Then,
Having Cast Away All Theories Of How A Pilgrimage Should Be Conducted,
And Broken Five Or Six Vows, I Slept Steadily Till The Middle Of The
Morning.
I had covered fifty miles in twenty-five hours, and if you
imagine this to be but two miles an hour, you must have a very
mathematical mind, and know little of the realities of living.
I woke
and threw my shutters open to the bright morning and the masterful
sun, took my coffee, and set out once more towards Epinal, the
stronghold a few miles away - delighted to see that my shadow was so
short and the road so hot to the feet and eyes. For I said, 'This at
least proves that I am doing like all the world, and walking during
the day.' It was but a couple of hours to the great garrison. In a
little time I passed a battery. Then a captain went by on a horse,
with his orderly behind him. Where the deep lock stands by the
roadside - the only suggestion of coolness - I first heard the bugles;
then I came into the long street and determined to explore Epinal, and
to cast aside all haste and folly.
There are many wonderful things in Epinal. As, for instance, that it
was evidently once, like Paris and Melun and a dozen other strongholds
of the Gauls, an island city. For the rivers of France are full of
long, habitable islands, and these were once the rallying-places of
clans. Then there are the forts which are placed on high hills round
the town and make it even stronger than Toul; for Epinal stands just
where the hills begin to be very high. Again, it is the capital of a
mountain district, and this character always does something peculiar
and impressive to a town. You may watch its effect in Grenoble, in
little Aubusson, and, rather less, in Geneva.
For in such towns three quite different kinds of men meet. First there
are the old plain-men, who despise the highlanders and think
themselves much grander and more civilized; these are the burgesses.
Then there are the peasants and wood-cutters, who come in from the
hill-country to market, and who are suspicious of the plain-men and
yet proud to depend upon a real town with a bishop and paved streets.
Lastly, there are the travellers, who come there to enjoy the
mountains and to make the city a base for their excursions, and these
love the hill-men and think they understand them, and they despise the
plain-men for being so middle-class as to lord it over the hill-men:
but in truth this third class, being outsiders, are equally hated and
despised by both the others, and there is a combination against them
and they are exploited.
And there are many other things in which Epinal is wonderful, but in
nothing is it more wonderful than in its great church.
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