Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-10-20
FEAR.

GaSJdllOH VI LI4e NdblOLdl matted on
the plain which lies between Mont Valerian
and the hill 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
q bewildered air to the sharp rattle Of
nusketry in their front from the heights
OF Montratout and la Jonchere. 1t had
rained. too, during the night, and the
landscape. which stretched beneath cold,
ieaden gray sky, was dreary enough. The
red roofs of the Fouilleuse farm, which
served for field hospital, the plain on
which were stationed masses Of troops in
reserve, the brown hillsides 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 hun
dred feet from the battalion. The men
who were under fire for the first time felt
sudden nervousness which betrayed
itself in the instructive trembling of the
shoulders bowed beneath knapsacks and
decided wavering Of the line of bayo-
nets.
''Sacres mathis! keep steady" shouted
the commander of the battalion, a short,
fat little man, with a 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
Manceau to the painter Sorin, his neigh
Dor in the ranks, the Eighty-third will
doubtless enter Paris nominally, but tbs
men who compose it, your humble servant
In PARTICULAR. sre they sure of entering at
slls never did pretend TO be hero"
Pierre ManceGu was a handsome fellow
Of about 30, tai, robust, with an aquiline
nose and full red lips shaded by droop-
ing blonde mustache. Professor of phil
osophy in lyceum, jovial fellow, opti-
mist by nature, with an undercurrent Of
amiable skepticisn. be had entered the
national guard from a sense of duty, but
without enthusiasm; and to tell the
truth. under the conviction that it did
not amount to much after all, for the
guard would never really be under fire"
As be frankly confessed, his was by no
means the military temperament The
firing now extended along the whole crest
of the hills; tho balls ratified hotly, and
every now and then came the tearing
sound Of grape shot and the roar Of can
non from Mont Valerian. On the right,
By Ia Jonchere, the line of skirnishers
could be seen firing on the edge Of the
woods, while on the left anbulances car
rying the wounded were slowly descend
ing the hill; the futtering 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 nuskets, waited their turn to
form In line Of battle.
"Eighty-third battalion, forward" cried
the stout little commander, waving his
saber. The battalion moved up awk
wardly enough, and began slowly to de-
sceud the slope which led TO the wall of
the park of Buzenval. Many a foot
slipped on the thick, wet grass, soaked
by the recent deluge. 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 seri-
Gus, and tightly grasping his muskes
thought to himself: I'm in for il this
time. We are going into a battle in
earnest, and perhaps shall never come
out again. What nonsense to say that
only one out Of every ten balls does any
mischief. It's all the same to me if am
picked of by the tenth; this is confound-
edly disagresable.
He tried to think Of death-of the life
beyond-of the friends he would leave
behind, bat it was impossible TO collect
his ideas. or 10 tx them upon such sol
enn things; the weight Of the heavy
knapsack. tho effort necessary to main
tain bis musket in equilibrium, and not
10 pitch headlong down the muddy slope
oil 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 III the effort 70
march upright.
At last the battalion arrived st the
wall of the park. There they were COM
nnanded TO halt. Pierre seated himself
exhausted and out e breath on the turf.
and seizing his caateen swallowed q copi-
GUS drauGht Of rum, then cutting thick
wedge OF army bread he breakfasted. with
Gn appetite which astonished himself.
Somewhat refreshed by this hurried re-
past. ss well as by the shelter Afforded By
the wall, he began to examine the novel
spectacle before him. Facing him on
Mont Valerian q battery hurled its pro-
jectnes il the direction OF Gsrches. 4
little further back a group OF three
mounted officers were sharply defined
Sgsinst the dark sky. One Of them was
gazing intently on the line of woods
lere the firing was incessant. Below
on the plain ali around the farm
houses were masses of troops sta
toned Il reserve. From tine to time
Prussian shells tore through the air and
exploded II the midst Of the ba.tatons
beyond the wall Ills an Ill wind blows
nobody good" thought our professor OF
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 be drew
closer to the sheltering wall With a feel
Ing Of egotistical satisfaction. The wind
wss blowing sharply, the heavens re-
manned leaden gray. and few fakes of
snow were whirled through the air. On
the road which runs along the angle Of
tho park anbulsnoes were seen sIowl.
moving. crossed by mounted couriers.
The firing in the park continued. bot the
defamation seemed always at the same
distance, evidently the French troops
were not advancing. 4 cxnnoa drawn 5,
four horses came painfully down the
mountain side, and ManccAu heard . stat
ethcer cal to the guunsrs:
II you have ouly guns Of this csnbee
you can go back; tie ground Is teo wet;
IoU can a. notAiRA with fanr AAr<A eAA-