"Halt!" he commanded, in a thundering tone. "Turn about, wretches, turn about! You are here at a post of honor. Form again, my men! Gunners, to your places! Long life to France!"
Just then a new shell burst at the feet of the Colonel and of Maurice, and they both fell to the ground.
Amedee, staggering with emotion and a heart bursting with grief and fear, entered the hospital behind the two litters.
"Put them in the dining-room," said one of the brothers. "There is nobody there. The doctor will come immediately."
The young man with the bloody apron came in at once, and after a look at the wounded man he gave a despairing shake of the head, and, shrugging his shoulders, said:
"There is nothing to be done they will not last long."
In fact, the Colonel was dying. They had thrown an old woollen covering over him through which the hemorrhage showed itself by large stains of blood which were constantly increasing and penetrating the cloth. The wounded man seemed to be coming out of his faint; he half opened his eyes, and his lips moved.
The doctor, who had just come in, came up to the litter upon which the old officer was lying and leaned over him.
"Did you wish to say anything?" he asked.
The old Colonel, without moving his head, turned his sad gaze upon the surgeon, oh! so sad, and in. a voice scarcely to be heard he murmured: