Toni got back to the barracks, he knew not how, stumbling along through the rain and darkness, and throwing himself on his rough bed lay awake and agonized¹ the whole night through until the bugle² call next morning. He could not eat that whole day nor sleep the next night and pined like a woman. During that day he saw Nicolas and Pierre a dozen times at least, and they always flashed him a mocking glance which he understood perfectly³ well and which gave him a feeling as if a red-hot iron hand were clutching his heart, for Toni was of an imaginative nature.  
He did not see Denise that day, and spent another sleepless⁴ and horror-stricken night. The next morning it occurred to him, as a means of escaping Denise’s tender and searching eyes, as well as the hateful company of Pierre and Nicolas, that he might possibly sham⁵ illness and be sent to the hospital. He did not need to sham, however—he was in a high fever and the surgeon swore at him [Pg 273]for not reporting before, so he found a temporary haven⁶ of refuge in the hospital. There he spent several days. The doctor, who was a clever young fellow, was a good deal puzzled by the case. He could not make out whether Toni was malingering or not. He evidently wished to be considered ill—at the same time there were indications about him of his being really ill. If he had not had the reputation of being an admirable soldier, the doctor would have suspected Toni had done something wrong and was in hiding, as it were, in the hospital.
 
The sergeant⁷ called to see him and was rather rough with him considering that nothing was the matter with Toni.
 
“Do you think I would lie here and take all these nasty messes if there were nothing the matter with me?” cried poor Toni.
 
There was indeed something very serious the matter with him, but it was a kind of suffering which not all the doctor’s instruments and medicines could reach. Denise, with her aunt, called twice to see him, but both times Toni feigned⁸ to be asleep as soon as he distinguished⁹ their voices, and it was against the rules to disturb him.
 
A week passed, on the second morning of which [Pg 274]he found a long, sharp knife under his pillow, and at the end of that time the doctor turned Toni out of the hospital, much against the latter’s will. He had then to resume his duties, of course, and affect cheerfulness as well as he could. He succeeded rather better in the last respect than might have been expected, and Denise only saw in him the weakness and lassitude which she thought were due to his recent illness.
 
On the day fortnight after Paul Verney’s wedding, he returned with his bride—the honeymoon¹⁰ of a sublieutenant is inevitably¹² brief. The very next day the practice march was to begin and Toni did not see Paul Verney until the next morning when the troop was forming in the barracks square.
 
The regiment¹³ marched out with colors flying to do a practice march of two days’ duration. Paul was riding at the head of his troop. He was a fine horseman and had a good military air and everything about him was spick and span as becomes an officer.
 
Toni, who was at the end of the file, got a good look at Paul as he cantered along by the side of the troopers and a look of affectionate intelligence flashed between the two young men. Toni saw that [Pg 275]Paul was truly happy—he was in fact always happy when performing his military duties, because he was born a soldier, apt at obedience¹⁴ and ready at command. In the same file with Toni rode Nicolas and Pierre.
 
They passed out of the town on the dusty highroad, their helmets gleaming in the sun and the steady tramp of their horses’ hoofs¹⁵ sounding like thunder on the highroad and raising a great white dust like a pillar of cloud by day. Crowds of people ran out to see them, and cheered them as they passed. The day was bright and warm, but not hot enough to distress¹⁶ either the men or the horses. They kept on steadily¹⁷ until noon, when there was an hour of rest and refreshment¹⁸. Again they took up the line of march. A cool breeze was blowing and it was as pleasant a June day as one could wish for marching. Towards three o’clock, as they were passing the outskirts¹⁹ of a wood, Toni put his hand to his head and reeled in his saddle. His horse kept on steadily in the ranks. It was very well simulated and Paul rode up and caught Toni by the arm.
 
“You had better drop out,” he said, “and rest a while by the roadside and rejoin when you feel bet[Pg 276]ter.” Toni touched his cap and said, “Thank you, sir,” and slipping out of his saddle, led his horse to a grassy²⁰ place under a tree, where he sat down and mopped his face. He looked quite pale and weak, but the surgeon, when he rode up, gave him a sharp look, made him drink some wine and water out of his canteen, and said: “You will be all right in ten minutes,” and rode on.
 
Ten minutes passed and twenty and thirty. The regiment was out of sight. Toni’s troop was a part of the rear guard. The dull echo of thousands of hoofs still resounded²¹ afar off, but all else was quiet in that shaded woody spot, with farm-houses basking²² in the sun, the highroad gleaming whitely, and the railway beyond making two streaks²³ of steel-blue light in the distance. Toni, with his helmet off, and his horse browsing²⁴ quietly near him, sat on the ground under the shade with the glaring midday light around him and waited for Paul Verney, who he knew would return. No lieutenant¹¹ in the regiment looked so closely after his men as he. Presently Toni heard the galloping²⁵ of a horse and the rattling²⁶ of a saber in its scabbard, and there was Paul riding up. He swung himself off his horse and came up to Toni and said:
 
[Pg 277]
 
“I came back to see what was the matter with you. I thought you would have rejoined by this time.”
 
Toni made no reply, but raised his black eyes to Paul’s blue ones and they were so full of misery²⁷ that Paul involuntarily put his hand on Toni’s shoulder and asked, “What is it?”
 
Toni tried to speak, but the words would not come. Paul, putting his hand in his breast, drew out a small flask²⁸ of brandy and poured the best part of it down Toni’s throat.
 
“Now,” he said, “tell me what it is.”
 
Toni’s vocabulary was not extensive and he hunted around in his mind for language to express the horror of what he was suffering, but he could only find the simplest words.
 
“Nicolas and Pierre—,” he said, “those scoundrels—have ordered me to kill you. They say if I don’t they will kill me and kill you afterward²⁹ themselves.”
 
There was silence for a minute or two after this.
 
Paul knew very well that Toni was neither drunk nor crazy, and he grasped at once all that Toni meant. His face grew pale and his blond mustache twitched³⁰ a little.
 
[Pg 278]
 
“So they want to put me out of the way—what for?”
 
“Because they think you are responsible for their being in trouble so much. They are desperate men, Paul.” Toni used Paul’s name unconsciously, but he was thinking then ............