A thread of blood was trickling from his mouth over the flagstones of the porch.

A convulsive tremor shook his arm.

Then he ceased to move.

As he lay there, huddled up; he seemed smaller than usual.
On hearing the report of the revolver, Ligny had hurriedly come forward.
In the darkness of the night he raised the body, and immediately lowering it gently to the ground he attempted to strike matches, which the wind promptly extinguished.

At last, by the flare of one of the matches, he saw that the bullet had carried away part of the skull, that the meninges were laid bare over an area as large as the palm of the hand; this area was grey, oozing blood, and very irregular in shape, its outlines reminding Ligny of the map of Africa.