"Eh, _mon cher!_ What are you doing here? You look fresh and fit!...
What are you looking for? You seem to be at sea."

I explained my position to him, and asked him to tell me what had
happened.

"Oh! that would take too long. Your fellows were at Charleroi with us;
they had some experiences! But hang it if I know what they are doing
with us. We beat them yesterday, my friend. Our men and our guns did
wonders. And now there's talk of our retreating further south. I
don't understand it all. Ah! we have seen some hot work, and you will
make a rough beginning.... Looking for your regiment, are you? I
haven't seen it yet to-day. But you see that Staff right over there
behind those stacks?... Yes, where those shells are bursting....
That's General T. He can help you; only, you see, he's not exactly in
clover. T. has been splendid; always under fire, cheering on his men.
They say he wants to get killed so as not to see the retreat...."

I knew General T. well. He commanded a brigade in our garrison town of
R. And a kindly chief he was, clear-minded, frank, and plain-spoken. I
soon made up my mind to go to him and see what help I could get to
enable me to rejoin my regiment. It would be a pleasure, too, to see
him again.

I measured the distance with my eye--a kilometre, perhaps. There was
no road, and to go across the fields would not be very easy, as there
were walls and hedges round the meadows. I took the other way out of
the village, and just as Wattrelot and I were leaving it we saw some
wounded men arriving. They came slowly, helped along by their