They had found him there, bleeding, on the straw.
When he had finished his tale, he suddenly lifted up his head and looked proudly at the Prussian officers.
The colonel, who was gnawing at his mustache, asked:
“You have nothing else to say?”
“Nothing more; I have finished my task; I killed sixteen, not one more or less.”
“Do you know that you are going to die?”
“I haven't asked for mercy.”
“Have you been a soldier?”
“Yes, I served my time. And then, you had killed my father, who was a soldier of the first Emperor. And last month you killed my youngest son, Francois, near Evreux. I owed you one for that; I paid. We are quits.”
The officers were looking at each other.