"No; what is it?"
"Well, the Paris newspapers say that the Emperor is about to declare war upon the King of Prussia."
I could not believe it, because the wood-merchant Schatner, who had returned a few days before from Sarrebrück, had told me that the country thereabouts was swarming with troops, cavalry, infantry, artillery, and that even the citizens had their knapsacks, their guns, and their complete outfits, ticketed and numbered, all arranged in good order on shelves in large barracks, and that at the first sign of the hauptmann these people would have nothing to do but to dress themselves, receive cartridges, get into a railway car, and fall upon our backs en masse. As for us, we had nothing at all, either in our towns or our villages, so simple good sense made me think that they would not declare war on these Germans before having put us in a condition to defend ourselves.
So I shrugged my shoulders when the Jew told me such an absurd thing, and I said:
"Do you take the Emperor for a fool?"
But he went off, dragging his calf by the rope, and saying:
"Wait a bit, brigadier; you will see—this won't last long."
All that he could say on that score came to the same thing, and when Jean Merlin came that evening, as usual, it never occurred to me to tell him about it.
Unfortunately, eight or ten days later, the thing was certain; they were calling in all soldiers away on leave of absence. It was even stated that the Bavarians had cut the telegraph wires in Alsace—that innumerable troops were passing Saverne, and that others were encamped at Niederbronn.
XI