The whole family was in a fury of anger.
"Of course, it is out of the question to comply with all the wishes of these wretched Prussians!"
Two days before Barbu had invited his brothers-in-arms to dinner. Upon this occasion he asked us for a table-cloth, a large table-cloth.
We took out of its dark hiding-place a damask cloth and eighteen napkins.
"Is that what you want, sir?"
"We wish vases also."
"Will these do?"
"And we desire flowers."
"Take some asters from the garden."
And then:
"May I take a photograph of your house?"
"Sir, I cannot prevent you."
"Will you put a smiling face at the window?"
No, no, a truce to jesting. Give him a flat denial. But how? On taking leave the Germans would certainly try to shake hands with us, that is their way, and we were determined not to shake theirs. Would they take it amiss?
More than once it had proved hazardous to irritate these dangerous guests. Mme. Valbot in Lierval saw her house plundered. Why? She had refused to sew on a b.u.t.ton for the officer who lodged in her house.
Old Vadois, the confectioner in Laon, was listening to the tales of "his Prussian."
"The people are not kind enough to the soldiers," the officer said. "The French are better received in Alsace-Lorraine than we are here."
"So the French are in Alsace-Lorraine!" the old man cried out, with a blissful look.
"Soldiers, take this man into custody, he speaks ill of the Germans,"
roared the officer. And they threw the poor wretch into a dungeon, where he slept on straw.
Our neighbour Polinchard, who is something of a simpleton, was pruning his pear-trees one day, when he saw his enforced boarders making fruitless endeavours to open a fastened door.
"Not through this one," he cried, waving them back with a motion of his pruning knife, and pointing to the usual entrance.
"What now!" cried the soldiers. "He threatens us! He threatens Germans!
Away with him to prison!"
The culprit was condemned to two months. That is why, on reflection, we hesitated to offend Barbu and Crafleux. They had been kind, well-behaved men, certainly, but in the village they were looked upon as haughty, violent, and hard-hearted.
"What will Barbu say," we wondered, "if, when he holds out his large paws, we put our hands behind our backs? Will he send us to prison, and put us on bread and water? Will he fasten us to the stirrups of his horse and drag us to Laon all six in a line? or will he give some such order as this to the commandant of the village: "Should an opportunity come, billet fifty men on these people"?"
A pleasant prospect! The moment was critical. I made up my mind to brazen it out. There is always--I had quite forgotten this--a chord, or rather a cable, in all German hearts, and this chord or cable is sentiment. Let us, then, proceed by sentiment.
I advance. My countenance is that of an angel; my eyes are full of melancholy, my voice is honey-sweet, my hair ... no, it is not dishevelled, or at least only morally dishevelled. I began to talk. Of course my mother-in-law had no objection to their taking photographs of the house. But they would permit us not to appear at the windows. The gentlemen would understand our feelings. They were men of heart and intelligence. They had been very kind to us, and we were very grateful to them, but ... I became animated. "But we are at war with you ... we cannot help seeing in you the invaders of our country, and I am sure you are aware that certain things are painful to us! You know how hard it would be to your wives and sisters to receive strangers. You cannot wonder at our dealing with you as with adversaries. And I must tell you that every time I see you I think with an inward thrill of terror, "This man may kill my husband.""
I had done. I wept with emotion. Crafleux was gazing at his boots with a shake of his head. Tears stood in Barbu"s eyes, and through this sentimental haze he saw his wife receiving French soldiers. As to myself, I felt I would soon have to blow my nose. My mother-in-law beheld the scene in silence, waiting to know the effect of my harangue.
It proved effectual.
"Madam, believe me, we understand and respect your feelings. We have now only to thank you for your hospitality, and to a.s.sure you we shall always remember it."
They bowed themselves out of the room, bowed again from the threshold, bowed again in the yard. We heard the gate close behind them, a silence while they took a few snapshots, and then the rolling away of their carriage.
They were gone! Gone for ever! And no hindrances had stood in the way!
They had gone leaving behind six sacks of coal.... They had gone even leaving a letter of recommendation for the officers who would take their place!
G.o.d forbid I shall ever revile the memory of Barbu and Crafleux!
CHAPTER VII
After the convoy"s departure Morny was empty. The only Prussians left were those who held the lines of communication and a few soldiers at the sugar factory. We walked abroad without meeting the enemy at every turn; in brief, we felt at home again. We were all like people crushed by a landslip, who recover their breath, and take on again their former shape as the earth disappears which overwhelmed them. But, alas, it was out of the question to forget the past! Empty barns, stables, and poultry-yards deprived of their inhabitants bore witness to the pa.s.sage of the scourge.
Other things also proved that the wind was blowing from the east, whence came the all-devouring gra.s.shoppers.
One morning, as I came back from a quest after milk, I stood still, struck with amazement, and followed the example of the dairy-woman in the fable. I looked at the village steeple, and could make nothing of the time it proclaimed to the four points of the compa.s.s. Old Ta.s.sin happened to pa.s.s by.
"Well, Mme. Valaine," said he, "what do you make of this? It is German time up there. We are Prussians now!"
I lifted up my eyes to the sky, and, seeing the sun, felt easier in my mind. No change there; it was eight, not nine o"clock. Yet they had made fruitless attempts to set the sun by the German time I was sure. That is why I saw officers cast reproachful looks at the sun, which dared tell the French time in a territory occupied by Germans! That was playing them false. That was treason, and the sun would rue it bitterly.
A certain regiment, pa.s.sing through Morny, chanced to trust to the village clock, and did not reach its goal at the appointed time. The delay was the cause of a failure, which put some big-wigs with helmets on into a rage. In short, the village constable was ordered to put the machine right, the German time being the only right time under the sun.
However, the departure of our guests set us at ease, and the whole village along with us. As the village might not revictual itself officially, it revictualled itself by fraud, and as much as possible.
Now there lives in Morny a sympathetic drunkard named Durand. Fond of quarrelling as he is in his cups, when in a sober state he is a good, kindly soul. He had been invalided, because his hands were twisted by gout, and this infirmity rendered him equally unfit for the work of the fields; so he became a tradesman. He deals usually in rabbit-skins, sc.r.a.p-iron, and rags. His business and stock-in-trade consist of a box set up on two wheels, and drawn by a good-natured yellow dog. Sc.r.a.p-iron may hide a good many things, and with a view to present circ.u.mstances our friend contrived to extend his import trade. Far from me to hint that Durand, in ordinary times, snaps his fingers at the gendarmes and laughs at the laws, practices as common in our border departments as unseemly everywhere. But he improvised with the war a wonderful cunning, thanks to which he smuggled all sorts of necessary things into Morny, under the Germans" very eyes. In his surprise packet were concealed b.u.t.ter, grease, chocolate, sugar, to say nothing of candles. The housewives scrambled for the provisions, which rose almost to the usual level. The weary dog put out his tongue and laughed, for he knew well that we were getting the better of the Germans.
He was not the only one to laugh. The peasants, too, laughed in their sleeves when they saw the Germans stock still in "the mountains." At the first moment of invasion, the people were struck with dismay. The arrogant enemy, sure of victory, seemed to meet with no obstacles.
"Handsome men, well armed and equipped. Ah, there is no reason to laugh at them!" said the old women. They thought the situation hopeless. But now it was whispered about, "They won"t pa.s.s "the mountains"; they won"t cross the Aisne." At this conviction their hearts rose, which yesterday had been filled with bitterness. Evidently the invaders had been stopped; they knew not how, but the fact remained.
One morning I encountered a knot of gossips in the street. They talked of a new attack on Soissons. Mme. Ta.s.sin a.s.sured us that William had said they must pa.s.s, and pa.s.s they must. Without stopping in my walk, I interjected: "And General Pau said that they won"t pa.s.s, and pa.s.s they won"t." It was reported that a French prisoner had spoken these words in Laon. Whether General Pau had really expressed himself thus I don"t know. But the Germans gained no more ground; we were sure of that; but it was no less certain that we were caught in a trap, that we could not stir a limb. We had good hopes the trial would not last long. All the same the situation could not be helped, and we resolved to accept it.
In the village, things were going tolerably. While the baker"s wife, gallant soul, made her bread, the work of the fields progressed slowly.
They left the beetroots as long as possible in the earth, expecting that "our French" would come back before the harvest, which was superb. At length they had to submit to fate and bury the precious roots in vast silos. With us the days crawled by like centuries. It is true that the housekeeping entirely rested with us; it was no use looking for help in the village; women who had not a good many children to look after were working out in the fields. Only Mme. Ta.s.sin consented from time to time to come and help us. But how many hours, what long evenings, remained to fill for six women shut up in a house! What, indeed, can you do at home but dream if you are a hare, and sew if you are a woman? We sewed.
After Barbu"s stay a little petroleum was left, which we used with miserly care. At dinner we contented ourselves with a night-light, and when we worked only our heads were allowed to come within the circuit of the lamp.
We made sets of baby-linen for poor little ones who took it into their heads to be born into the world, when their fathers had gone off to the war, and had left larder and purse at home empty. We competed with one another in the making of caps and shirts. Yvonne is amazingly clever, and when she has a mind to sew works no end of wonders in a trice. Our ambition increased with success. We fashioned web-like laces, and our embroidery might have aroused the jealousy of the fairies. Generally we kept silence. Sighs frequently answered the guns, and if we talked we poured out plaints of pity for those who fought, or called up remembrances of happier days.
"Just think, there are people who get letters!"