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We expected good service and help in recruiting from him, and promised him ample head-money. Bourbaki had run away without the permission of his chief, who was furious at the loss of his best man, and had given orders to kill the recruiter, a brother-in-law of George.

When Bourbaki was summoned to the Loire, he left Farre as chief commander in the north, with Faidherbe and Lecointe as his principal lieutenants. There was bad strategy on both sides, but La Fere capitulated to the Germans on November 26, and Amiens on the 29th. Meantime, the position in beleaguered Paris was becoming very bad.

"What?" rejoined Bourbaki; "have you never seen him at the Tuileries?" "No," said Boyer. "I forget names, but not faces I never saw this fellow. He is neither a familiar of the Tuileries nor an employe." Whereupon the two aristocrats despised the bourgeois Regnier.

Above lay big sea-stars, and large fish in bright hues floated between the cliffs in soft, easy movements, while bright blue little ones shot hither and thither like mad. Bourbaki arrived with his younger brother, a neat and gentle-looking boy. The feast was to begin that evening, and I asked Bourbaki if they had plenty of pigs to eat.

The 18th and 20th could not cooperate in this movement, however; and on the three others being driven back, D'Aurelle instructed Chanzy to retire on Beaugency and Marchenoir, but sent no orders to Bourbaki, who was now on the scene of action.

I had to force myself not to draw away from him, and looked somewhat anxiously into his face; but Bourbaki stared quietly into the distance, as if dreaming of the past excitements and the coming delights; then he picked up a cocoa-nut and tore the husk off with his strong teeth. It made me shudder to watch his brutish movements, but he was perfectly happy that morning, willing and obedient.

Next evening we reached the entrance of Tesbel Bay, and the wind having died down, we had to work our way in with the oars, a slow and hard task. Bourbaki yelled and pulled at the oars with all his might, encouraging the others. These are the joys of sailing. Tesbel Bay is framed on two sides by high cliffs.

We guessed that Bourbaki must have committed some misdemeanour; as there was a possibility of his still being alive, we decided to go and look for him; for satisfaction it was idle to hope. According to Macao the village was quite near, so we took our rifles, armed the boys, and in ten minutes we were ashore.

At noon he went away to his horrid feast, and for two days we saw nobody. We passed the time as usual; the weather was rainy again, and everything seemed grey, the sky, the sea and the shore, and our mood. One is so dependent on surroundings. On the third day Bourbaki came back, a little tired, but evidently satisfied.

Not wishing to spend the ten days there, doing absolutely nothing, we decided to go farther south, to Tesbel Bay, and try our luck at recruiting there, as we had another boy, Macao, from that district. George gave leave to Bourbaki, who had been somewhat savage these last days, to stay at home till our return, and he seemed delighted to have a holiday.