CHAPTER XVII
AT TILSIT
It was while the children were in charge of Marianne that something very important happened at the town of Tilsit, on the river Niemen.
On that twenty-fifth day of June, in the dreadful year of 1807, all the people of the place were gathered on the river banks in high excitement. Actually their faces looked joyful, a thing which had not happened since Napoleon had entered Prussia.
"Now we shall have peace. Congratulations!" they exclaimed one to the other, gazing at a raft gay with flags, anchored midway between the shores of the river.
"They have bought every bright rag in Tilsit," said a fat, jolly-faced merchant, nodding in congratulation.
"Ach ja," returned a friend, "God be praised! It is many a day since there has been selling in Prussia."
Then, "Look! look! Napoleon! Napoleon!" as a man, heavy now to fatness, stepped into a boat most gorgeously decorated.
"The monster! the upstart!" muttered the people. But that was of no concern to the conqueror, whose eyes wandered restlessly from shore to shore and whose mouth pressed its lips to cruel firmness. Behind him followed marshals and generals, gay in scarlet, gold, and white, and blue.
A boat decorated with the colours of France awaited their coming.