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that be?" "I am content to take it at your own valuation," Ralph said. "The value you set upon the clock was two thousand francs." There was a laugh among the other officers. "He has you there, major." "Not at all," the officer said. "He shall take it at the valuation he placed upon it--four hundred francs." "Pardon me," Ralph
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said, "I did not value it at that sum, I only offered to give that sum for it; besides which, that was an estimate of the value I set upon it at Viroflay, not the value I should set upon it at Frankfort. "I will say one thousand francs; that is, I will undertake it at a hundred, if you
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will get it put into a case of some sort." The other officers now offered various objects, either for sale or transport--pictures, vases, clocks, and even pianos. Ralph haggled over the price of each article, in a way which would have done honor to his appearance. At last--having arranged all their matters--he said that he was going on to Bellevue;
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but would call and complete the purchases, and receive the goods entrusted to him, either that night or the next morning. "If any of you gentleman would kindly give me your card, to give to the officer of the regiment at Bellevue, saying that you have found me fair in my dealing, I should feel very grateful," Ralph said, humbly.
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The officer laughed, but one of them took out his card, and wrote upon it: "Dear Von Koch, this man is--for a Hebrew--tolerably fair in his ideas." "That is for the major of the regiment, at Bellevue," he said; and Ralph bowed, as if he had received a recommendation of the warmest kind. "I was beginning to be alarmed, Ralph,"
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Percy said, when his brother again took his place in the wagon. "I have been haggling over prices," Ralph said. "Fortunately, we are not pressed for time." They had another stop, of some duration, at Chaville; and it was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon before they came down to the back of Bellevue. Here they were stopped and, upon
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Ralph producing his pass, an officer came up. "You cannot go any farther," he said. "You are close to Bellevue, now; but if you were to take this wagon into the main road, you would draw Valerien's fire upon us, at once. "You will find most of the officers there," pointing to a large house, near. "I have this card,
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for Major Von Koch," Ralph said. "I am here to buy, or carry home on commission, goods of all kinds." The officer went with Ralph; and the scene at Viroflay was repeated, but upon a much larger scale. Viroflay is a small village, containing only a few large villas; Bellevue is composed almost entirely of handsome residences, owned by Parisians.
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The quantity of articles "saved" was proportionately large. After examining and bargaining for a large number of valuable articles of furniture, pictures and clocks; Ralph left, with some of the officers, to view other articles in the villas upon the side of Bellevue, looking down upon the river. Percy had taken the horses out of the wagon, and accompanied his
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brother, ostensibly to carry back any articles purchased. At one of the villas Ralph expressed a great desire to go out into the garden, to look over Paris; and the officer with him--being in an excellent humor, at the disposal of some articles at much higher prices than he had expected to receive; and at having the proceeds, in German
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bank notes, in his pockets--went out himself, and pointed out all the various objects of interest. The fog of a winter's evening was already shutting in the view, but the boys could see the principal buildings of Paris. The towers of Notre Dame, the domes of the Pantheon and Invalides, the heights of Montmartre and Vilette, and the forts of
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Issy and Vanves were distinctly visible. The boys' eyes turned, however, more to the river at their feet, and the intervening ground, than upon the objects--however interesting--of distant Paris. "Do not show yourself," the officer said. "If we were caught sight of, from Issy or Point du Jour--or from that gunboat, below--we should have a rain of shells about us,
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in no time. You can look out from among the trees; but do not get beyond their shelter, or you will be seen, instantly." The house in whose garden they were standing stood upon the brow of the hill. Behind was a little wood, and gardens sloping pretty-steeply down. Then along by the water was a street, with houses upon
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either side. The river was, here, divided by an island; the lower end of which, however, scarcely extended low enough to be opposite to the spot upon which the boys were standing. "Bless me," Ralph said, "it must be very dangerous, living down there. Why, that gunboat could blow the place into the air." "That she could," the officer said,
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"and consequently, none of our men live there. We have sentries along the river bank, and a few others scattered about; but none of the troops are quartered there, nor even in this line of villas where we now are. If we were to show a light at night, in any window here, we should have a shell in in
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a couple of minutes. We have no fear, whatever, of a sortie in this direction; and have plenty of force behind." Ralph and Percy lingered, upon one excuse or another; asking questions as long as they could, and making the best use of their time, to gain a fair idea of the ground that they would have to cross. They
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had with them, in the wagon, a map of Bellevue and Meudon upon a large scale, with every house marked upon it. "It is going to be a dark night," the officer said, as they hurried away, "and we shall have snow before midnight." Another hour or two was spent in purchasing various articles, taken from the French villas. Darkness
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had come on, and Ralph told the officers that he should not return until the next morning to Versailles; and that if the articles to be entrusted to his care for delivery were put in rough cases--of which there were plenty, which had come full of stores--and brought by ten o'clock in the morning, carefully directed, it would be in
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sufficient time. "Will you give us leave to sleep in one of the villas, upon the farther side of the road?" Ralph asked the officer in command. "My boy has never seen a shot fired, in earnest; and I should like him to be able to say he had watched the fire of the forts, round Paris." "If you sleep
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there," the colonel said, "you must not light a fire, or show a light, or you would bring the fire of a hundred guns upon us." "I will be very careful, sir," Ralph answered. "Will you kindly let an orderly go with us, to pass us through the sentries? For, as it's dark now, they would not let us pass."
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The colonel gave the order, and an orderly went with them. They stopped at the wagon, and each took out a large bundle. "We shall want our blankets, tonight," Ralph said. "It is bitterly cold. "Would you like a glass of brandy, to help keep it out, my man?" The soldier smiled an assent, drank off a glass of brandy,
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and then accompanied them to the villa. Short as was the distance, they were challenged twice, and the sign and counter-sign had to be exchanged. They reached the deserted villa, threw down the bundles in a corner; and then the orderly said good night, and left them to themselves. : A Desperate Attempt. "So far, so good, Percy!" Ralph said,
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when they heard the street door slam, as the orderly left. "Hitherto we have had the most extraordinary good fortune and, as it's going to snow--for I felt a few flakes, as we came along--I look upon it as good as done." "It will take away from us risk of being hit, but I don't see that it will make
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much difference in our risk of being drowned," Percy said. "I own, Ralph, I am a great deal more afraid of that, than of the other." "But it does, Percy. It makes all the difference in the world. We had agreed that we would put on life belts; but that we would blow the smallest quantity of air possible into
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them, so that they might give us some slight assistance, and yet not be too buoyant to prevent us from diving. Now we can blow them up with wind, so as to prevent the possibility of our being drowned. Once in the water, and we are safe from everything except a stray bullet. In a snowstorm, on such a dark
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night as this, they could not see our heads five yards off." "But what is worse, Ralph, we shall not be able to see five yards, either; and should have no idea where we were swimming." "I had not thought of that, Percy. Yes, that would be very serious," and Ralph thought, for some time. "It seems a risk, this,
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Percy; but I can see no plan, except to draw their fire." "How do you mean?" Percy asked, puzzled. "You see, Percy, our idea before was to get down to the shore, to put our dummy into the water, and to let it float down a hundred yards--the length of its string--and then to start ourselves, holding the other end
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of the string, in hopes that--if the sentries are really sharply on the lookout--they would see the dummy, instead of us, as it will be a much more conspicuous object; especially as we intended to do as much diving as we could, and our movements forward would jerk the dummy's string, and make him bob, like a man swimming. If
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they once caught sight of it, they would be too busy firing at it to look about for anyone else. "Well now, I think that instead of giving up the dummy altogether--as we might have done, now that the snow has come on--we must let it float gently down, for seventy or eighty yards; and then throw a stone into
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the water by it, so as to draw the attention of the sentry. Or--if the sentries are pretty far apart--one of us might make a great splash in the water, when the dummy is floating; and then run back before the sentry gets up, and get into the water quietly, higher up. Their fire will act as a guide to
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us." "We had better start soon, Ralph. It may take us an hour, or even two, to get down to the water; for we must go along like ghosts, so as not to alarm the sentries; and we shall have walls to get over, and all sorts of difficulties." "All right, Percy. I do not see the use of waiting.
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We shall not get any warmer, by stopping here. It's like having a tooth out. One's got to do it, and the sooner it's done, the better. "Now for our bundles." They went downstairs into a cellar--where the light could not be seen from outside--struck a light, and lit a candle. The first thing taken out of the bundle was
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the dummy--a net, rather larger than a man's head, tightly filled with corks; with a cord, a hundred yards in length, attached. Next were two complete suits, made of white calico; with caps, with long flaps of the same material. Next were two large rolls of India rubber webbing, about six inches wide, which they had brought from Tours with
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them. "I can't think that that will be any good, Ralph." "It will, indeed, Percy. The water will, of course, soak through; but what gets in will remain in, and the heat of the body will warm it, a good deal. I can assure you, it will be a great deal warmer than having the icy water flowing past you."
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Both boys now took off their coats and waistcoats, put on a warm flannel jersey over their flannel shirts, and then wound the bandages of India rubber round each other's bodies. They began under the arms; drawing the webbing tight, as they wound it round, so that its natural elasticity caused each turn to press tightly upon the turn above,
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which it overlapped. This bandage was continued down to the lower part of the body. Then they put on the life belts. Over them they put their suits of white calico, white shoes with India rubber soles, the white caps, and swimming gloves. They then put the "dummy" in a pillow case, which they had bought for it at Versailles.
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Before putting on their caps, they fastened the quills with the dispatches in their hair. In a belt, underneath their jackets, each carried a heavy revolver. "This India rubber stuff regularly squeezes me, Ralph." "All the better, Percy. You will feel the benefit of it, when you are in the water, believe me." The boys now knelt down together, and
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asked for protection through the peril which they were about to encounter. A few minutes later they rose, grasped each other's hand; and then--blowing out the light--groped their way upstairs, opened a window which led into the garden, and stepped out. The wind was blowing strongly. Snowflakes were being whisked hither and thither, like spray from a wave. Had it
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not been for the gleam from the snow-covered ground, it would have been impossible to see ten paces, here. As it was, it was intensely dark. "It's lucky that it's downhill, Percy, or we should never find our way to the water's edge. If we keep descending, we must be there, at last." Before starting, the boys went a few
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paces from each other; and were pleased to find that their white costumes suited admirably as, between the driving snow and the white sheet upon the ground, they could not make each other out at more than eight or ten yards, even when they knew exactly where they stood. They now began to descend the hill, very carefully, step by
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step. The snow upon the ground made walking much more easy than it otherwise would have been. Their footsteps--muffled alike by the India-rubber soles, and the snow upon which they walked--were inaudible, even to themselves. They had several walls to climb, and the noiseless India-rubber soles were of good service, here. Several times they could hear the sentries, beating their
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feet upon the ground to warm them; but in no case were they near enough to see them. At last, after an hour and a half--spent in passing the three hundred yards which separated them from the river--they reached, in safety, the wall of the road which runs along by the river. Here the sentries were pacing along at distances
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of thirty or forty yards apart. The white houses, upon the opposite side of the road, could be faintly seen; and the boys moved along until opposite an opening between them, by which they could get through to the river. Looking over the wall, they could watch the sentries and--choosing their time when one had just passed, so that his
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back would be turned towards them--he no sooner disappeared in the darkness than they dropped noiselessly into the road, ran across the street, climbed a low railing, and stood in a garden which reached down to the river. They stood watching, for some time, to assure themselves that no sentry was placed in the garden; but at last they stole
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forwards and stood at the end of the garden, with the river at their feet. The snow--which was at their backs--was falling faster than ever. The river deepened rapidly from the wall; but the water was low enough for anyone to get along on the sloping side--faced with rough stone--between the foot of the wall and the water. The boys
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got over the wall, took the dummy from the bag and, holding one end of the cord, put it quietly into the water; and allowed it to float down, about sixty yards. "Now, Percy," Ralph said, "you get ready to slip into the water, as quietly as possible, the moment you hear a splash. I will leave this bag here,
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so as to know exactly where you have gone in and--as the rope is plenty long enough--you keep hold of it here, at sixty yards from the dummy; and I will fasten the slack end to the stone so that, when I go in, I have only to hold the rope in my hand, to be able to join you.
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I will take this heavy coping stone in my hand; will crawl along on this shelving bank, till I arrive at the dummy; and will then throw the stone in, and run back at full speed, and be in the water a few seconds after you are." "All right, Ralph, I understand. Keep your pistol cocked in your hand, as
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you go." Ralph crept quietly along, under the wall, until he saw the dummy floating at the edge of the water, a few feet below him. He rose on his feet, to throw in the stone; when he heard a deep exclamation behind him and, looking round, he saw a dark figure within two feet of him. Another moment, and
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the sentry would have brought his rifle to his shoulder--for he sprang back, giving a loud shout--but Ralph wheeled round instantaneously, threw up his revolver, and fired at the sentinel's body. He saw him fall; turned round, hurled the heavy stone with a loud splash into the water, and then--crawling low under the wall--ran at full speed back again. As
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he did so, two sentries in the garden over his head fired, in the direction of the splash in the water; and shouts were heard all along the bank. In another instant Ralph grasped the line, and slid down the snowy slopes into the water; entering so quietly that no sound, whatever, betrayed his entry. It was icy cold, and
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almost took away his breath. Twenty strokes, and he joined Percy. "All right, old man, they can't see us now." "You are not hit, are you, Ralph?" Percy gasped. "No, it was my revolver. I had to shoot a sentry, to save my life. It's lucky we have got these life belts on, for I am sure we should never
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get across." "There! There!" was shouted, in German. "I see his head bobbing up and down," and eight or ten rifle shots were fired, from the garden where the sentry had fallen, in the direction of the dummy. The boys swam on desperately, then Ralph said: "You can slip the string now, Percy. The dummy has done its work. It
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must be quite out of sight from the bank. "Do not you feel the benefit of the India rubber?" "Yes," Percy said, "I am warm enough, in the body; but my legs are in agony, from the cold. These gloves are helping us on, though, at a great rate." "Well, there is one blessing," Ralph said, "we can't miss the
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way, now." As he spoke, a heavy fire of musketry opened from the French, upon the other side. Alarmed at the sudden fire on the part of the Germans, they fired at the flashes of their guns and, fresh reinforcements coming up on either side, a heavy exchange of musketry shots took place across the river; partially over the boys'
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heads, but principally a hundred yards lower down the stream, in the direction where the dummy was seen by the Germans. The boys swam with long, steady, noiseless strokes. "We must be halfway across," Ralph said. "I am getting deadly cold, all over, Ralph. I can't sink, of course; but I shall freeze to death, before I reach the opposite
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bank." "No, no, Percy," Ralph said, as cheerily as he could; though he felt, himself, that the intense cold was rapidly overcoming his strength. "Keep up your heart. Strike as hard as you can. The more you exert yourself, the better." In another minute or two, Ralph found he was leaving Percy behind, and slackened his speed. "Goodbye, Ralph. My
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legs are all cramped up, and my arms are numbed. I can't swim another stroke. It is all up with me," he said, faintly. "God bless you. Don't stop with me; you can do no good, and your only chance is to go on." Ralph, however, put one hand upon Percy's life belt, and struck out for shore; but he
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felt that it was hopeless. Frightful pains were shooting through his limbs, and he breathed what he believed to be a last prayer; when a boom like thunder, a few yards off, galvanized him into life again--for he saw the gunboat, which they had seen in the morning, only a few yards distant. She had just fired a gun, loaded
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with grape, in the direction of the Germans who were firing. She was still at anchor, and the stream was drifting them down fast upon her. "Help!" Ralph shouted. "Help! We are drowning, and have dispatches Throw a rope, quick!" "Where are you?" answered a voice. "Here, close to you, just abreast," Ralph shouted. In another instant a rope struck
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his face. He grasped it, twisted it tightly round Percy's body and his own, tied a rough knot with his last strength, and then lost consciousness. When he recovered his senses, his first sensation was that of intense pain--so intense that it extracted a groan from him. "That's right, rub away; and pour some more brandy down his throat," a
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voice said. Then he became conscious that he was being rubbed with hot flannels. He opened his eyes, and saw a gleaming of moving machinery, and the red glare of furnaces. "Where am I?" he asked, at last. "In the engine room of the gunboat Farcey," a voice said. "I am suffering agony," Ralph murmured, between his teeth. "I daresay,"
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the officer who was standing by him answered. "You were pretty near frozen to death. Luckily your life belts kept you from taking in any water, but it was a near squeak. Another three minutes in the water, and the doctor says it would have been all up with you." "Where is my brother?" Ralph asked suddenly; sitting up, with
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a full consciousness of all that had passed. "He is coming round," the officer said. "He was farther gone than you were; and his heart's action was altogether suspended, from the cold. His limbs are twitching now, and the doctor says he will do. "You call him your brother, but I suppose you mean your son?" "Please lend me some
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clothes," Ralph said. "I can stand, now." Some clothes had already been got in readiness, and warmed; and in a couple of minutes Ralph was kneeling by his brother's side. Percy was now coming to, and was suffering agonies similar to those which Ralph himself had experienced, from the recommencement of circulation in his limbs. He looked round, utterly bewildered;
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for he had become insensible before the Farcey's gun had given notice of her proximity. He smiled, however, when his eyes fell on Ralph's face. "It is all right, Percy, thank God," Ralph said. "We are on board the gunboat Farcey and, in ten minutes, we shall be landed in the heart of Paris." In another five minutes, Percy was
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sufficiently recovered to begin to dress. The commander of the Farcey now turned to Ralph. "Your son has had a very narrow shave of it, sir." "Son!" Ralph said, "He is my brother." The officer looked surprised. "How old do you take me to be?" Ralph asked. "Forty-five or fifty," the officer said. "I shall not be seventeen for some
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months," Ralph answered. The officer looked at him with an air of intense astonishment, and there was a burst of laughter from the men standing round. The commandant frowned angrily at them. "Quite so, my dear sir," he said, soothingly. "I was only joking with you. It is evident that you are not yet seventeen." "You think I have lost
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my senses, with the shock," Ralph said, smiling. "I can assure you that that is my age. My beard and whiskers are so firmly fixed on, with cobbler's wax, that I shall have an awful trouble to get them off; and my hair the same. If you feel along here, from one ear to the other, you will feel a
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ridge. That is the cobbler's wax, that sticks all this mass of frizzled hair on. "Did you not notice that both my brother's and my face and hands were much darker than the rest of our skin?" "Yes, the doctor did notice that," the captain said--now beginning to think that Ralph was not insane, after all. Passing his finger where
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Ralph directed him, he felt the ridge of the false hair. "Who are you then, may I ask?" he said. "My brother and myself are named Barclay," Ralph said. "We are lieutenants in the army, and are both decorated for service in the field. We left Tours four days ago, and are bearers of dispatches from Gambetta to General Trochu."
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A cheer broke from all who were standing within hearing; and the boys' hands--for Percy came up at the moment--were warmly shaken by the officers of the boat, one after another. Congratulations of all sorts were heaped upon them, and those around were unable to make enough of them. "No pigeon has come in, for ten days," the commander said.
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"You will indeed be welcome." At this moment, a sailor came down to say that they were passing the Louvre and, in another two minutes, the gunboat lay alongside the wharf. "You do not know, I suppose, where Trochu is to be found?" the commander of the Farcey asked. "No, indeed," Ralph said. "I will go with you, myself," the
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officer said. "If the general has gone to bed, we must knock him up. He won't mind, when he hears the reason." It was but a short distance to walk, but the boys had great difficulty in getting there; for their limbs were stiff and aching, and they felt a burning sensation all over them, as if they had been
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dipped in boiling water. General Trochu had not yet gone to bed and--upon the message being delivered by the orderly, "The commander of the Farcey, with officers bearing dispatches, from Tours,"--he ordered them to be instantly admitted. "These are the Lieutenants Barclay, general," the commander of the Farcey said. "A heavy firing broke out, suddenly, from the water side at
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Lower Meudon. It was answered from our side and--thinking that it might be someone trying to swim across--I fired a round of grape into the Germans, and ordered a sharp lookout to be kept. I had scarcely spoken the words before we were hailed for a rope; and in another minute these officers--both insensible from cold--were pulled on board. Thinking
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they might have dispatches, I at once started up the river; and when they were brought round, by the surgeon, they stated that they were the Lieutenants Barclay, bearers of dispatches from Tours." "Gallantly done, gentlemen! Bravely done!" the general said warmly, shaking both boys by the hand. The burning heat of Percy's hand struck him, at once. "Where are
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your dispatches, gentlemen? You have preserved them, I hope?" Ralph produced the two quills. "They are duplicate, general," he said. "We each carried one, in case any accident might befall one of us." "Thank you," the general said. "I need now detain you no longer. I have work here for all night, and you had better go instantly to bed.
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Your brother is in a high state of fever." He touched a bell, and an officer in waiting came in. "Captain Bar, will you kindly take these gentlemen to a hotel, at once. The horses are, as usual, in the carriage I suppose; and,"--he dropped his voice--"send a message from me to request Doctor Marcey to see them, at once.
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The younger one is in a state of high fever." In another quarter of an hour the boys were in comfortable beds, in rooms adjoining each other. Ralph--who was heavy and stupid, with the effects of the cold--was asleep almost the instant his head touched the pillow. He was roused a short time afterwards by being shaken and, opening his
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eyes, he saw someone leaning over him. "Drink this," the gentleman said, holding a glass to his lips. Ralph mechanically did as he was told; and fell off again into a heavy sleep, from which he did not awake until late the next afternoon. His first impulse was to look at his watch. It had stopped at eleven o'clock, the
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night before--the hour at which he had entered the Seine. Then he rang the bell. "What o'clock is it?" he asked, when the servant entered. "Just struck five, sir." "What, five in the afternoon?" Ralph exclaimed. "Yes, sir." "I have slept," Ralph said, with a laugh. "However, I feel all right again, now. "Is my brother up?" "No, sir," the
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man said. "Percy!" Ralph shouted, "It is five o'clock in the afternoon. Get up." "The other gentleman is not in the next room, sir," the servant said. "Is he not?" Ralph said, puzzled. "I was desperately sleepy last night, certainly; but not too sleepy, I should have thought, to have made a mistake about that. I feel sure he was
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in the next room." "He was, sir," the servant said, "but Doctor Marcey, when he came to see you--just after you got into bed--ordered him to be carried at once into another room, in order that he might not disturb you. He said it was essential that you should have your sleep out, undisturbed." "But why should my brother disturb
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me?" Ralph asked, anxiously. "Is he not well?" "No, sir, he has got fever. He has been calling out, a great deal. He has got two sisters with him, and the doctor has been every hour." By this time Ralph was out of bed. "Here are some clothes, sir," the man said, handing them to him. "The landlord thought you
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would want some at once, when you woke; and ordered three or four suits for you to try." Ralph seized the first that came to hand, and threw them on. "All Paris was talking about your getting through the enemy, last night, sir. There have been hundreds of people here to call." Ralph did not even hear what was said.
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"Now," he said, "take me to him, at once." The servant led Ralph along a passage and stopped at a door, at which he knocked. A Sister of Mercy opened the door. "This is the other gentleman." The sister opened the door for Ralph to enter. "He is quiet now," she said, in a soft, compassionate tone. Ralph went into
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the room. Percy lay in the bed, with his head surrounded with ice. His face was flushed, and his eyes wild. He was moving uneasily about, talking to himself. "It is that schoolmaster who is at the bottom of it," he muttered. "He was a traitor, and I thought we hung him, but I suppose we didn't. Perhaps he got
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down, after we had gone off. If not, how could he have betrayed us again? "I have heard of liquid fire, but that was liquid ice. It got into my veins, somehow, instead of blood. I tell you, Ralph, it's no good. I can't stand it any longer; but I will pay off that schoolmaster, first. Let me get at
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him," and he made an effort to rise. The sister tried to restrain him, but so violent were his efforts to rise that Ralph--who was looking on, with tears streaming down his cheeks--was obliged to assist to hold him down. When he became quiet, the sister forced some medicine between his lips--Ralph holding up his head. "Shall I speak to
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him?" Ralph asked. "He may know my voice." "Better not, sir," the nurse said, "it would probably only set him off again." "What does the doctor say about him?" Ralph asked. "He says it is brain fever," the nurse said. "He only said it might be some days, before the crisis came; and that he could not give any decided
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opinion, at present. But he seemed to have hope." "Thank God, at least, for that!" Ralph said, earnestly. Percy, turning his head round again, caught sight of Ralph. "Ah, there is that schoolmaster again! If no one else will hang him, I will do it, myself. Let me get at him!" And he again made desperate efforts to get out
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of bed. "You had better go, sir," one of the sisters said, urgently. "The sight of you makes him worse, and you can do him no good." Seeing that it was so, Ralph reluctantly left the room; his only comfort being that Percy was as carefully tended, and looked after, as it was possible for him to be. He had
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scarcely returned to his room, when an officer was shown in. "I daresay you hardly remember me," he said. "I came here with you, last night." "I am very glad to see you again, and to thank you for the trouble you took," Ralph said. "I was too sleepy to do so, last night." "Not at all," the officer answered.
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"However, I am here with a message from the general, now. He would have asked you to dine with him but, hearing of the state of your brother, he could not ask you to leave him for so long a time; but he would be glad if you would come to see him, for an hour, this evening. He wishes
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to know how you managed to pass through the German lines; and he also desires to be informed, as far as you can give such information, of the number and position of the enemy. "What surprises us all, more than anything, is that the dispatches are dated the morning of the thirteenth instant; and you were picked up, by the
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Farcey, upon the evening of the sixteenth. It seems incredible that you should have done the distance, and managed to get through the German lines, in the time. Only one other messenger has got through; and his dispatches were more than ten days old, when they reached us, and had been forestalled by some pigeons. Your news is six days
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later than any we have received." "We slept, on the night of the thirteenth, at Montargis," Ralph said; "on the fourteenth at Melun, on the fifteenth at Versailles; and last night--as you know--here." "I must not get the information before the general," the officer said, with a laugh. "It is half-past six, now. The general dines at seven. At what
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time will you be with him? Shall we say nine?" "I will be there at nine," Ralph said, "but the general will, I hope, excuse my coming either in uniform, or full dress of any kind. I have, of course, nothing with me." "General Trochu will of course understand that," the officer said. "Goodbye." Ralph now went back to Percy's
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room. The doctor had just come. He was accompanied by another medical man. Ralph stood by, in silent attention, while the doctor felt Percy's pulse, and asked a few questions of the nurse. They then gave some orders, and said that fresh medicine should be sent in, in a quarter of an hour; and that they would come in again,
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