"We will save her in spite of herself!" cried Philippe, lifting the
countess and placing her in the carriage.

He returned to implore the help of his friend. Together they lifted
the old general, without knowing whether he were dead or alive, and
put him beside his wife. The major then rolled over the men who were
sleeping on his blankets, which he tossed into the carriage, together
with some roasted fragments of his mare.

"What do you mean to do?" asked the aide-de-camp.

"Drag them."

"You are crazy."

"True," said Philippe, crossing his arms in despair.

Suddenly, he was seized by a last despairing thought.

"To you," he said, grasping the sound arm of his orderly, "I confide
her for one hour. Remember that you must die sooner than let any one
approach her."

The major then snatched up the countess's diamonds, held them in one
hand, drew his sabre with the other, and began to strike with the flat
of its blade such of the sleepers as he thought the most intrepid. He
succeeded in awaking the colossal grenadier, and two other men whose
rank it was impossible to tell.