These are the moments in which to judge men's souls. The commandant,
better informed of the danger than his two officers, took pride in
showing his tranquillity. With his eyes moving from Marche-a-Terre to
the road and thence to the woods he stood expecting, not without
dread, a general volley from the Chouans, whom he believed to be
hidden like brigands all around him; but his face remained impassible.
Knowing that the eyes of the soldiers were turned upon him, he
wrinkled his brown cheeks pitted with the small-pox, screwed his upper
lip, and winked his right eye, a grimace always taken for a smile by
his men; then he tapped Gerard on the shoulder and said: "Now that
things are quiet tell me what you wanted to say just now."
"I wanted to ask what this new crisis means, commandant?" was the
reply.
"It is not new," said Hulot. "All Europe is against us, and this time
she has got the whip hand. While those Directors are fighting together
like horses in a stable without any oats, and letting the government
go to bits, the armies are left without supplies or reinforcements. We
are getting the worst of it in Italy; we've evacuated Mantua after a
series of disasters on the Trebia, and Joubert has just lost a battle
at Novi. I only hope Massena may be able to hold the Swiss passes
against Suwarow. We're done for on the Rhine.
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