1871, about o
o'clock in the morning, the Eighty third
battalion Of the National Guard halted on
the plain which lies between Mont Valerian
and the bill Of Buzenval The men, thor
oughly tired out after cold, snowy night
and the morning march over wretched
roads, bent YEARLY under the weight Of
their heavy knapsacks and listened with
a bewildered air to the sharp rattle Of
musketry in their front from the heights
Of Montratout and Ia Jonchere II had
rained, too. during the night, and the
landscape, which stretched beneath cold,
leaden gray sky, was dreary enough. The
red roofs of the Fouilleuse farm, which
served for a field hospital the plain on
which were stationed masses Of troops in
reserve the brown hillsidos and the dark
woods above, over which hung heavy
wreaths Of white smoke A Prussian shell
described its kissing course through the
chill morning air, and burst about q hun
dred feet from the battalion. The men
who were under fire for the first time felt
asudden nervousness which BETRAYED
itself in the instructive trembling of the
shoulders bowed beneath knapsacks and
decided wayering Of the line Of bayo-
nets.
"Sacres mathis, keep steady" shouted
the commander Of the battalion, short,
fat little man, with q huge mustache bris-
Ting like an angry cat and embroidered
pantalOons hidden in an immense pair of
boots u viii break the head of the first
man who lodges; the Eighty-third must
enter Paris victorious.
The commander is right, said Pierre
Manccnu TO the painter Sorin. lis neigh
Dor in the ranks, the Elghtythird VIII
doubtless enter Paris nominaliy. but the
men who compose il, your humble servant
IN particular. arc they sure Of entering at
aiiy never did pretend TO be a hero. "
Pierre Manccau was handsome fellow
of about 80 tall, robust with an aquiline
nose and full red lips shaded by droop-
ing blonde mustacLe. Professor Of phil
Osophy in q lyceum a iovial fellow, opti-
mist bv nature. with an undcrcurrcnt Of
anable skeptcsm, lac had entered the
national guard from sense OF duty, but
without enthusiasm; and 10 tel the
truth, under the conviction chat 10 did
not amount TO much after all, for the
guard would never really be underline.
As he frankly confessed his was by no
means the military temperament. The
firing now extended along the whole crest
of the hills. the balls ratified holly. and
every uow and then came the tearing
sound OF grape shot and the roar Of can
non from Mont Nalerian. On the right
by Ia Jonchcrc the line Of skirmishers
could De seen firing on the edge Of the
woods. while on the left Gmbulanccs car
rying the wounded were slowly descend
ing the hill the luttering Of the gray
linen covers on the backs Of the mules in
spired melancholy reflections in the
breasts of the poor devils. who. leaning
ON their muskets waited their turn TO
form I'm line of battle.
"EieAtythird battalion. forward" cried
the stout little commander, waving his
saber The battalion moved up awk
wardiy enough, and began slowly 10 de
scend the slope which led to the wall Of
the park of Bnzenval Many a foot
slipped on the thick, wet grass, soaked
by the recent delugc The men were
silent They had enough TO do TO keep
their footing in the slippery mud. Only
every now and then heads would sud
denly dodge as the balls whizzed sharply
over them.
Pierre Manceau had become very seli-
Gus. and tightly grasping his musket
thought TO himself, I'm in for it this
time. We are going into battle in
earnest, and perhaps | shall never come
out again. What nonsense 10 say that
only one out Of every ten balls does any
mischief It's all the same to me if | am
picked off by the tenth; this is confound-
eddy disagreeabie.
He tried to think Of dcath--of the life
beyond-of the friends he would leave
behind, but il was impossible to collect
his ideas. or TO lx them upon such sol.
emn things; the weight Of the heavy
knapsack. the effort necessary TO main
tain his muskct in equilibrium, and not
TO pitch headlong down the muddy slope
all this forced his mind TO rest entirely
on purely material details He had not
even time TO be afraid, so completely were
his faculties absorbed in the effort TO
march upright
At last the battalion arrived at the
wall Of the park. There they were com
maDded TO halt. Pierre seated himself
exhausted and out of breath on tse turf,
and Selling h,s canteen swallowed copi-
Gus dlauglt Of rum, then cutting thick
wedge Of army bread he breakfasted, with
an appetite which astonished himself.
Somewhat refreshed by this hurried re-
past, as we'll as by the shelter afforded by
The wall, lie began TO examine the novel
spectacle before him. Facing him on
Mont Nalerian battery hurled its pro-
icctilcs IN the direction of Garches. 4
little further back a group of three
mounted officers we're sharply defined
against the dark sky. One Of them was
gazing inteutly on the line Of woods
where the firing was incessant. Below
on the plain all around the farm
houses wero masses of troops sta
toned in reserve From time 70 time
Prussian shells tore through the air and
exploded In the midst of the battalions
beyond the wall. "'Tis an i'll wind blows
nobody good" thought our professor CT
philosophy. ''if we had remained ON the
plain we would be getting our share OF
this Prussian mama. To be torn to
pieces by shell is worse than being hit
by bullet" At the same time he drew
closer TO the shcltering wall with feel
4