"That is all," answered his colonel, "except that had I not made this detour I should have been here twenty-four hours earlier, and that as I got within the Prussian lines by mistake and did not go as a spy, I can give you no information which you have not already obtained."
"If you had arrived twenty-four hours later you would have missed the grandest opportunity of your life; I intend to give you, Colonel Tournay, the command of a brigade in the approaching battle."
"A brigade?" echoed Tournay in surprise.
"You shall atone for your breach of discipline by bearing great responsibility in the attack. I intend your brigade to be where the fight is hottest, and if there is anything left of it after the engagement, and of you, colonel, you shall continue to command it and I will recommend you for promotion."
Tournay grasped his chief by the hand.
"You may be sure, General Hoche, that I shall do my utmost to deserve the honor you have done me."
"I was persuaded of that before I determined to give you the command," replied Hoche; "now go forward and join your regiment. By midnight I shall be at Wissembourg and shall have one last word with all of my generals. I do not believe in protracted councils of war."
That evening Colonel Tournay was encamped before the field of Wissembourg. He sat in his tent waiting for the summons that should bring him to General Hoche's council board.
An orderly entered with the word that a commission of four men from the Committee of Public Safety at Paris wished to speak to him.
Tournay started from the reverie into which he had fallen. His thoughts had been dwelling upon the events of the past week, and the announcement struck a discordant note in his meditation. "Show them in," he replied briefly.