This time she understood him, and pointed towards the forests with her shrivelled hand: 'Over there, over there!'
'Eh? What do you say? Those houses at the end of the fields?'
'Oh, much farther than that, much farther away! Over yonder, right over yonder!'
The general was stifling with rage. ''Pon my word, this wretched place is disgusting! A man can never tell where he is! Belgium was quite close by, and we were afraid of tumbling into it unawares, and now that we want to get there, it's gone to the devil! No, no, this is altogether too much, they can take me, and do what they like with me for all I care. I'm off to bed.' And, urging on his horse, leaping in the saddle like a wine-skin inflated by a blast of anger, he galloped off in the direction of Sedan.
The road turned, and they descended into the Fond de Givonne,[32] a suburb of the town, shut in by hills, where the road in climbing towards the woods was skirted by little houses and gardens. Such a stream of fugitives now crowded it that Lieutenant Rochas soon found himself blockaded with Pache, Lapoulle, and Gaude, under the walls of a tavern, at the corner of a crossway. Jean and Maurice had some trouble in joining them. And greatly were they surprised on hearing a drunkard's husky voice suddenly calling to them: 'Hallo! here's a meeting! Eh, you fellows! What a meeting to be sure!'
On looking round they recognised Chouteau, who was leaning out of one of the ground-floor windows of the tavern. He was very drunk, and between a couple of hiccoughs he continued: 'Don't stand on ceremony if you are thirsty. There's still a drop left for friends.' And then, waving his hand over his shoulder, he called some one from the other end of the room: 'Make haste, you lazybones. Give these gentlemen something to drink.'
Thereupon Loubet made his appearance, grinning, and waving a bottle of wine in either hand. He was less intoxicated than his comrade, and, with the nasal twang of the 'coco'[33] vendors perambulating the streets on a public holiday, he cried, like the Parisian wag he was: 'Nice and cool! nice and cool! who'll have a drink!'
He and Chouteau had not been seen by their comrades since they had gone off under the pretence of carrying Sergeant Sapin to the ambulance. They had no doubt wandered and lounged about, carefully avoiding the spots where the shells were falling, till they had finally stranded in that tavern and helped to pillage it. Lieutenant Rochas was quite indignant: 'Wait a bit, you bandits!' he shouted, 'I'll teach you to guzzle while we others are risking our skins!'
Chouteau, however, would have none of his reprimand. 'Just remember, you old lunatic,' said he, 'that there are no lieutenants left now; we are all free men! Haven't the Prussians licked you enough—do you want another dose, eh?'