The old bargeman Colon rose and said:
"Hullin, we are all with you; we have begun to fight all together, and we shall finish all together."
"Yes, yes!" cried out all the others.
"You have all decided, then? Very well! listen to me. Jerôme's brother will take the command."
"My brother is dead," interrupted Jerôme; "he is lying on the side of the Grosmann."
There was a moment's silence; then, in a firm voice, Hullin continued:
"Colon, you will take the command of all those who are left, with the exception of the men who formed the escort of Catherine Lefévre, and whom I shall retain with me. You will go and rejoin Piorette in the valley of the Blanru by the way of the Two Rivers."
"And the ammunition?" inquired Marc Divès.
"I have brought back my waggon," said Jerôme; "Colon can make use of it."
"Let the sleigh be got ready as well," exclaimed Catherine; "when the Cossacks come they will plunder everything. We must not let our people go away empty-handed; let them take away the oxen, the cows, and the goats; let them carry off everything; it is so much lost for the enemy."