We discovered before we had got out of Esbly that Couilly had
been evacuated during the day, and that a great many people had left
Voisins; that the civil government had gone to Coutevroult; that the
Croix Rouge had gone. So the schoolmistress and her husband, to whom
all this was amazing news, climbed out of the wagon, and made a dash
back to the station to attempt to get back to Paris. I do hope they
succeeded.
Amelie and I dismissed the man who had driven the wagon down, and jogged
on by ourselves. I sat on a board in the back of the covered cart, only
too glad for any sort of locomotion which was not "shank's mare."
Just after we left Esbly I saw first an English officer, standing in his
stirrups and signaling across a field, where I discovered a detachment
of English artillery going toward the hill. A little farther along the
road we met a couple of English officers--pipes in their mouths and
sticks in their hands--strolling along as quietly and smilingly as if
there were no such thing as war. Naturally I wished to speak to them.
I was so shut in that I could see only directly in front of me, and if
you ever rode behind a big cart horse I need not tell you that although
he walks slowly and heavily he walks steadily, and will not stop for any
pulling on the reins unless he jolly well chooses.
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