The Complete Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant: Ten Volumes in One (Classic Reprint) Paperback -

For many days now the fag end of the army had been straggling through the town. They were not troops, but a disbanded horde. The beards of the men were long and filthy, their uniforms in tatters, and they advanced at an easy pace without flag or regiment. All seemed worn-out and back-broken, inca pable of a thought or a resolution, marching by habit solely, and falling from fatigue as soon as they stopped. In short, they were a mobilized, pacific peo ple, bending under the weight of the gun; some little squads or. The alert, easy to take alarm and prompt in enthusiasm, ready to attack or to flee; and in the midst of them, some red breeches, the remains of a division broken up in a great battle; son e somber artillery men in line with these varied kinds of foot soldiers; and, sometimes the brilliant helmet of a dragoon on foot who fol lowed with difficulty the shortest march of the lines.

Some legions of free-shooters, under the heroic names of Avengers of the Defeat, Citizens of the Tomb, Par takers of Death, passed in their turn with the air of bandits.

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