"Kamerad! Kamerad!"
And one of them, flinging down his arms, leapt from the motor and came running up to Paul:
"An Alsatian, sergeant, an Alsatian from Strasburg! Ah, sergeant, many's the day that I've been waiting for this moment!"
While his men were taking the prisoners to the village, Paul hurriedly questioned the Alsatian:
"Where has the car come from?"
"Corvigny."
"Any of your people there?"
"Very few. A rearguard of two hundred and fifty Badeners at the most."
"And in the forts?"
"About the same number. They didn't think it necessary to mend the turrets and now they've been taken unprepared. They're hesitating whether to try and make a stand or to fall back on the frontier; and that's why we were sent to reconnoiter."