Short Fiction · Chapter
He Walked Around the Horses explained
A Prussian lieutenant recounts his journey escorting an Englishman named Bathurst, who holds bizarre beliefs about an alternate history where the American colonists won their independence, leading to a French Revolution, Napoleon's rise, an
What happens
A Prussian lieutenant recounts his journey escorting an Englishman named Bathurst, who holds bizarre beliefs about an alternate history where the American colonists won their independence, leading to a French Revolution, Napoleon's rise, and widespread European chaos. The lieutenant, initially skeptical, becomes disturbed by Bathurst's calm narration of horrors, and later discovers that Bathurst's documents describe a world entirely different from his own, including references to a President James Madison and a general named Wellington.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the story's dramatic climax because it presents the protagonist's emotional and psychological peak of…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Alternate History and Parallel Realities
The core of the chapter is Bathurst's detailed alternate history where the American colonists won, leading to a vastly different Europe.
- Alienation and Otherness
Bathurst's beliefs are so alien to the lieutenant that he is viewed as a madman, highlighting the isolation of holding a different reality.
Characters to notice
- Allan Hartley
Not directly present; the chapter focuses on a Prussian lieutenant and Bathurst, but the alternate history narrative echoes themes of temporal displacement.
Key passages
“In my belief, the whole mess is the result of the victory of the rebellious colonists in North America, and their blasted republic.”
Bathurst claims that the current European crisis stems from the American colonists winning their independence.
This statement establishes the alternate history premise of the chapter.
“If he'd given those rascals a whiff of grapeshot, when the mob tried to storm Versailles in 1790, there'd have been no French Revolution.”
Bathurst suggests that if Louis XVI had used force against the mob, the French Revolution would have been prevented.
This reflects Bathurst's counterfactual view of history.
