The total
casualties of the chasseurs were three killed, three captured, and six
wounded.
The little old man and I had walked to the entrance of the chateau park
before he finished his story. It was still too early for breakfast. I
thanked him and told him to return to his work in the little house by
the bridge. I wanted to explore the chateau at leisure.
I entered the place--what was left of it. Most of the walls were
standing. Walls built in the twelfth century do not break easily, even
with modern artillery. But the modern roof and seventeenth century inner
walls were all demolished. Not a single article of furniture or
decoration remained. But the destruction showed some of the same
freaks--similar to that little house left untouched by fire on the
summit of the hill.
For instance, the Bourbon coat of arms above the grand staircase was
untouched, while the staircase itself was just splintered bits of
marble. On another fragment of a wall there still hung a magnificent
stag's antlers. Strewed about in the corners I saw fragments of vases
that had been priceless. Even the remnants were valuable. In the ruined
music room I found a piece of fresh, clean music, (an Alsatian waltz,)
lying on the mantelpiece.
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