"Ciel! I thought I was done for," he muttered.
He rose from the prostrate position into which he had flung himself, and looked around with eyes that were still dazed by the explosion.
"Simon—Simon Mansart! Are you still alive?" he called.
A loud burst of derisive laughter came from one of the lower windows of the house.
"Go! The Prussians are waiting for you!" cried Mansart.
La Hire shrugged his shoulders, then stepped briskly from the garden to where an orderly waited with his horse.
And as he rode away he felt his love swell and rise in his heart, and a mad longing to see Rachel once more gripped him; to feel on his lips the soft touch of her lips, and round his neck the clinging fingers once clasped there. And this wave of passion that ran through his veins seemed to unstring his nerves, weaken his purpose, and cast a mist of love over his courage.
He found Vétérin waiting impatiently for his appearance; and he led his men south*-ward, tempting the Prussians and drawing them from the village.
II.
Weeks passed. The battles with the Germans, that were scarring the land and so many hearts, only threatened Orgemont.