now there was not a man in the room who had not heard of the order to return the eagles to paris, where they were to be broken up and melted down, not a man in the army for that matter. nor was there a man who had not heard some account of the resistance of other regiments to the order, which had been nevertheless enforced wherever possible, although in cases not a few eagles had been hidden or disappeared mysteriously and had not been given up. there was scarcely a man in the regiment—unless some royalist officer or new recruit—who had not been glad that their own eagle had been lost honorably in battle and buried, as they believed, in the river. it was more fitting that it should meet that end than be turned back to paris to be broken up, melted down and cast into metal for ignoble use—and any other use would be ignoble in the estimation of the regiment.
"i would rather throw it into the isère," growled old grenier, "than send it back."
"and i, and i, and i," came from different voices.
"perhaps," said lestoype, speaking slowly and with deep meaning, for he realized that his words were in the highest degree treasonable, "if we can preserve it by some means we may see it once again at the head of the regiment when——" he stopped. the silence was positively ghastly. he looked about him. the men thrilled to his glance. "——'when the violets bloom again,'" he said, using the mystic poetic phrase which had become so widely current.
"god speed the day!" burst out some deep voiced veteran.
"amen, amen!"
"vive l'empereur!"
"let us save the eagle!"
the whole room was in tumult of nervous cries.
"vive le brave marteau!" finally said drehon when he could get a hearing. "he has given us back our honor, our life."
the emotions of the moment were too much. reckless of what might happen, the room instantly rang with loud acclaim in response to this appeal. the soldiers sprang to their feet, moved by irresistible emotion. swords were drawn again.
the officers and men clustered around lestoype and marteau. the eagle was lifted high, blades were upheaved threateningly again. dangers were forgotten. intoxicated with enthusiasm they gave free course to their emotions.
"vive l'empereur!" resounded through the hall, not whispered but shouted, not shouted but roared!
in their mad frenzy of excitement they did not, any of them, notice that the door into the hall had been thrown open and that a young officer of the regiment stood there, his face pale with amazement, his mouth open, staring. he could not take in the whole purport of the scene but he saw the eagle, he heard the cries, the word "vive" came to him out of the tumult, coupled with the name of marteau and the emperor.
"gentlemen!" he finally shouted, raising his voice to its highest pitch and as the sound penetrated to the tumultuous mass the noise died away almost as suddenly as it had arisen.
men faced about and stared toward the entrance. there stood young st. laurent, one of the royalist officers, newly appointed to the regiment, who had been made aide to the governor and commander.
"major lestoype," said the youth with great firmness, having recovered his presence of mind and realizing instantly the full purport and menace of the situation, "an order from the governor requests your presence at once. i was sent to deliver it. the soldiers at the door strove vainly to stop me but i forced my way past them. i am an unwelcome guest, i perceive, being a loyal servant of the king, but i am here. what is the meaning of this gathering, the worship of this discarded emblem, these treasonable cries?"
"am i, a veteran of the army of italy, to be catechised and questioned by a boy?" growled lestoype in mingled rage and astonishment.
"you forget yourself, monsieur. i regret to fail in any military duty or in respect to my seniors, but in this i represent the marquis d'aumenier, the governor, aye, even the king, my master. whence came this eagle?"
there was a dead silence.
"i brought it, monsieur, to my old comrades, to my old regiment," coolly said marteau, stepping forward.
"traitor!" exclaimed st. laurent, confronting him boldly.
"not so, for i have taken no oath to king louis."
"ah, you still wear the insignia of the corsican, i see," continued the young aide, looking more closely. "but how about these gentlemen?"
again the question was met by silence.
"messieurs," said st. laurent, "you are old soldiers of the former emperor. i see. i understand. you love him as i and mine the king. it is as much as my life is worth, as much as my honor, to condone it. yet i would not be a tale-bearer, but this cannot pass unless——"
"shall i cut him down where he stands, mon commandant?" growled the old port-aigle, presenting his weapon.
"and add murder to treason!" exclaimed st. laurent, his face flushing a little but not giving back an inch before the threatening approach of the veteran.
there was good stuff in him, evidently, and even those who foresaw terrible consequences to themselves in his unexpected presence could not but admire him. they were even proud that he was a frenchman, even though he served the king they hated.
"by no means," said lestoype, motioning the color-bearer back. "you shall go as freely as you came."
"and if you do as i suggest i shall go and forget all i have seen, messieurs."
"impossible!"
"upon my honor i shall do it but on one condition."
"ah! and that is?"
"that you give me the eagle."
"give you the eagle!" exclaimed old captain grenier.
"the eagle for which our brave comrades died," said drehon.
"the eagle which has been carried in triumph in every capital in europe!" added suraif.
the whole room was filled with cries again.
"never! never!"
the whole mass surged forward, including marteau.
"was it to give it up to any servant of king louis that i brought it back?" the latter shouted threateningly.
"gentlemen," said the young aide so soon as he could make himself heard in the tumult, "the choice is yours, not mine. i am a soldier of the king, aide-de-camp to the governor of this place, an officer under the marquis d'aumenier. you have your ideas of duty, i have mine. i have already stretched my conscience to the limit in offering to be silent about this under any conditions. i am doing wrong in concealing it but i do not wish to doom so many brave men to disgrace, to death. you, monsieur"—he pointed toward marteau—"refused a commission in this regiment. you wear the insignia of bonaparte. you have no place here. withdraw. your arrival has disturbed the orderly course of events. these gentlemen were doing their duty contentedly——"
"no, by god, never," roared out a veteran. "contentedly! we will never be content until——"
"until what, monsieur?"
"until the violets bloom again," came the answer, accompanied by a burst of sardonic laughter.
"your interest in the flowers of spring does not concern me, gentlemen," returned the young aide, affecting not to understand, and perhaps he did not. "if you will give me the eagle——"
"and what will you do with it if we should do so?"
"i will be silent as to this."
"and how will you explain your possession of it?"
"i will say that i got it from monsieur marteau, who has gone."
"and what will you do with it?"
"that shall be as the marquis d'aumenier directs."
"and he?"
"i think he will undoubtedly obey the orders of the minister of war and send it to paris to be broken up."
"gentlemen," said major lestoype, endeavoring to quiet and repress the growls of antagonism that arose on every hand, "you hear the proposition of monsieur st. laurent. seeing his duty as he does, i am forced to admit," continued the veteran with great magnanimity, "that it does credit to his heart. what shall we do?"
"purchase our freedom, purchase our rank, purchase our lives by giving up our eagle!" said old captain grenier. "never!"
"i vote no to that proposition," said drehon.
"and i, and i, and i," acclaimed the soldiers.
"you hear, monsieur st. laurent?" said the major. "these gentlemen have signified their will unmistakably."
"i hear," said the young aide. "major lestoype, forgive me if i have failed in respect or soldierly deference to my superior officer, but i, too, have my duty to perform. i warn you all that when i pass from this room i shall go directly to the marquis d'aumenier and report what i have seen."
"when he passes," cried some of the soldiers of lower rank ominously, emphasizing the adverb and rudely thrusting themselves between st. laurent and the door.
"pardon me, gentlemen," said the young aide quite coolly. "it seems that i spoke unadvisedly in one particular."
"you retract?" said a voice.
"never. i should have said 'if i pass.'"
swords were still out, hands were clenched, arms were raised.
"say the word and he dies where he stands," cried one.
"gentlemen," said lestoype sternly, "back, all of you. free passage for monsieur st. laurent. back, i say. let him go unharmed, as he came."
"my orders were to request your presence before the governor of the town immediately," said the aide.
"i attend him at once, young gentleman," returned the old soldier, seizing his cloak and covering his head with his chapeau. "gentlemen," he added, turning to the rest, "i leave the eagle in your hands. before he departs let me say that monsieur st. laurent has borne himself like a brave man, a gallant officer, and a true gentleman. monsieur, you will not take amiss this heartfelt tribute from so old a soldier as i."
"i thank you, sir, and you, gentlemen," said the young aide, surveying the men, their sudden temper abated, now looking at him with admiration, some of them with hands raised in salute. "the duty you have imposed upon me by your choice is the most painful i shall ever be called upon to perform."
"this way, monsieur st. laurent," said old lestoype, stepping through the door with his head high, beckoning the young aide to follow him.
the door had scarcely closed behind the two when the wild confusion broke out again.
"what shall be done now?" cried captain grenier, the senior officer present, as soon as he could be heard.
"messieurs," said marteau, striving to gain the attention of all, "let me speak a moment. i have a plan. be silent, i beg of you."
"we will hear marteau."
"what have you to suggest?"
"speak!"
"be quick."
"this. i will take the eagle, i, who brought it."
"you will throw it into the isère?"
"no. i know this town like a book. the regiment was once stationed here for a few months. i had time on my hands. i explored many of the ancient buildings. i will—— but ask me nothing. trust the eagle to me. i have periled my life for it as have you all. trust it to me. it shall come to no dishonor in my hands. say to the governor that i came here, that i brought the eagle, that i was asked to surrender it, that i refused, that i took it away, that you know not where i concealed it, nor whither i am gone. let monsieur st. laurent make his report. you can simply tell the truth. nothing will be done."
"it is well thought on," said captain grenier.
"the danger is to you," said another.
"what of that? i have looked danger in the face often since i have been in the army, like all the rest of you."
"i like not to shift the responsibility upon this young man," said the old port-aigle dubiously. "he is saving our lives at the risk of his own if they should find him—which is likely."
"messieurs," said marteau quickly, "i am not preserving your lives for yourselves."
"why, then?" asked an officer.
"that you may be ready," said the young man, throwing his cloak about his shoulders, seizing the eagle with his hands, "when the violets bloom again."
as they stared at him he saluted, turned on his heel, opened the door and went out.
