Rupert however was, of
course, unable to accede to their request, and was glad when they
received a letter from a son in the army, saying that he had been
laid up with fever, and had got his discharge, and was just
starting to settle with them at the mill.
Saying goodbye to his kind employers, Rupert started with a stout
suit of clothes, fifty francs in his pocket, and a document signed
by the Maire of the parish to the effect that Antoine Duprat,
miller's man, had been working through the winter at Evres, and was
now on his way to join his regiment with the army of Flanders.
Determined to run no more risks if he could avoid it, he took a
line which would avoid Paris and all other towns at which he had
ever shown himself. Sometimes he tramped alone, more often with
other soldiers who had been during the winter on leave to recover
from the effects of wounds or of fevers. From their talk Rupert
learned with satisfaction that the campaign which he had missed had
been very uneventful, and that no great battles had taken place. It
was expected that the struggle that would begin in a few weeks
would be a desperate one, both sides having made great efforts to
place a predominating force in the field.
As he had no idea of putting on the French uniform even for a day,
Rupert resolved as he approached the army frontier to abandon his
story that he was a soldier going to take his place in the ranks.
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