My cry of pain was heard by a man on my right, who called out to me to go to him, he had been waiting for so long. I was surprised, and very glad to find a human being when I thought I was quite alone, and I went in the direction of the voice. The nearer I got to it, the better I seemed to recognise it, and at last I cried:
'Is it you, Béloque?'[27]
'Yes,' he called back.
He was as much surprised as I at our meeting at this time of night, in such a desolate spot, and knowing no more than I did where we were. He had at first taken me for a corporal who had gone to get men on extra duty to help carry the sick who had been left at the gates. They had been got so far, but then it had been necessary to send for more help.
I told him how I had been lost, and of my adventure in the cellar, but I dared not say anything of the music I had heard, fearing he should say I was out of my mind. He begged me to stay with him, and I was glad to do so. Then he asked me why I had cried out, and I told him of my fall on to the dragoon, and how my face had touched his.
'Were you very frightened, poor fellow?'
'No,' I said; 'but I hurt myself horribly.'
'It was lucky for you,' he said, 'that you were so badly hurt as to cry out, as you might have passed on and never found me.'
We stamped backwards and forwards to keep ourselves warm while we waited for the men who were to carry away the sick.