“Grenadier, turn over those sleepers, and take their shawls and linen, to eke out.”

“Tiens! that’s one dead,” said the grenadier, stripping the first man he came to. “Bless me! what a joke, they are all dead!”

“All?”

“Yes, all; seems as if horse-meat must be indigestible if eaten with snow.”

The words made Philippe tremble. The cold was increasing.

“My God! to lose the woman I have saved a dozen times!”

The major shook the countess.

“Stephanie! Stephanie!”

The young woman opened her eyes.

“Madame! we are saved.”