Words of command ran along the column, the "Marseillaise" died out in a final rumble, and one could only hear the confused murmuring of the still surging crowd.
Silvere, as he listened, caught the orders which were passed on from one contingent to another; they called the men of Plassans to the van.

Then, as each battalion ranged itself alongside the road to make way for the banner, the young man reascended the embankment, dragging Miette with him.
"Come," he said; "we can get across the river before they do." When they were on the top, among the ploughed land, they ran along to a mill whose lock bars the river.

Then they crossed the Viorne on a plank placed there by the millers, and cut across the meadows of Sainte-Claire, running hand-in-hand, without exchanging a word.

The column threw a dark line over the highway, which they followed alongside the hedges.

There were some gaps in the hawthorns, and at last Silvere and Miette sprang on to the road through one of them.
In spite of the circuitous way they had come, they arrived at the same time as the men of Plassans.