Hardly were they through with supper, they retired, as they were all tired out.

Loiseau, however, who had kept an eye on what was going on, send his wife to bed; then he pressed now his ear, now his eye to the keyhole in order to try and discover what he called “the mysteries of the hall.”—­

After about an hour, he heard a rustle, peeped out quickly and saw Boule de Suif, who looked still more corpulent in a blue cashmere dressing gown trimmed with white lace.  She held a candle in her hand and made straight for the room at the other end of the hall bearing a conspicuous number.  But a side-door opened, and when, after a few minutes, she came back, Cornudet, in his shirt-sleeves and suspenders, was following her.  Boule de Suif seemed to deny him energetically admission to her room.  Unfortunately Loisseau could not hear what they said, but in the end, as they raised their voices, he was able to catch a few words.  Cornudet was insisting eagerly: 

—­“Come, now, you are silly! what does it matter to you?”—­

She seemed indignant and replied: 

—­“No, my friend, there are times when we cannot do such things, and why, here, it would be a shame!”

Apparently, he failed to understand and asked why.—­Then she became excited and speaking louder, she said: 

—­“Why?  Don’t you understand why?  When Prussians are in the house, maybe in the next room?” He had a newspaper which he unfolded on his knees.  A hussy who denied herself to the solicitations of a man while they were near the enemy, must have aroused in his heart his failing dignity, for, after having kissed her, he went back stealthily to his room.

Loiseau, quite excited, left the keyhole, and quickly jumped into the conjugal bed to seek solace near the hard carcass of his espoused.

Then the whole house became silent.  But soon there arose from somewhere, from some indeterminate direction, which might have been the cellar as well as the attic, a powerful monotonous snore, a deep and prolonged noise, like the throbbing of a boiler under pressure—­Mr. Follenvie was sleeping.

As it had been decided that they would start at eight o’clock the next morning, at that hour everybody was in the kitchen; but the coach, the hood of which formed a roof of snow, stood solitary in the middle of the yard, without horses and without driver.  In vain a search was made for the latter in the stable, barns, and coach-house.  Then all the men decided to scour the country, and they set out.  They found themselves in the Square, with the Church at the farther end, and on both sides low houses in which Prussian soldiers could be seen.  The first one they saw was peeling potatoes; further on, the second was washing the barber’s shop.  Another, bearded up to his eyes, was kissing a crying child and lulling him on his knees to quiet it; fat peasant women, whose husbands were “in the fighting army,” were showing by the language of signs to their obedient conquerors the work they had to do:  chop wood, prepare soup, grind coffee; one of them was even washing for his hostess, an impotent grandmother.