Derues | Page 5

something exceptional, unclassable, and once
observed, it was difficult to take one's eyes from him. Had he been
endowed with physical strength he would have been a terror to his
comrades, exercising by fear the ascendancy which Pierre owed to his
joyous temper and unwearied gaiety, for this mean exterior concealed
extraordinary powers of will and dissimulation. Guided by instinct, the
other children hung about Pierre and willingly accepted his leadership;

by instinct also they avoided Antoine, repelled by a feeling of chill, as
if from the neighbourhood of a reptile, and shunning him unless to
profit in some way by their superior strength. Never would he join their
games without compulsion; his thin, colourless lips seldom parted for a
laugh, and even at that tender age his smile had an unpleasantly sinister
expression.
"Will you fight?" again demanded Pierre.
Antoine glanced hastily round; there was no chance of escape, a double
ring enclosed him. To accept or refuse seemed about equally risky; he
ran a good chance of a thrashing whichever way he decided. Although
his heart beat loudly, no trace of emotion appeared on his pallid cheek;
an unforeseen danger would have made him shriek, but he had had time
to collect himself, time to shelter behind hypocrisy. As soon as he
could lie and cheat he recovered courage, and the instinct of cunning,
once roused, prevailed over everything else. Instead of answering this
second challenge, he knelt down and said to Pierre--
"You are much stronger than I am."
This submission disarmed his antagonist. "Get up," he replied; "I won't
touch you, if you can't defend yourself.
"Pierre," continued Antoine, still on his knees, "I assure you, by God
and the Holy Virgin, I was not going to tell. I was going home to my
cousins to learn my lessons for to-morrow; you know how slow I am. If
you think I have done you any harm, I ask your forgiveness."
Pierre held out his hand and made him get up.
"Will you be a good fellow, Antoine, and play with us?"
"Yes, I will."
"All right, then; let us forget all about it."
"What are we to play at?" asked Antoine, taking off his coat.
"Thieves and archers," cried one of the boys....
"Splendid!" said Pierre; and using his acknowledged authority, he
divided them into two sides--ten highwaymen, whom he was to
command, and ten archers of the guard, who were to pursue them;
Antoine was among the latter.
The highwaymen, armed with swords and guns obtained from the
willows which grew along the brook, moved off first, and gained the
valleys between the little hills beyond the wood. The fight was to be
serious, and any prisoner on either side was to be tried immediately.

The robbers divided into twos and threes, and hid themselves in the
ravines.
A few minutes later the archers started in pursuit. There were
encounters, surprises, skirmishes; but whenever it came to close
quarters, Pierre's men, skilfully distributed, united on hearing his
whistle, and the Army of justice had to retreat. But there came a time
when this magic signal was no longer heard, and the robbers became
uneasy, and remained crouching in their hiding-places. Pierre,
over-daring, had undertaken to defend alone the entrance of a
dangerous passage and to stop the whole hostile troop there. Whilst he
kept them engaged, half of his men, concealed on the left, were to come
round the foot of the hill and make a rush on hearing his whistle; the
other half, also stationed at some, little distance, were to execute the
same manoeuvre from above. The archers would be caught in a trap,
and attacked both in front and rear, would be obliged to surrender at
discretion. Chance, which not unfrequently decides the fate of a battle,
defeated this excellent stratagem. Watching intently; Pierre failed to
perceive that while his whole attention was given to the ground in front,
the archers had taken an entirely different road from the one they ought
to have followed if his combination were to succeed. They suddenly
fell upon him from behind, and before he could blow his whistle, they
gagged him with a handkerchief and tied his hands. Six remained to
keep the field of battle and disperse the hostile band, now deprived of
its chief; the remaining four conveyed Pierre to the little wood, while
the robbers, hearing no signal, did not venture to stir. According to
agreement, Pierre Buttel was tried by the archers, who promptly
transformed themselves into a court of justice, and as he had been taken
red-handed, and did not condescend to defend himself, the trial was not
a long affair. He was unanimously sentenced to be hung, and the
execution was then and there carried out, at the request of the