Meanwhile, we march on, in ignorance of what
is awaiting us. Ah, well, such is life!"
He seemed to John a strange compound of age and youth, a mixture of the
philosopher and the soldier. That he was a real leader John could no
longer doubt. He saw the little red eyes watching everything, and he
noticed that the regiments of Vaugirard had no superiors in trimness and
spirit.
They marched until sundown and stopped in some woods clear of
undergrowth, like most of those in Europe. The camp kitchens went to
work at once, and they received good food and coffee. As far as John
could see men were at rest, but he could not tell whether the whole army
was doing likewise. It spread out much further to both right and left
than his eyes could reach.
The members of the staff tethered their horses in the grove, and after
supper stood together and talked, while the fat general paced back and
forth, his brow wrinkled in deep thought.
"Good old Papa Vaugirard is studying how to make the best of us," said
de Rougemont. "We're all his children. They say that he knows nearly ten
thousand men under his command by face if not by name, and we trust him
as no other brigade commander in the army is trusted by his troops. He's
thinking hard now, and General Vaugirard does not think for nothing. As
soon as he arrives at what seems to him a solution of his problem he
will begin to whistle. Then he will interrupt his whistling by saying:
'Ah, well, such is life.
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