Chapter XIII
The Ferryman's House
Paul Delroze did not speak a word. Pushing his prisoner in front of him, after tying the major's wrists behind his back, he returned to the bridge of boats in the darkness illumined by brief flashes of light.
The fighting continued. But a certain number of the enemy tried to run away; and, when the volunteers who guarded the bridge received them with a volley of fire, the Germans thought that they had been cut off; and this diversion hastened their defeat.
When Paul arrived, the combat was over. But the enemy was bound, sooner or later, to deliver a counter–attack, supported by the reinforcements that had been promised to the commandant; and the defense was prepared forthwith.
The ferryman's house, which had been strongly fortified by the Germans and
