"
Father Jerome's exhortation had a strong effect upon the people; he knew
and calculated their strength and their weakness--they were brave and
credulous, and when he finished speaking, there was hardly one there who
in the least doubted that the event of the war would be entirely
successful: they felt that they were a chosen people, set apart for a
good work--that glory and victory awaited them in the contest, and
especially that they were about to fight under the immediate protection
of the Almighty.
As soon as the service was over, they all left the little sylvan chapel
by different paths, and in different directions; some went back to the
church, some went off across the fields, some took a short cut to the
road, but they all returned home without delay. Every man was to set out
early on the morrow for the rendezvous, and the women were preparing to
shed their tears and say their last farewell to their lovers, brothers,
and husbands, before they started on so great an enterprise. They had
all been gay enough during the morning--they became a little melancholy
on their return home, but before the evening was far advanced, nothing
was to be heard but sobs and vows, kisses and blessings.
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