“Ah, my friends,” he exclaimed, with a burst of laughter, “we are at his majesty William’s; there is a reception on, and it’s chic—I can tell you that!...” With this he smacked his tongue twice. Villaret reminded him that we were the guests of a German, and that it was preferable to be quiet.
“That’s enough, that’s enough!” he replied, lighting a cigarette.
A frightful uproar of oaths and shouts now took the place of the deafening sound of the orchestra, and the incorrigible Southerner half opened the door.
I could see the officer giving orders to two subofficers who, in their turn, separated the groups, seizing the stoker, the engine driver, and the other men belonging to the train, so roughly that I was sorry for them. They were kicked in the back, they received blows with the flat of the sword on the shoulder, and a blow with the butt end of a gun knocked the guard of the train down. He was the ugliest brute, though, that I have ever seen. All these people were sobered in a few seconds, and went back toward our carriage, with a hangdog look and a threatening mien.
We followed them, but I did not feel any too satisfied as to what might happen to us on the way with this queer lot. The officer evidently had a similar idea, for he ordered one of the subofficers to accompany us as far as Amiens. This subofficer got into our carriage and we set off again. We arrived at Amiens at six in the morning. Daylight had not yet succeeded in piercing through the night clouds. A fine rain was falling, which was hardened by the cold. There was no carriage to be had and not even a porter. I wanted to go to the Hotel du Cheval-Blanc, but a man who happened to be there said to me:
“It’s no use, my little young lady, there’s no way of putting up even a lath like you. Go to the house over there with a balcony; they can put some people up.”
With these words he turned his back on me. Villaret had gone off without saying a word. M. Gerson and his grandson had been stowed away silently in a covered country cart, hermetically closed. A stout, ruddy, thick-set matronly woman was waiting for them, but the coachman looked as though he belonged to nice people. General Pelissier’s son, who had not uttered a word since we had left Gonesse, had disappeared like a ball from the hands of a conjurer.
Théodore Joussiau politely offered to accompany us, and I was so weary that I accepted his offer. He picked up our bag, and began to walk at full speed, so that we had difficulty in keeping up with him. He was so breathless with the walk that he could not talk, which was a great relief to me.
Finally, we arrived at the house, and entered, but my horror was great on seeing that the hall of the hotel had been transformed into a dormitory. We could scarcely walk between the mattresses laid down on the ground, and the grumbling of the people was by no means promising.
When once we were in the office, a young girl in mourning told us that there was not a corner vacant. I sank down on a chair, and Mlle. Soubise leaned against the wall, with her arms hanging down, looking most dejected.