The Colonel's Opinion.

Observer, Volume XXXVI, Issue 39, 3 June 1916, Page 15

The Colonel's Opinion.

(Hy Guy de Maupassant.)

I. "I AM an old man," said Colonel J| Laporte; I suffer from gout, and my legs are as stiff as pokers, and yet, if some pretty avoman asked me to go through the eye of a needle for her I believe I should jump like a cloAvn through a hoop. I shall be like that till I die, it is in my blood. For I am one of the old school, and the sight of a pretty woman ahvays arouses our feelings of chivalry.

"Moreover, Aye are like that in France. Well are all knight-errants ready for any adventure of love or Avar. We shall ahvays be the same. We shall ahvays love Avoman and commit all kinds of follies for her sake as long as France is marked on the map of Europe, and even did France disappear there Avould still be Frenchmen. I knoAV myself that Avhen I feel a pretty woman's eyes on me lam ready for anything. I feel ready to fight for her and die for her, and do anything for love of her.

"But I am not the only one, for I can assure you the whole French Army is the same. From the humble 'poilu' to the greatest general we are ready to risk anything when it is a question of a Avoman—a pretty one, of course. Look what Jeanne D'Arc made us do, and I bet you what you like if a pretty woman had taken command of the Army on the eve of Sedan, Avhen MacMahon Avas Avounded, Aye should have routed the Prussian troops and Avon the victory.

11. "I could tell you, apropos of this, a little story that proves my words. "It was Avhen I was captain in command of a body of scouts who yvere beating a retreat in a district infested Avith Prussians. We Avere all Avorn out, starving, and dead t£red. "Noav it was necessary to reach Bar-sur-Tain that day, otherwise Aye would' be simply slaughtered Avholesale. It was indeed by a miracle that Aye had escaped so far. We had about twenty-four miles still to tramp, before night—twenty-four miles on empty stomachs through the snoAv and: with a snowstorm breAving. I thought to myself, 'This is the end of it. Those poor devils can never reach Bar-sur-Tain.' "Since yesterday Aye had had nothing to eat. All day we had lain hidden in an old barn, packed closely together for warmth, past speaking, sleeping restlessly, in snatches, the sleep of 0A r er-tired and hungry men. "By five o'clock it Avas dark, and snowing hard. I roused the men; many coiild hardly rise, and once on their feet they could scarcely stand. "Before us stretched a great open snow-covered plain, Avhile the snoAv that Avas falling steadily looked like a curtain, little Avhite flakes that covered the whole landscape with a thick white carpet. We might haA r e been at the end of the world. " 'En route, mes enfants,' I cried. "And they looked out and paused for a moment and* seemed to be saying to themselves: 'This is. just about enoiijgh. We may as Avell die here.' "Then I Avhipped out my er: " 'I will shoot the first man who hesitates.' "And so they started, but slowly at first, like men Avhose limbs are numb with cold. "I sent four of them forward to reconnoitre, and the rest followed anyhoAv, tramping along together in a weary mass. I put at the back of the company the strongest men Avith orders to hurry forward laggards with their bayonets.

"The snow seemed likely to bury us alive; it powdered our military coats and made us look like ghosts, tired phantoms of dead soldiers. "And I said to myself, 'only a miracle can get us through this.' "Sometimes Aye stopped for a feAV minutes to collect the stragglers, and then Aye seemed actually to hear the awful silence of this Avhite Avorld of snoAV. . Then I. would give the order to go on again, and the men Avould Avearily pull themselves together and struggle fonvard.

111. "Suddenly the four scouts came back. They had seen something, or, rather, they had heard voices in front of us. I sent forward six men and a sergeant, and Avaited. "Then a shrill cry in a woman's voice broke the stillness, and a feAV minutes later they brought back two prisoners, an old man and a young girl. I took them on one side and questioned them. They Avere flying from the Prussians, who had commandeered their house thatsame evening, and avlio were iioav all drunk. The father, terrified for his daughter's honour, knoAving that he could not defend; her against those drink maddened Prussian officers, had fled Avith her in the night. "I saw at once that they were Avell-to-do people—better than that, they Avere Avell-bred gentlefolk. " 'You had better accompany us/ I wsaid to them; and we started off again. The old man knew the country, and he acted as our guide. "The snoAV had stopped falling, and the stars came out, but the cold Avas intense, and the girl, clinging to her father's arm, Avas dragging herself forward with difficulty. Once or tAvice she murmured, 'My feet have no feeling in them noAV,' and I could hardly bear to see this delicate little creature trudging through the snoAv. "Suddenly she stopped altogether: " 'Father,' she said, 'I really cannot go another step.' "The old man Avanted to carry her, but, slight as she Avas, he could not lift her, and she dropped on the ground with a little sigh. We made a circle round them and I racked my brains, Avondering Avhat Aye could do, for Aye certainly could not desert this defenceless man and his daughter. "Then one of my men, a Parisian, who had been nicknamed 'Pratique,' said : " 'Come on, boys, if Aye do not manage to carry this young lady between us Aye are not worthy to be called' Frenchmen!' " 'That's right, men,' I said, 'and I shall take my share.' "A little wood Avas just visible on the left, and in a feAV minutes some men had come back Avith big branches of which they made a kind of litter. " 'Who will lend his coat?' cried Pratique; 'for a fair lady ?' "And ten military coats were immediately thrown to him. A moment later the girl, comfortably tucked up with warm garments, was hoisted on six Avilling shoulders. I hadi placed myself at the head, and I can assure you I felt proud of my burden. We started off again as if Aye had drunk a glass of wine, and I even heard the men joking together behind me. It only needs a woman, you see, to electrify a Frenchman. 4 "The soldiers had even formed into more orderly ranks; and I heard an old sharpshooter, who was following the litter Avaiting his turn to replace one of the present bearers, say to his comrade: " 'I am no longer young, but this makes even- my old heart beat,'

IV. "Until three in the morning we went on almost without stopping. Then the scouts came back once more and soon the whole detachment, crouching in the snow, could not be distinguished from the shadOAVS. "I gave orders in a low voice, and I heard behind me the sharp metallic click of the guns being loaded, for down there in the valley something had moA r ed. It looked like an enormous beast. It was coming forward, curving like a serpent, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, sometimes stopping and then going on again. "Suddenly this shape took form, and I saAV twelve Uhlans, who had obviously lost their way, coming toAvards us at full gallop". They were so near now that I could even hear the breathing of their horses and the creaking of their saddles. " 'Fire,' I cried. "And fifty shots broke the silence, and when the smoke from the poavder had cleared away Aye saAV that twelve men and nine horses had fallen, three terrified animals were going off at full gallop, one dragging behind him, with his foot in" the stirrup, his rider's corpse. "A soldier behind me said with a grim chuckle: 'That didn't take long, did it?' "And a golden head appeared over the side of the litter, and a little voice Avhispered: " 'What is happening? Are, they fighting?' "And I said: 'It is nothing much, mademoiselle; we have just done for a dozen Prussians!' "She murmured: 'Poor men!' "And then, because she Avas cold, her little head disappeared again under the coats. V. "We set off again, and marched for hours until the daAvn, and then the snoAV became clear and Avldfe, and a faint shade of rose spread over the sky, and a voice called: " 'Who goes there?' "And we halted. We had reached the French lines. "As my men passed before the sentry a mounted commandant whom I was telling of our night's march, asked, as he caught sight of the litter: " 'What on earth have you got there?' ' 'And then a laughing face popped out, surmounted by a head of tumbled fair curls, and smilingly the red lips answered: " 'They've got me, Monsieur.' "The men all burst out laughing, and Pratique Avaved his cap, shouting: " 'Vive la France!' "I felt quite moved. I cannot tell

you why, but it was all so chivalrous and charming, and typically French, and I felt as if my men had just done something Avell worth doing, a simple patriotic deed. "I shall neA r er forget that little girl, and Avere I asked my opinion regarding the suppression ; of bands in the army, I should suggest replacing them in eacln regiment by a pretty woman. That Avould do the men as much good as playing the 'Marseillaise.' " . ' ■ '■ He smoked thoughtfully for a few moments, and then, snaking his head, he repeated once more: "It is quite true, Frenchmen Avould do anything for the sake of a Avoman."