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As I was trying to stop my mare, who showed an immoderate desire to put herself out of danger, I saw both horse and rider struggling for a moment on the ground, forming a confused mixture of hoofs in the air and waving arms. Then "Ramier" got up and set off alone, neighing sadly, and with a limping trot that did not look very promising.
I suppose they continued their journey, as I did not see any when there in June; I have not seen any in Sark or either of the other small Islands. Professor Ansted includes the Sand Martin in his list, and marks it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. WOOD PIGEON. Columba palumbus, Linnaeus. French, "Colombe ramier."
I dismounted and threw the reins to Lemaître: "Don't grieve, my good fellow; it is a fine end for your 'Ramier. He might, like so many others, have died worn out with work or suffering under some hedgerow. He has a soldier's death. All we can do is to cut short his sufferings and send him quickly to rejoin his many good comrades in the paradise of noble animals.
I then rode slowly to the corner of the wood, where Madelaine and Lemaître were posted, whilst Wattrelot went off at a trot across the stubble. But a sad sight was awaiting me. Lemaître was standing in great grief over poor "Ramier," lying inert on the ground and struggling feebly with death. His eyes were already dull and his legs convulsed. Every now and then he shuddered violently.
Lemaître came in to the shelter in the valley as soon as I did; and almost at the same time Finet, the sapper, brought in his old road-companion "Ramier," which he had been able to catch. It was painful to see the poor animal; his lameness had already become more marked. He could only get along with great difficulty, and his eyes showed he was in pain.
It was hard to put an end to him; but since he was done for.... I put the muzzle of my revolver into his ear. I did not wish him to feel the cold metal; but his whole body shuddered, and his eye, lighting up for a moment, seemed to reproach me. Paff! A short, sharp report, and "Ramier" quivered for a moment.
I remember only the first two lines.... It had reference to a comparison between the Russians and the French: 'L'aigle se plait aux regions austeres Ou le ramier ne saurait habiter... 'Digne de M. de Saint Aulaire! M. le Commandeur would every time exclaim.
But inwardly I rejoiced at their eagerness to lay us low, for in their hurry they aimed badly. We had almost reached our shelter when I suddenly saw to the right of me "Ramier," Lemaître's horse, fall like a log.
However, I must confess my hand trembled as I drew my revolver. One horse the less in a troop is somewhat the same as one child the less in a family. And, besides, it means one trooper unmounted and the loss of a sword in battle. Lemaître was right. "Ramier" was a good old servant, one of the kind that never goes lame, can feed on anything or on nothing, and never hurts anybody.
These people are simply pigeon-catchers. What sort of pigeons? and where do they come from? These questions must be answered. It is well-known in England by the name of "wood-pigeon," and in France it is called ramier. In England the wood-pigeon is not migratory. In that country there is a much milder winter than is experienced in the same or even a more southerly latitude on the Continent.
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