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diff --git a/31902.txt b/31902.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..40d9fe6 --- /dev/null +++ b/31902.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18391 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume II (of II), by +Charles James Lever + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume II (of II) + +Author: Charles James Lever + +Illustrator: Phiz. + +Release Date: April 6, 2010 [EBook #31902] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM BURKE II *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +TOM BURKE OF "OURS." + +By Charles Lever + +With Illustrations By Phiz. + +In Two Volumes, Vol. II. + + +Transcriber's Note: Two print editions have been used for this Project +Gutenberg Edition of "Tom Burke of 'Ours'": The Little Brown edition +(Boston) of 1913 with illustrations by Phiz; and the Chapman and Hall +editon (London) of 1853 with illustrations by Browne. Illegible and +missing pages were found in both print editions. + +DW + + + + +TOM BURKE OF "OURS" + + + +CHAPTER I. THE SICK LEAVE. + +"What is it, Minette?" said I, for the third time, as I saw her lean her +head from out the narrow casement, and look down into the valley beside +the river; "what do you see there?" + +"I see a regiment of infantry coming along the road from Ulm," said she, +after a pause; "and now I perceive the lancers are following them, and +the artillery too. Ah! and farther again, I see a great cloud of dust. +_Mere de Ciel!_ how tired and weary they all look! It surely cannot be a +march in retreat; and, now that I think of it, they have no baggage, nor +any wagons with them." + +"That was a bugle call, Minette! Did you not hear it?" + +"Yes, it's a halt for a few minutes. Poor fellows! they are sadly +exhausted; they cannot even reach the side of the way, but are lying +down on the very road. I can bear it no longer. I must find out what +it all means." So saying, she threw round her a mantle which, Spanish +fashion, she wore over her head, and hurried from the room. + +For some time I waited patiently for her return; but when half an +hour elapsed, I arose and crept to the window. A succession of rocky +precipices descended from the terrace on which the house stood, down +to the very edge of the Danube, and from the point where I sat the view +extended for miles in every direction. What, then, was my astonishment +to see the wide plain, not marked by regular columns in marching array, +but covered with straggling detachments, hurrying onward as if without +order or discipline. Here was an infantry battalion mixed up with a +cavalry corps, the foot-soldiers endeavoring to keep up with the ambling +trot of the dragoons; there, the ammunition wagons were covered with +weary soldiers, too tired to march. Most of the men were without their +firelocks, which were piled in a confused heap on the limbers of the +guns. No merry chant, no burst of warlike music, cheered them on. They +seemed like the scattered fragments of a routed army hurrying onward in +search of some place of refuge,-sad and spiritless. + +"Can he have been beaten?" was the fearful thought that flashed across +me as I gazed. "Have the bold legions that were never vanquished +succumbed at last? Oh, no, no! I'll not believe it." And while a glow of +fever warmed my whole blood, I buckled on my sabre, and taking my shako, +prepared to issue forth. Scarcely had I reached the door, with tottering +limbs, when I saw Minette dashing up the steep street at the top speed +of her pony, while she flourished above her head a great placard, and +waved it to and fro. + +"The news! the news!" cried I, bursting with anxiety. "Are they +advancing; or is it a retreat?" + +"Read that!" said she, throwing me a large sheet of paper, headed with +the words, "Proclamation! la Grande Armee!" in huge letters,-"read that! +for I've no breath left to tell you." + +Soldiers!--The campaign so gloriously begun will soon be completed. + +One victory, and the Austrian empire, so great but a week since, will be +humbled in the dust. Hasten on, then! Forced marches, by day and night, +will attest your eagerness to meet the enemy; and let the endeavor of +each regiment be to arrive soonest on the field of battle. + +"Minette! dearest Minette!" said I, as I threw my arms around her +neck, "this is indeed good news." "Gently, gently, Monsieur!" said she, +smiling, while she disengaged herself from my sudden embrace. "Very good +news, without doubt; but I don't think that there is any mention in the +bulletin about embracing the vivandieres of the army." + +"At a moment like this, Minette--" + +"The best thing to do is, to make up one's baggage and join the march," +said she, very steadily, proceeding at the same time to put her plan +into execution. + +While I gave her all assistance in my power, the doctor entered to +inform us that all the wounded who were then not sufficiently restored +to return to duty were to be conveyed to Munich, where general military +hospitals had been established; and that he himself had received +orders to repair thither with his sick detachment, in which my name was +enrolled. + +"You'll keep your old friend, Francois, company, Lieutenant Burke; he is +able to move at last." + +"Francois!" said I, in ecstasy; "and will he indeed recover?" + +"I have little doubt of it; though certainly he's not likely to +practise as maitre d'armes again. You 've spoiled his tierce, though not +before it cost the army some of the prettiest fellows I ever saw. But as +to yourself--" + +"As for me, I 'll march with the army. I feel perfectly recovered; my +arm--" + +"Oh! as for monsieur's arms," said mademoiselle, "I'll answer for it, +they are quite at his Majesty's service." + +"Indeed!" said the doctor, knowingly; "I thought it would come to that. +Well, well, Mademoiselle, don't look saucy; let us part good friends for +once in our lives." + +"I hate being reconciled to a surgeon," said she, pettishly. + +"Why so, I pray?" + +"Oh, you know, when one quarrels with an officer, the poor fellow may be +killed before one sees him again; and it's always a sad thought, that. +But your doctor, nothing ever happens to him; you're sure to see him, +with his white apron and his horrid weapons, a hundred times after, and +one is always sorry for having forgiven such a cruel wretch." + +"Come, come, Mademoiselle, you bear us all an ill-will for the fault +of one, and that's not fair. It was the hospital aide of the Sixth, +Monsieur, (a handsome fellow, too), who did not fall in love with her +after her wound,--a slight scratch." + +"A slight scratch, do you call it?" said I, indignantly, as I perceived +the poor girl's eyes fill at the raillery of her tormentor. + +"Ah! monsieur has seen it, then?" said he, maliciously. "A thousand +pardons. I have the honor to wish you both adieu." And with that, and a +smile of the most impertinent meaning, he took his leave. + +"How silly to be vexed for so little, Minette!" said I, approaching and +endeavoring to console her. + +"Well, but to call my wound a scratch!" said she. "Was it not too bad? +and I the only vivandiere of the army that ever felt a bullet." + +And with that she turned away her head; but I could see, as she wiped +her eyes, that she cared less for the sarcasm on her wounded shoulder +than the insult to her wounded heart. Poor girl! she looked sick and +pale the whole day after. + +We learned in the course of the day that some cavalry detachments would +pass early on the morrow, thus allowing us sufficient time to provide +ourselves with horses, and make our other arrangements for the march. +These we succeeded in doing to our satisfaction; I being fortunate +enough to secure the charger of an Austrian prisoner, mademoiselle being +already admirably mounted with her palfrey. Occupied with these details, +the day passed rapidly over, and the hour for supper drew near without +my feeling how the time slipped past. + +[Illustration: BrowneMuratAndMinettePage003] + +At last the welcome meal made its appearance, and with it mademoiselle +herself. I could not help remarking that her toilette displayed a more +than common attention: her neat Parisian cap; her collar, with its deep +Valenciennes lace; and her _tablier_, so coquettishly embroidered,--were +all signs of an unusual degree of care; and though she was pale and in +low spirits, I never saw her look so pretty. All my efforts to make her +converse were, however, in vain. Some secret weight lay heavily on her +spirits, and not even the stirring topics of the coming campaign could +awaken one spark of her enthusiasm. She evaded, too, every allusion +to the following day's march, or answered my questions about it with +evident constraint. Tired at last with endeavoring to overcome her +silent mood, I affected an air of chagrin, thinking to pique her by it; +but she merely remarked that I appeared weary, and that, as I had a long +journey before me, it were as well I should retire early. + +The marked coolness of her manner at this moment struck me so forcibly +that I began really to feel some portion of the ill-temper I affected, +and with the crossness of an over-petted child, I arose to withdraw at +once. + +"Good-by, Monsieur; good-night, I mean," said she, blushing slightly. + +"Good-night, Mademoiselle," said I, taking her hand coldly as I spoke. +"I trust I may find you in better spirits to-morrow." + +"Good-night,--adieu!" said she, hastily; and before I could add a word +she was gone. + +"She is a strange girl," thought I, as I found myself alone, and +tortured my mind to think whether anything I could have dropped had +offended her. But no: we had parted a few hours before the best friends +in the world; nothing had then occurred to which I could attribute +this sudden change. I had often remarked the variable character of her +disposition,--the flashes of gayety mingled with outbursts of sorrow; +the playful moods of fancy alternating with moments of deep melancholy; +and, after all, this might be one of them. + +With these thoughts I threw myself on my bed, but could not sleep. At +one minute my brain went on puzzling about Minette and her sorrow; at +the next I reproached myself for my own harsh, unfeeling manner to the +poor girl, and was actually on the eve of arising to seek her and ask +her pardon. At last sleep came, and dreams too; but, strange enough, +they were of the distant land of my boyhood and the hours of my youth; +of the old house in which I was born, and its well-remembered rooms. I +thought I was standing before my father, while he scolded me for some +youthful transgression; I heard his words as though they were really +spoken, as he told me that I should be an outcast and a wanderer, +without a friend, a house, or home; that while others reaped wealth and +honors, I was destined to be a castaway: and in the torrent of my grief +I awoke. + +It was night,--dark, silent night. A few stars were shining in the sky, +but the earth was wrapped in shadow; and as I opened my window to let +the fresh breeze calm my fevered forehead, the deep precipice beneath me +seemed a vast gulf of yawning blackness. At a great distance off I could +see the watchfires of some soldiers bivouacking in the plain; and even +that much comforted my saddened heart, as it aroused me to the thoughts +of the campaign before me. But again my thoughts recurred to my dream, +which I could not help feeling as a sort of prediction. + +When our sleep leaves its strong track in our waking moments, we dread +to sleep again for fear the whole vision should come back; and thus I +sat down beside the window, and fell into a long train of thought. The +images of my dream were uppermost in my mind; and every little incident +of childhood, long lost to memory, came now fresh before me,--the +sorrows of my schoolboy years, unrelieved by the sense of love awaiting +me at home; the clinging to all who seemed to feel or care for me; +and the heart-sickening sorrow when I found that what I mistook for +affection was merely pity: all save one,--my mother! Her mild, sad +looks, so seldom cheered by a ray of pleasure,--I remember well how they +fell on me! with such a thrilling sensation at my heart, and such a gush +of thankfulness, as I felt then! Oh! if they who live with children knew +how needful it is to open their hearts to all the little sorrows and +woes of infant life; to teach confidence and to feed hope; to train up +the creeping tendrils of young desire, and not to suffer them to lie +straggling and tangled on the earth,--what a happier destiny would fall +to the lot of many whose misfortunes in late life date from the crushed +spirit of childhood! + +My mother I--I thought of her as she would bend oyer me at night, her +last kiss pressed on my brow,--the healing balm of some sorrow for which +my sobs were still breaking,--her pale, worn cheek, her white dress, her +hand so bloodless and transparent, the very emblem of her malady. The +tears started to my eyes and rolled heavily along my cheek, my chest +heaved, and my heart beat till I could hear it. At this moment a slight +rustle stirred the leaves: I listened, for the night was calm and still; +not a breeze moved. Again I heard it close beside the window, on the +little terrace which ran along the building, and occupied the narrow +space beside the edge of the rock. Before I could imagine what it meant, +a figure in white glided from the shade of the trees and approached +the window. So excited was my mind, so wrought up my imagination by the +circumstances of my dream and the thoughts that followed, that I cried +out, in a voice of ecstasy, "My mother!" Suddenly the apparition stood +still, and then as rapidly retreated, and was lost to view in the dark +foliage. Maddened with intense excitement, I sprang from the window, and +leaped out on the terrace. I called aloud; I ran about wildly, unmindful +of the fearful precipice that yawned beside me. I searched every bush, +I crept beneath each tree, but nothing could I detect. The cold +perspiration poured down my face; my limbs trembled with a strange dread +of I knew not what. I felt as if madness was creeping over me, and I +struggled with the thought and tried to calm my troubled brain. Wearied +and faint, I gave up the pursuit at last, and, throwing myself on my +bed, I sank exhausted into the heavy slumber which only tired nature +knows. + +"The Sous-Lieutenant Burke," said a gruff voice, awakening me suddenly +from my sleep, while by the light of a lantern he held in his hand I +recognized the figure of an orderly sergeant in full equipment. + +"Yes. What then?" said I, in some amazement at the summons. + +"This is the order of march, sir, for the invalid detachment under your +command." + +"How so? I have no orders." + +"They are here, sir." + +So saying, he presented me with a letter from the assistant-adjutant +of the corps, with instructions for the conduct of forty men, invalided +from different regiments, and now on their way to Lintz. The paper was +perfectly regular, setting forth the names of the soldiers and +their several corps, together with the daily marches, the halts, and +distances. My only surprise was how this service so suddenly devolved on +me, whose recovery could only have been reported a few hours before. + +"When shall I muster the detachment, sir?" said the sergeant, +interrupting me in the midst of my speculations. + +"Now,--at once. It is past five o'clock. I see Langenau is mentioned as +the first halting-place; we can reach it by eight." + +The moment the sergeant withdrew, I arose and dressed for the road, +anxious to inform mademoiselle as early as possible of this sudden order +of march. When I entered the _salon_, I found to my surprise that the +breakfast table was all laid and everything ready. "What can this mean?" +said I; "has she heard it already?" At the same instant I caught sight +of the door of her chamber lying wide open. I approached, and looked in. +The room was empty; the various trunks and boxes, the little relics +of military glory I remembered to have seen with her, were all gone. +Minette had departed; when or whither, I knew not. I hurried through the +building, from room to room, without meeting any one. The door was open, +and I passed out into the dark street, where all was still and silent +as the grave. I hastened to the stable: my horse, ready equipped and +saddled, was feeding; but the stall beside him was empty,--the pony of +the vivandiere was gone. While many a thought flashed on my brain as to +her fate, I tortured my mind to remember each circumstance of our last +meeting,--every word and every look; and as I called to my memory the +pettish anger of my manner towards her, I grew sick at heart, and hated +myself for my own cold ingratitude. All her little acts of kindness, her +tender care, her unwearying good-nature, were before me. I thought of +her as I had seen her often in the silence of the night, when, waking +from some sleep of pain, she sat beside my bed, her hand pressed on +my heated forehead; her low, clear voice was in my ear; her soft, +mild look, beaming with hope and tender pity. Poor Minette! had I then +offended you? was such the return I made for all your kindness? + +"The men are ready, sir," said the sergeant, entering at the moment. + +"She is gone," said I, following out my own sad train of thought, and +pointing to the vacant stall where her pony used to stand. + +"Mademoiselle Minette--" + +"Yes, what of her--where is she?" + +"Marched with the cuirassier brigade that passed here last night at +twelve o'clock. She seemed very ill, sir, and the officer made her sit +on one of the wagons." + +"Which road did they take? " + +"They crossed the river, and moved away towards the forest. I think I +heard the troop-sergeant say something about Salzburg and the Tyrol." + +I made no answer, but stood mute and stupefied; when I was again +recalled to thought by his asking if my baggage was ready for the +wagons. + +With a sullen apathy I pointed out my trunks in silence, and throwing +one last look on the room, the scene of my former suffering, and of much +pleasure too, I mounted my horse, and gave the word to move forward. + +As we passed from the gate, I stopped to question the sous-officier as +to the route of the cuirassier division. But he could only repeat +what the sergeant had already told me; adding, there were several men +slightly wounded in the squadrons, for they had been engaged twice +within the week. The gates closed! and we were on the highroad. + + + +CHAPTER II. LINTZ + +As day was breaking, we came up with a strong detachment of the cavalry +of the Guard proceeding to join Bessiere's division at Lintz. From them +we learned that the main body of the army was already far in advance, +several entire corps having marched from Lintz with the supposed +intention of occupying Vienna. Ney's division, it was said, was also +bearing down from the Tyrol; Davoust and Mortier were advancing by the +left bank of the Danube; whilst Lannes and Murat, with an overwhelming +force of light troops, had pushed forward two days' march in advance on +their way to the capital. The fate of Ulm was already predicted for the +Austrian city, and each day's intelligence seemed to make it only +the more inevitable. Meanwhile the Emperor Francis had abandoned the +capital, and retreated on Brunn, a fortified town in Moravia, there to +await the arrival of his ally, Alexander, hourly expected from Berlin. + +As day after day we pressed forward, our numbers continued to increase. +A motley force, indeed, did we present: cavalry of every sort, from the +steel-clad cuirassier to the gay hussar, dragoons, chasseurs, guides, +and light cavalry, all mixed up together, and all eagerly recounting +the several experiences of the campaign as it fell under their eyes in +different quarters. From none, however, could I learn any tidings of +Minette; for though known to many there, the detachment she had joined +had taken a southerly direction, and was not crossed by any of the +others on their march. The General d'Auvergne, I heard, was with the +headquarters of the Emperor, then established at the monastery of Molk, +on the Danube. + +On the evening of the 13th of November we arrived at Lintz, the +capital of Upper Austria, but at the time I speak of one vast barrack. +Thirty-eight thousand troops of all arms were within its walls; not +subject to the rigid discipline and regular command of a garrison town, +but bivouacking in the open streets and squares. Tables were spread in +the thoroughfares, at which the divisions as they arrived took their +places, and after refreshing themselves, moved on to make way for +others. The great churches were strewn with forage, and filled with the +horses of the cavalry; there might be seen the lumbering steeds of +the cuirassier, eating their corn from the richly-carved box of a +confessional; here lay the travel-stained figure of a dragoon, stretched +asleep across the steps of the altar. The little chapelries, where +the foot of the penitent awoke no echo as it passed, now rung with the +coarse jest and reckless ribaldry of the soldiers; parties caroused +in the little sacristies; and the rude chorus of a drinking song now +vibrated through the groined roof where only the sacred notes of +the organ had been heard to peal. The Hotel de Ville was the +quartier-general, where the generals of divisions were assembled, and +from which the orderlies rode forth at every moment with despatches. The +one cry, "Forward!" was heard everywhere. They who before had claimed +leave for slight wounds or illness, were now seen among their comrades +with bandaged arms and patched faces, eager to press on. Many whose +regiments were in advance became incorporated for the time with other +corps; and dismounted dragoons were often to be met with, marching with +the infantry and mounting guard in turn. Everything bespoke haste. The +regiments which arrived at night frequently moved off before day broke. +The cavalry often were provided with fresh horses to press forward, +leaving their own for the corps that were to follow. A great flotilla, +provided with all the necessaries for an army on the march, moved +along the Danube, and accompanied the troops each day. In a word, every +expedient was practised which could hasten the movement of the army; +justifying the remark so often repeated among the soldiers at the time, +"Le Petit Caporal makes more use of our legs than our bayonets in this +campaign." + +On the same evening we arrived came the news of the surprise of Vienna +by Murat. Never was there such joy as this announcement spread through +the army. The act itself was one of those daring feats which only such +as he could venture on, and indeed at first seemed so miraculous that +many refused to credit it. Prince Auersberg, to whom the great bridge of +the Danube was intrusted, had prepared everything for its destruction +in the event of attack. The whole line of woodwork was laid with +combustibles; trains were set, the matches burning; a strong battery of +twelve guns, posted to command the bridge, occupied the height on the +right bank, and the Austrian gunners lay, match in hand, beside their +pieces: but a word was needed, and the whole work was in a blaze. + +Such was the state of matters when Sebastiani pushed through the +faubourg of the Leopoldstadt at the head of a strong cavalry detachment, +supported by some grenadiers of the Guard, and by Murat's orders, +concealed his force among the narrow streets which lead to the bridge +from the left bank of the Danube. This done, Lannes and Murat advanced +carelessly along the bridge, which, from the frequent passage of +couriers between the two headquarters, had become a species of +promenade, where the officers of either side met to converse on the +fortunes of the campaign. Dressed simply as officers of the staff, they +strolled along till they came actually beneath the Austrian battery; and +then entered into conversation with the Austrian officers, assuring them +that the armistice was signed, and peace already proclaimed between the +two countries. + +The Austrians, trusting to their story, and much interested by what they +heard, descended from the mound, and joining them, proceeded to walk +backwards and forwards along the bridge, conversing on the probable +consequences of the treaty; when suddenly turning round by chance, as +they walked towards the right bank, they saw the head of a grenadier +column approaching at the quick step. The thought of treachery crossed +their minds; and one of them, rushing to the side of the bridge, called +out to the artillerymen to fire. A movement was seen in the battery, +the matches were uplifted, when Murat, dashing forward, cried aloud, +"Reserve your fire; there is nothing to fear!" + +The same instant the Austrian officers were surrounded; the sappers +rushing on the bridge cleared away the combustibles, and cut off the +trains; and the cavalry, till now in concealment, pushing forward at a +gallop, crossed the bridge, followed by the grenadiers in a run,--before +the Austrians, who saw their own officers mingled with the French, could +decide on what was to be done,--while Murat, springing on his horse, +dashed forward at the head of the dragoons; and before five minutes +elapsed the battery was stormed, the gunners captured, and Vienna won. + +Never was there a _coup de main_ more hardy than this, whether we look +to the danger of the deed itself, or the insignificant force by which it +was accomplished. A few horsemen and some companies of foot, led on +by an heroic chief, thus turned the whole fortune of Europe; for, by +securing this bridge, Napoleon enabled himself, as circumstances might +warrant, to unite the different corps of his army on the right or +left banks of the Danube, and either direct his operations against the +Russians, or the Austrians under the Archduke Charles, as he pleased. + +The treachery by which the bold deed was made successful, was, alas! +deemed no stain on the achievement. But one rule of judgment existed in +the Imperial army: Was the advantage on the side of France, and to the +honor of her arms? That covered every flaw, no matter whether inflicted +by duplicity or breach of faith. The habit of healing all wounds of +conscience by a bulletin had become so general, that men would not trust +to the guidance of their own reason till confirmed by some Imperial +proclamation; and when the Emperor declared a battle gained and glory +achieved, who would gainsay him? If this blind, headlong confidence +tended to lower the _morale_ of the nation, in an equal degree did it +make them conquerors in the field; and thus--by a strange decree of +Providence, would it seem--were they preparing for themselves the +terrible reverse of fortune which, when the destinies of their leader +became clouded and their confidence in him shaken, was to fall on a +people who lived only in the mad intoxication of victory, and knew not +the sterner virtues that can combat with defeat. + +But so was it. Napoleon commanded the legions and described their +achievements; he led them to the charge and he apportioned their glory; +the heroism of the soldier had no existence until acknowledged by +the proclamation after the battle; the valor of the general wanted +confirmation till sealed by his approval. To fight beneath his eyes was +the greatest glory a regiment could wish for; to win one word from him +was fame itself forever. + +If I dwell on these thoughts here, it is because I now felt for the +first time the sad deception I had practised on myself; and how little +could I hope to realize in my soldier's life the treasured aspirations +of my boyhood I Was this, then, indeed the career I had pictured to +my mind,--the chivalrous path of honor? Was this the bold assertion of +freedom I so often dreamed of? How few of that armed host knew anything +of the causes of the war,--how much fewer still cared for them! No +sentiment of patriotism, no devotion to the interests of liberty or +humanity, prompted us on. Yet these were the thoughts first led me to +the career of arms; such ambitious promptings first made my heart glow +with the enthusiasm of a soldier. + +This gloomy disappointment made me low-spirited and sad. Nor can I say +where such reflections might not have led me, when suddenly a change +came over my thoughts by seeing a wounded soldier, who had just arrived +from Mortier's division, with news of a fierce encounter they had +sustained against Kutusof's Russians. The poor fellow was carried +past in a litter,--his arm had been amputated that same morning, and a +frightful shot-wound had carried away part of his cheek; still, amid all +his suffering, his eye was brilliant, and a smile of proud meaning was +on his lips. + +"Lift it up, Guillaume; let me see it again," said he, as they bore him +along the crowded street. + +"What is it he wishes?" said I. "The poor fellow is asking for +something." + +"Yes, mon lieutenant. It is the _sabre d'honneur_ the Emperor gave him +this morning. He likes to look at it every now and then; he says he +doesn't mind the pain when he sees that before him. _And it is natural, +too._" + +"Such is glory!" said I to myself; "and he who feels this in his heart +has no room for other thoughts." + +"Oh, give to me the trumpet's blast, And the champ of the charger +prancing; Or the whiz of the grape-shot flying past, That 'a music meet +for dancing. + +"Tralararalal" sang a wild-looking voltigeur, as he capered along the +street, keeping time to his rude song with the tramp of his feet. + +"Ha! there goes a fellow from the Faubourg!" said an officer near me. + +"The Faubourg?" repeated I, asking for explanation. + +"Yes, to be sure. The Faubourg St. Antoine supplies all the reckless +devils of the army; one of them would corrupt a regiment, and so, the +best thing to do is to keep them as much together as possible. The +voltigeurs have little else; and proof is, they are the cleverest corps +in the service, and if they could be kept from picking and stealing, +lying, drinking, and gambling, there's not a man might not be a general +of division in time. There goes another!" + +As he spoke, a fellow passed by with a goose under his arm, followed by +a woman most vociferously demanding restitution; while he only amused +himself by replying with a mock courtesy, deploring in sad terms the +unhappy necessities of war and the cruel hardships of a campaign. + +"It's no use punishing those fellows," said the officer. "They desert in +whole companies if you send one to the _salle de police_; and so we have +only one resource, which is, to throw them pretty much in advance, and +leave their chastisement to the enemy. And, sooth to say, they ask for +nothing better themselves." + +Thus, even these fellows seemed to have their own sentiment of glory,--a +problem which the more I reasoned over the more puzzled did I become. + +While a hundred conjectures were hourly in circulation, none save those +immediately about the person of Napoleon could possibly divine the +quarter where the great blow was to be struck, although all were in +expectation of the orders to prepare for battle. News would reach us of +marchings and counter-marchings; of smart skirmishes here, and prisoners +taken there; yet could we not form the slightest conception of where the +chief force of the enemy lay, nor what the direction to which our own +army was pointed. Indeed, our troops seemed to scatter on every side. +Marmont, with a strong force, was despatched towards Gratz, where it +was said the Archduke Charles was at the head of a considerable army; +Davoust moved on Hungary, and occupied Presburg; Bernadotte retraced his +steps towards the Upper Danube, to hold the Archduke Frederick in check, +who had escaped from Ulm with ten thousand men; Mortiers corps, harassed +and broken by the engagement with Kutusof, were barely sufficient to +garrison Vienna; while Soult, Lannes, and Murat pushed forward towards +Moravia, with a strong cavalry force and some battalions of the Guard. +In fact, the whole army was scattered like an exploded shell; nor could +we see the means by which its wide extended fragments were to be united +at a moment, much less divine the spot to which their combined force was +to be directed. + +Had these Russians been fabulous creatures of a legend, instead of +men of mortal mould, they could scarcely have been endowed with more +attributes of ubiquity than we conferred on them. Sometimes we believed +them at one side of the Danube, sometimes at the other; now we heard of +them as retreating by forced marches into their native fastnesses, now +as encamped in the mountain regions of Moravia. Yesterday came the news +that they laid down their arms and surrendered as prisoners of war; +to-day we heard of them as having forced back our advanced posts and +carried off several squadrons as prisoners. + +At length came the positive information that the allied armies were in +cantonments around Olmutz; while Napoleon had pushed forward to Brunn, +a place of considerable strength, communicating by the highroad with the +Russian headquarters. It was no longer doubtful, then, where the great +game was to be decided, and thither the various battalions were now +directed by marches day and night. + +On the 29th of November our united detachments, now numbering +several hundred men, arrived at Brunn. I lost no time in repairing to +headquarters, where I found General d'Auvergne deeply engaged with the +details of the force under his command: his brigade had been placed +under the orders of Murat; and it was well known the prince gave little +rest or respite to those under his command. From him I learned that +three days of unsuccessful negotiation had just passed over, and that +the Emperor had now resolved on a great battle. Indeed, every moment was +critical. Russia had assumed a decidedly hostile aspect; the Swedes were +moving to the south; the Archduke Charles, by a circuitous route, was +on the march to join the Russian army, to whose aid fresh reinforcements +were daily arriving, and Benningsen was hourly expected with more. Under +these circumstances a battle was inevitable; and such a one, as, by its +result, must conclude the war. + +This much did I learn from the old general as we rode over the field +together; examining with caution the nature of the ground, and where it +offered facilities, and where it presented obstacles, to the movement +of cavalry. Such were the orders issued that morning by Napoleon to the +generals of brigade, who might now be seen with their staffs traversing +the plain in every direction. As we moved along we could discover in the +distance the dark columns of the enemy marching, not towards us, but in +a southerly direction towards our extreme right. This movement attracted +the attention of several others, and more than one aide-de-camp was +despatched to Brunn to carry the intelligence to the Emperor. + +The same evening couriers departed in every direction to Bernadotte +and Davoust to hasten forward at once; even Mortier, with his mangled +division, was ordered to abandon Vienna to a division of Marmont's army, +and move on to Brunn. And now the great work of concentration began. + +Meanwhile the Russians advanced, and on the 30th drove in an advanced +post, and compelled our cavalry to fall back behind our position. The +following morning the allies resumed their flank movement. And now no +doubt could be entertained of their plan; which was, by turning our +right, to cut us off from our supporting columns resting at Vienna, and +throw our retreat back upon the mountainous districts of Bohemia. In +this way five massive columns moved past us scarce half a league distant +from our advanced posts, numbering eighty thousand men, of which fifteen +were cavalry in the most perfect condition. + +Our position was in advance of the fortress of Brunn; the headquarters +of the Emperor occupied a rising piece of ground, at the base of which +flowed a small stream, a tributary to some of the numerous ponds by +which the field was intersected. The entire ground in our front was +indeed a succession of these small lakes, with villages interspersed, +and occasionally some stunted woods; great morasses extended around +these ponds, through which led the highroads or such bypaths as +conducted from one village to another. Here and there were plains where +cavalry might act with safety, but rarely in large bodies. + +Our right rested on the lake of Moeritz, where Soult's division was +stationed; behind which, thrown back in such a manner as to escape the +observation of the enemy, was Davoust's corps, the reserve occupying a +cliff of ground beside the convent of Eeygern. Our left, under Lannes, +occupied the hill of Santon,--a wooded eminence, the last of a long +chain of mountains running east and west. Above, and on the crest of the +height, a powerful park of artillery was posted, and defended by strong +intrenchments. A powerful cavalry corps was placed at the bottom of +the mountain. Next came Bernadotte's division, separated by the highroad +from Brunn to Olmutz from the division under Murat, which, besides his +own cavalry, contained Oudinot's grenadiers and Bessiere's battalions +of the Imperial Guard; the centre and right being formed of Soult's +division, the strongest of all; the reserve, consisting of several +battalions of the Guard and a strong force of artillery, being under +the immediate orders of Napoleon, to be employed wherever circumstances +demanded. + +These were the dispositions for the coming battle, made with all the +precision of troops moving on parade; and such was the discipline of the +army at Boulogne, and so perfectly arranged the plans of the Emperor, +that the ground of every regiment was marked out, and each corps moved +into its allotted space with the regularity of some piece of mechanism. + + + +CHAPTER III. AUSTERLITZ + +The dispositions for the battle of Austerlitz occupied the entire day. +From sunrise Napoleon was on horse-back, visiting every position; he +examined each battery with the skill of an old officer of artillery; +and frequently dismounting from his horse, carefully noted the slightest +peculiarities of the ground,--remarking to his staff, with an accuracy +which the event showed to be prophetic, the nature of the struggle, as +the various circumstances of the field indicated them to his practised +mind. + +It was already late when he turned his horse's head towards the bivouac +hut,--a rude shelter of straw,--and rode slowly through the midst of +that great army. The _ordre du jour_, written at his own dictation, had +just been distributed among the soldiers; and now around every watchfire +the groups were kneeling to read the spirit-stirring lines by which he +so well knew how to excite the enthusiasm of his followers. They were +told that "the enemy were the same Russian battalions they had already +beaten at Hollabrunn, and on whose flying traces they had been marching +ever since." "They will endeavor," said the proclamation, "to turn our +right, but in doing so they must open their flank to us: need I say what +will be the result? Soldiers, so long as with your accustomed valor you +deal death and destruction in their ranks, so long shall I remain +beyond the reach of fire; but let the victory prove, even for a moment, +doubtful, your Emperor shall be in the midst of you. This day must +decide forever the honor of the infantry of France. Let no man leave his +ranks to succor the wounded,--they shall be cared for by one who never +forgets his soldiers,--and with this victory the campaign is ended!" + +Never were lines better calculated to stimulate the energy and flatter +the pride of those to whom they were addressed. It was a novel thing in +a general to communicate to his army the plan of his intended battle, +and perhaps to any other than a French army the disclosure would not +have been rated as such a favor; but their warlike spirit and military +intelligence have ever been most remarkably united, and the men were +delighted with such a proof of confidence and esteem. + +A dull roar, like the sound of the distant sea, swelled along the lines +from the far right, where the Convent of Reygern stood, and growing +louder by degrees, proclaimed that the Emperor was coming. It was +already dark, but he was quickly recognized by the troops, and with one +burst of enthusiasm they seized upon the straw of their bivouacs, and +setting fire to it, held the blazing masses above their heads, waving +them wildly to and fro, amid the cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" For above +a league along the plain the red light flashed and glowed, marking out +beneath it the dense squares and squadrons of armed warriors. It was +the anniversary of Napoleon's coronation; and such was the fete by which +they celebrated the day. + +The Emperor rode through the ranks uncovered. Never did a prouder smile +light up his features, while thronging around him the veterans of the +Guard struggled to catch even a passing glance at him. "Do but look +at us tomorrow, and keep beyond the reach of shot," said a _grognard_, +stepping forward; "we'll bring their cannon and their colors, and lay +them at thy feet." The marshals themselves, the hardened veterans of +so many fights, could not restrain their enthusiasm; and proffers of +devotion unto death accompanied him as he went. + +At last all was silent in the encampment; the soldiers slept beside +their watchfires, and save the tramp of a patrol or the _qui vive_? of +the sentinels, all was still. The night was cold and sharp; a cutting +wind blew across the plain, which gave way to a thick mist,--so thick, +the sentries could scarcely see a dozen paces off. + +I sat in my little hovel of straw,--my mind far too much excited for +sleep,--watching the stars as they peeped out one by one, piercing the +gray mist, until at last the air became thin and clear, and a frosty +atmosphere succeeded to the weighty fog; and now I could trace out +the vast columns, as they lay thickly strewn along the plain. The old +general, wrapped in his cloak, slept soundly on his straw couch; his +deep-drawn breathing showed that his rest was unbroken. How slowly did +the time seem to creep along! I thought it must be nigh morning, and it +was only a little more than midnight. + +Our position was a small rising ground about a mile in front of the left +centre, and communicating with the enemy's line by a narrow road between +the marshes. This had been defended by a battery of four guns, with +a stockade in front; and along it now, for a considerable distance, a +chain of sentinels were placed, who should communicate any movement that +they observed in the Russian lines, of which I was charged to convey +the earliest intelligence to the quartier-general. This duty alone would +have kept me in a state of anxiety, had not the frame of my mind already +so disposed me; and I could not avoid creeping out from time to time, to +peer through the gloom in the direction of the enemy's camp, and listen +with an eager ear for any sounds from that quarter. At last I heard the +sound of a voice at some distance off; then, a few minutes after, the +hurried step of feet, and a voltigeur came up, breathless with haste: +"The Russians were in motion towards the right. Our advanced posts could +hear the roll of guns and tumbrels moving along the plain, and it was +evident their columns were in march." I knelt down and placed my ear to +the ground, and almost started at the distinctness with which I could +hear the dull sound of the large guns as they were dragged along; the +earth seemed to tremble beneath them. + +I awoke the general at once, who, resting on his arm, coolly heard my +report; and having directed me to hasten to headquarters with the news, +lay back again, and was asleep before I was in my saddle. At the top +speed of my horse I galloped to the rear, winding my way between the +battalions, till I came to a gentle rising ground, where, by the +light of several large fires that blazed in a circle I could see the +dismounted troopers of the _chasseurs a cheval_, who always formed the +Imperial Bodyguard. Having given the word, I was desired by the officer +of the watch to dismount, and following him, I passed forward to a space +in the middle of the circle, where, under shelter of some sheaves of +straw piled over each other, sat three officers, smoking beside a fire. + +"Ha! here comes news of some sort," said a voice I knew at once to be +Murat's. "Well, sir, what is't?" + +"The Russian columns are in motion, Monsieur le Marechal; the artillery +moving rapidly towards our right." + +"_Diantre!_ it's not much more than midnight! Davoust, shall we awake +the Emperor?" + +"No, no," said a harsh voice, as a shrivelled, hard-featured man turned +round from the blaze, and showing a head covered by a coarse woollen +cap, looked far more like a pirate than a marshal of France; "they 'll +not attack before day breaks. Go back," said he, addressing me; "observe +the position well, and if there be any general movement towards the +southward, you may report it." + +By the time I regained my post, all was in silence once more; either the +Russians had arrested their march, or already their columns were out +of hearing,--not a gleam of light could I perceive along their entire +position. And now, worn out with watching, I threw myself down among the +straw, and slept soundly. + +"There! there! that's the third!" said General d'Auvergne, shaking me by +the shoulder; "there again! Don't you hear the guns?" + +I listened, and could just distinguish the faint booming sound of +far-off artillery coming up from the extreme right of our position. It +was still but three o'clock, and although the sky was thick with stars, +perfectly dark in the valley. Meanwhile we could bear the galloping of +cavalry quite distinctly in the same direction. + +"Mount, Burke, and back to the quartier-general! But you need not; here +comes some of the staff." + +"So, D'Auvergne," cried a voice whose tones were strange to me, "they +meditate a night attack, it would seem; or is it only trying the range +of their guns?" + +"I think the latter, Monsieur le Marechal, for I heard no small arms; +and, even now, all is quiet again." + +"I believe you are right," said he, moving slowly forward, while a +number of officers followed at a little distance. "You see, D'Auvergne, +how correctly the Emperor judged their intentions. The brunt of the +battle will be about Reygern. But there! don't you hear bugles in the +valley?" + +As he spoke, the music of our tirailleurs' bugles arose from the glen +in front of our centre, where, in a thick beech-wood, the light infantry +regiments were posted. + +"What is it, D'Esterre?" said he to an officer who galloped up at the +moment. + +"They say the Russian Guard, sir, is moving to the front; our +skirmishers have orders to fall back without firing." + +As he heard this, the Marshal Bernadotte--for it was he--turned his +horse suddenly round, and rode back, followed by his staff. And now the +drums beat to quarters along the line, and the hoarse trumpets of the +cavalry might be heard summoning the squadrons throughout the field; +while between the squares, and in the intervals of the battalions, +single horsemen galloped past with orders. Soult's division, which +extended for nearly a league to our right, was the first to move, and it +seemed like one vast shadow creeping along the earth, as column beside +column marched steadily onward. Our brigade had not as yet received +orders, but the men were in readiness beside the horses, and only +waiting for the word to mount. + +The suspense of the moment was fearful. All that I had ever dreamed +or pictured to myself of a soldier's enthusiasm was faint and weak, +compared to the rush of sensations I now experienced. There must be a +magic power of ecstasy in the approach of danger,--some secret sense of +bounding delight, mingled with the chances of a battle,--that renders +one intoxicated with excitement. Each booming gun I heard sent a wild +throb through me, and I panted for the word "Forward!" + +Column after column moved past us, and disappeared in the dip of ground +beneath; and as we saw the close battalions filling the wide plain in +front, we sighed to think that it was destined to be the day of glory +peculiarly to the infantry. Wherever the nature of the field permitted +shelter or the woods afforded cover, our troops were sent immediately +to occupy. The great manoeuvre of the day was to be the piercing of the +enemy's centre whenever he should weaken that point by the endeavor to +turn our right flank. + +A faint streak of gray light was marking the horizon when the single +guns which we had heard at intervals ceased; and then, after a short +pause, a long, loud roll of artillery issued from the distant right, +followed by the crackling din of small-arms, which increased at every +moment, and now swelled into an uninterrupted noise, through which the +large guns pealed from time to time. A red glare, obscured now and then +by means of black smoke, lit up the sky in that quarter, where already +the battle was raging fiercely. + +The narrow causeway between the two small lakes in our front conducted +to an open space of ground, about a cannon-shot from the Russian line; +and this we were now ordered to occupy, to be prepared to act as support +to the infantry of Soult's left, whenever the attack began. As we +debouched into the plain, I beheld a group of horsemen, who, wrapped up +in their cloaks, sat motionless in their saddles, calmly regarding the +squadrons as they issued from the wood: these were Murat and his staff, +to whom was committed the attack on the Russian Guard. His division +consisted of the hussars and chasseurs under Kellermann, the cuirassiers +of D'Auvergne, and the heavy dragoons of Nansouty,--making a force of +eight thousand sabres, supported by twenty pieces of field artillery. +Again were we ordered to dismount, for although the battle continued +to rage on the right, the whole of the centre and left were unengaged. + +Thus stood we as the sun arose,--that "Sun of Austerlitz!" so often +appealed to and apostrophized by Napoleon as gilding the greatest of his +glories. The mist from the lakes shut out the prospect of the enemy's +lines at first; but gradually this moved away, and we could perceive the +dark columns of the Russians, as they moved rapidly along the side of +the Pratzen, and continued to pour their thousands towards Reygern. + +At last the roar of musketry swelled louder and nearer, and an officer +galloping past told us that Soult's right had been called up to support +Davoust's division. This did not look well; it proved the Russians had +pressed our lines closely, and we waited impatiently to hear further +intelligence. It was evident, too, that our right was suffering +severely, otherwise the attack on the centre would not have been +delayed. Just then a wild cheer to the front drew our attention +thither, and we saw the heads of three immense columns--Soult's +division--advancing at a run towards the enemy. + +"_Par Saint Louis_," cried General d'Auvergne, as he directed his +telescope on the Russian line, "those fellows have lost their senses! +See if they have not moved their artillery away from the Pratzen, and +weakened their centre more and more! Soult sees it: mark how he presses +his columns on! There they go, faster and faster! But look! there's a +movement yonder,--the Russians perceive their mistake." + +"Mount!" was now heard from squadron to squadron; while dashing along +the line like a thunderbolt, Murat rode far in advance of his staff, the +men cheering him as he went. + +"There!" cried D'Auvergne, as he pointed with his finger, "that column +with the yellow shoulder-knots,--that's Vandamme's brigade of light +infantry; see how they rush on, eager to be first up with the enemy. But +St. Hilaire's grenadiers have got the start of them, and are already at +the foot of the hill. It is a race between them!" + +And so had it become. The two columns advanced, cheering wildly; while +the officers, waving their caps, led them on, and others rode along the +flanks urging the men forward. + +The order now came for our squadrons to form in charging sections, +leaving spaces for the light artillery between. This done, we moved +slowly forward at a walk, the guns keeping step by step beside us. A few +minutes after, we lost sight of the attacking columns; but the crashing +fire told us they were engaged, and that already the great struggle had +begun. + +For above an hour we remained thus; every stir, every word loud spoken, +seeming to our impatience like the order to move. At last, the squadrons +to our right were seen to advance; and then a tremulous motion of +the whole line showed that the horses themselves participated in the +eagerness of the moment; and, at last, the word came for the cuirassiers +to move up. In less than a hundred yards we were halted again; and +I heard an aide-de-camp telling General d'Auvergne that Davoust had +suffered immensely on the right; that his division, although reinforced, +had fallen back behind Reygern, and all now depended on the attack of +Soult's columns. + +I heard no more, for now the whole line advanced in trot, and as our +formation showed an unbroken front, the word came,--"Faster!" and +"Faster!" As we emerged from the low ground we saw Soult's column +already half way up the ascent; they seemed like a great wedge driven +into the enemy's centre, which, opening as they advanced, presented two +surfaces of fire to their attack. + +"The battery yonder has opened its fire on our line," said D'Auvergne; +"we cannot remain where we are." + +"Forward!--charge!" came the word from front to rear, and squadron after +squadron dashed madly up the ascent. The one word only, "Charge!" kept +ringing through my head; all else was drowned in the terrible din of the +advance. An Austrian brigade of light cavalry issued forth as we came +up, but soon fell back under the overwhelming pressure of our force. +And now we came down upon the squares of the red-brown Russian infantry. +Volley after volley sent back our leading squadrons, wounded and +repulsed, when, unlimbering with the speed of lightning, the horse +artillery poured in a discharge of grapeshot. The ranks wavered, and +through their cleft spaces of dead and dying our cuirassiers dashed +in, sabring all before them. In vain the infantry tried to form again: +successive discharges of grape, followed by cavalry attacks, broke +through their firmest ranks; and at last retreating, they fell back +under cover of a tremendous battery of field-guns, which, opening their +fire, compelled us to retire into the wood. + +Nor were we long inactive. Bernadotte's division was now engaged on our +left, and a pressing demand came for cavalry to support them. Again we +mounted the hill, and came in sight of the Russian Guard, led on by the +Grand-Duke Constantino himself,--a splendid body of men, conspicuous for +their size and the splendor of their equipment. Such, however, was the +impetuous torrent of our attack that they were broken in an instant; and +notwithstanding their courage and devotion, fresh masses of our dragoons +kept pouring down upon them, and they were sabred, almost to a man. + +While we were thus engaged, the battle became general from left to +right, and the earth shook beneath the thundering sounds of two hundred +great guns. Our position, for a moment victorious, soon changed; for +having followed the retreating squadrons too far, the waves closed +behind us, and we now saw that a dense cloud of Austrian and Russian +cavalry were forming in our rear. An instant of hesitation would have +been fatal. It was then that a tall and splendidly-dressed horseman +broke from the line, and with a cry to "Follow!" rode straight at +the enemy. It was Murat himself, sabre in hand, who, clearing his way +through the Russians, opened a path for us. A few minutes after we had +gained the wood; but one third of our force had fallen. + +"Cavalry! cavalry!" cried a field-officer, riding down at headlong +speed, his face covered with blood from a sabre-cut, "to the front!" + +The order was given to advance at a gallop; and we found ourselves next +instant hand to hand with the Russian dragoons, who having swept along +the flank of Bernadotte's division, were sabring them on all sides. +On we went, reinforced by Nansouty and his carabineers, a body of nigh +seven thousand men. It was a torrent no force could stem. The tide of +victory was with us; and we swept along, wave after wave, the infantry +advancing in line for miles at either side, while whole brigades of +artillery kept up a murderous fire without ceasing. Entire columns of +the enemy surrendered as prisoners; guns were captured at each instant; +and only by a miracle did the Grand-Duke escape our hussars, who +followed him till he was lost to view in the flying ranks of the allies. + +As we gained the crest of the hill, we were in time to see Soult's +victorious columns driving the enemy before them; while the Imperial +Guard, up to that moment unengaged, reinforced the grenadiers on the +right, and broke through the Russians on every side. + +The attempt to outflank us on the right we had perfectly retorted on the +left; where Lannes's division, overlapping the line, pressed them on two +sides, and drove them back, still fighting, into the plain, which, with +a lake, separated the allied armies from the village of Austerlitz. And +here took place the most dreadful occurrence of the day. + +The two roads which led through the lake were soon so encumbered and +blocked up by ammunition wagons and carts that they became impassable; +and as the masses of the fugitives thickened, they spread over the lake, +which happened to be frozen. It was at this time that the Emperor came +up, and seeing the cavalry halted, and no longer in pursuit of the +flying columns, ordered up twelve pieces of the artillery of the +Imperial Guard, which, from the crest of the hill, opened a murderous +fire on them. The slaughter was fearful as the discharges of grape and +round shot cut channels through the jammed-up mass, and tore the dense +columns, as it were, into fragments. + +Dreadful as the scene was, what followed far exceeded it in horror; +for soon the shells began to explode beneath the ice, which now, with a +succession of reports louder than thunder, gave way. In an instant +whole regiments were ingulfed, and amid the wildest cries of despair, +thousands sank never to appear again, while the deafening artillery +mercilessly played upon them, till over that broad surface no living +thing was seen to move, while beneath was the sepulchre of five thousand +men. About seven thousand reached Austerlitz by another road to the +northward; but even these had not escaped, save for a mistake of +Bernadotte, who most unaccountably, as it was said, halted his division +on the heights. Had it not been for this, not a soldier of the Russian +right wing had been saved. + +The reserve cavalry and the dragoons of the Guard were now called up +from the pursuit, and I saw my own regiment pass close by me, as I stood +amid the staff round Murat. The men were fresh and eager for the fray; +yet how many fell in that pursuit, even after the victory! The Russian +batteries continued their fire to the last. The cannoneers were cut +down beside their guns, and the cavalry made repeated charges on our +advancing squadrons; nor was it till late in the day they fell back, +leaving two thirds of their force dead or wounded on the field of +battle. + +On every side now were to be seen the flying columns of the allies, +hotly followed by the victorious French. The guns still thundered at +intervals; but the loud roar of battle was subdued to the crashing din +of charging squadrons, and the distant cries of the vanquishers and +the vanquished. Around and about lay the wounded in all the fearful +attitudes of suffering; and as we were fully a league in advance of our +original position, no succor had yet arrived for the poor fellows whose +courage had carried them into the very squares of the enemy. + +Most of the staff--myself among the number--were despatched to the rear +for assistance. I remember, as I rode along at my fastest speed, between +the columns of infantry and the fragments of artillery which covered +the grounds, that a _peloton_ of dragoons came thundering past, while a +voice shouted out "Place! place!" Supposing it was the Emperor himself, +I drew up to one side, and uncovering my head, sat in patience till he +had passed, when, with the speed of four horses urged to their utmost, +a caleche flew by, two men dressed like couriers seated on the box. +They made for the highroad towards Vienna, and soon disappeared in the +distance. + +"What can it mean?" said I, to an officer beside me; "not his Majesty, +surely?" + +"No, no," replied he, smiling: "it is General Lebrun on his way to Paris +with the news of the victory. The Emperor is down at Reygern yonder, +where he has just written the bulletin. I warrant you he follows that +caleche with his eye; he'd rather see a battery of guns carried off by +the enemy than an axle break there this moment." + +Thus closed the great day of Austerlitz--a hundred cannons, forty-three +thousand prisoners, and thirty-two colors being the spoils of this the +greatest of even Napoleon's victories. + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE FIELD AT MIDNIGHT. + +We passed the night on the field of battle,--a night dark and starless. +The heavens were, indeed, clothed with black, and a heavy atmosphere, +lowering and gloomy, spread like a pall over the dead and the dying. Not +a breath of air moved; and the groans of the wounded sighed through the +stillness with a melancholy cadence no words can convey. Far away in the +distance the moving lights marked where fatigue parties went in search +of their comrades. The Emperor himself did not leave the saddle till +nigh morning; he went, followed by an ambulance, hither and thither over +the plain, recalling the names of the several regiments, enumerating +their deeds of prowess, and even asking for many of the soldiers by +name. He ordered large fires to be lighted throughout the field, and +where medical assistance could not be procured, the officers of the +staff might be seen covering the wounded with greatcoats and cloaks, and +rendering them such aid as lay in their power. + +Dreadful as the picture was,--fearful reverse to the gorgeous splendor +of the vast army the morning sun had shone upon, and in the pride of +strength and spirit,--yet even here was there much to make one feel that +war is not bereft of its humanizing influences. How many a soldier did I +see that night, blackened with powder, his clothes torn and ragged with +shot, sitting beside a wounded comrade--now wetting his lips with a +cool draught, now cheering his heart with words of comfort! Many, though +wounded, were tending others less able to assist themselves. Acts of +kindness and self-devotion--not less in number than those of heroism and +courage--were met with at every step; while among the sufferers there +lived a spirit of enthusiasm that seemed to lighten the worst pang of +their agony. Many would cry out, as I passed, to know the fate of the +day, and what became of this regiment or of that battalion. Others could +but articulate a faint "Vive l'Empereur!" which in the intervals of pain +they kept repeating, as though it were a charm against suffering; while +one question met me every instant,--"What says the Petit Caporal? Is he +content with us?" None were insensible to the glorious issue of +that day; nor amid all the agony of death, dealt out in every shape of +horror and misery, did I hear one word of anger or rebuke to him for +whose ambition they had shed their heart's blood. + +[Illustration: 050] + +Having secured a fresh horse, I rode forward in the direction of +Austerlitz, where our cavalry, met by the chevaliers of the Russian +Imperial Guard, sustained the greatest check and the most considerable +loss of the day. The old dragoon who accompanied me warned me I should +find few, if any, of our comrades living there. + +"_Ventrebleu!_ lieutenant, you can't expect it. The first four squadrons +went down like one man; for when our fellows fell wounded from their +horses, they always sabred or shot them as they lay." + +I found this information but too correct. Lines of dead men lay beside +their horses, ranged as they stood in battle, while before them lay the +bodies of the Russian Guard, their gorgeous uniform all slashed with +gold, marking them out amid the dull russet costumes of their comrades. +In many places were they intermingled, and showed where a hand-to-hand +combat had been fought; and I saw two clasped rigidly in each other's +grasp, who had evidently been shot by others while struggling for the +mastery. + +"I told you, mon lieutenant, it was useless to come here; this was _a la +mort_ while it lasted; and if it had continued much longer in the same +fashion, it's hard to say which of us had been going over the field now +with lanterns." + +Too true, indeed! Not one wounded man did we meet with, nor did one +human voice break the silence around us. "Perhaps," said I, "they may +have already carried up the wounded to the village yonder; I see a great +blaze of light there. Bide forward, and learn if it be so." + +When I had dismissed the orderly, I dismounted from my horse, and walked +carefully along the ridge of ground, anxious to ascertain if any poor +fellow still remained alive amid that dreadful heap of dead. A low +brushwood covered the ground in certain places; and here I perceived +but few of the cavalry had penetrated, while the infantry were all +tirailleurs of the Russian Guard, bayoneted by our advancing columns. +As I approached the lake the ground became more rugged and uneven; and +I was about to turn back, when my eye caught the faint glimmering of +a light reflected in the water. Picketing my horse where he stood, I +advanced alone towards the light, which I saw now was at the foot of a +little rocky crag beside the lake. As I drew near, I stopped to listen, +and could distinctly hear the deep tones of a man's voice, as if broken +at intervals by pain, while in his accents I thought I could trace a +tone of indignant passion rather than of bodily suffering. + +"Leave me, leave me where I am," cried he, peevishly. "I thought I might +have had my last few moments tranquil, when I staggered thus far." + +"Come, come, Comrade!" said another, in a voice of comforting; "come, +thou wert never faint-hearted before. Thou hast had thy share of +bruises, and cared little about them too. Art dry?" + +"Yes; give me another drink. Ah!" cried he, in an excited tone, "they +can't stand before the cuirassiers of the Guard. _Sacrebleu!_ how proud +the Petit Caporal will be of this day!" Then, dropping his voice, +he muttered, "What care I who's proud? I have my billet, and must be +going." + +"Not so, _mon enfant_; thou'lt have the cross for thy day's work. He +knows thee well; I saw him smile to-day when thou madest the salute in +passing." + +"Didst thou that?" said the wounded man, with eagerness; "did he smile? +Ah, villain! how you can allure men to shed their heart's blood by a +smile! He knows me! That he ought, and, if he but knew how I lay here +now, he 'd send the best surgeon of his staff to look after me." + +"That he would, and that he will; courage, and cheer up." + +"No, no; I don't care for it now. I'll never go back to the regiment +again; I could n't do it!" + +As he spoke the last words his voice became fainter and fainter, and +at last was lost in a hiccup; partly, as it seemed, from emotion, and +partly from bodily suffering. + +"_Qui vive?_" cried his companion, as the clash of my sabre announced my +approach. + +"An officer of the Eighth Hussars," said I, in a low voice, fearing to +disturb the wounded man, as he lay with his head sunk on his knees. + +"Too late, Comrade! too late," said he, in a stifled tone; "the order of +route has come. I must away." + +"A brave cuirassier of the Guard should never say so while he has a +chance left to serve his Emperor in another field of battle." + +"Vive l'Empereur! vive l'Empereur!" shouted he, madly, as he lifted his +helmet and tried to wave it above his head. But the exertion brought on +a violent fit of coughing, which choked his utterance, while a torrent +of red blood gushed from his mouth, and deluged his neck and chest. + +"Ah, _mon Dieu!_ that cry has been his death," said the other, wringing +his hands in utter misery. + +"Where is he wounded?" said I, kneeling down beside the sick man, who +now lay, half on his face, upon the grass. + +"In the chest, through the lung," whispered the other. "He doesn't know +the doctor saw him; it was he told me there was no hope. 'You may leave +him,' said he; 'an hour or two more are all that 's left him;' as if I +could leave a comrade we all loved. My poor fellow, it is a sad day for +the old Fourth when thou art taken from them!" + +"Ha! was he of the Fourth, then?" said I, remembering the regiment. + +"Yes, _parbleu!_ and though but a corporal, he was well known throughout +the army. Pioche--" + +"Pioche!" cried I, in agony; "is this Pioche?" + +"Here," said the wounded man, hearing the name, and answering as if on +parade,--"here, mon commandant! but too faint, I 'm afraid, for duty. +I feel weak to-day," said he, as he pressed his hand upon his side, and +then slowly sank back against the rock, and dropped his arms at either +side. + +"Come," said I, "we must lose no time. Let us carry him to the rear. If +nothing else can be done, he 'll meet with care--" + +"Hush! mon lieutenant! don't let him hear you speak of that. He stormed +and swore so much when the ambulance passed, and they wanted to bring +him along, that it brought on a coughing fit, just like what you saw, +and he lay in a faint for half an hour after. He vows he 'll never stir +from where he is. Truth is, Commandant," said he, in the lowest whisper, +"he is determined to die. When his squadron fell back from the Russian +square, he rode on their bayonets, and cut at the men while the +artillery was playing all about him. He told me this morning he 'd never +leave the field." + +"Poor fellow! what was the meaning of this sad resolution?" + +"_Ma foi!_ a mere trifle, after all," said the other, shrugging his +shoulders, and making a true French grimace of contempt. "You 'll smile +when I tell you; but he takes it to heart, poor fellow. His mistress has +been false to him,--no great matter that, you 'd say,--but so it is, and +nothing more. See how still he lies now! is he sleeping?" + +"I fear not; he looks exhausted from loss of blood. Come, we must have +him out of this; here comes my orderly to assist us. If we carry him to +the road I 'll find a carriage of some sort." + +I said this in a tone of command, to silence any scruples he might +still have about obeying his comrade in preference to the orders of an +officer. He obeyed with the instinct of discipline, and proceeded to +fold his cloak in such a manner that we could carry the wounded man +between us. + +The poor corporal, too weak to resist us, faint from bleeding and +semi-stupid, suffered himself to be lifted upon the cloak, and never +uttered a word or a cry as we bore him along between us. + +We had not proceeded far when we came up with a convoy, conducting +several carts with the wounded to the convent of Reygern, which had now +been fitted up as an hospital. On one of these we secured a place for +our poor friend, and walked along beside him towards the convent. As we +went along I questioned his comrade closely on the point; and he told +me that Pioche had resolved never to survive the battle, and had taken +leave of his friends the evening before. + +"Ah, _parbleu!_" added he, with energy, "mademoiselle is pretty +enough,--there 's no denying that; but her head is turned by flattery +and soft speeches. All the gay young fellows of the hussar regiment, +the aides-de-camp,--ay, and some of the generals, too,--have paid her +so much attention that it could not be expected she'd care for a poor +corporal. Not but that Pioche is a brave fellow and a fine soldier. +_Sapristi!_ he 'd be no discredit to any girl's choice. But Minette--" + +"Minette, the vivandiere?" + +"Ay, to be sure, mon lieutenant; I'd warrant you must have known her." + +"What of her? where is she?" said I, burning with impatience. + +"She's with the wounded, up at Reygern yonder. They sent for her to +Heilbrunn yesterday, where she was with the reserve battalions. _Ma +foi!_ you don't think our fellows would do without Minette at the +ambulance, where there was a battle to be fought. They say they'd hard +work enough to make her come up. After all, she's a strange girl; that +she is." + +"How was that? Has she taken offence with the Fourth?" + +"No, that is not it; she likes the old regiment in her heart. I'd never +believe she didn't; but" (here he dropped his voice to a low whisper, +as if dreading to be overheard by the wounded man), "but they say--who +knows if it's true?--that when she was left behind at Ulm or Elchingen, +or somewhere up there on the Danube, that there was a young fellow--I +heard his name, too, but I forget it--who was brought in badly wounded, +and that mademoiselle was left to watch and nurse him. He got well in +time, for the thing was not so serious as they thought. And what do you +think was the return he made the poor girl? He seduced her!" + +"It's false! false as hell!" cried I, bursting with passion. "Who has +dared to spread such a calumny?" + +"Don't be angry, mon lieutenant; there are plenty to answer for the +report. And if it was yourself--" + +"Yes; it was by _my_ bedside she watched; it was to _me_ she gave that +care and kindness by which I recovered from a dangerous wound. But so +far from this base requital--" + +"Why did she leave you, then, and march night and day with the chasseur +brigade into the Tyrol? Why did she tell her friends that she'd never +see the old Fourth again? Why did she fret herself into an illness--" + +"Did she do this, poor girl?" + +"Ay, that she did. But, mayhap, you never heard of all this. I can only +say, mon lieutenant, that you'd be safer in a broken square, charged by +a heavy squadron, than among the Fourth, after what you 've done." + +I turned indignantly from him without a reply; for while my pride +revolted at answering an accusation from such a quarter, my mind was +harassed by the sad fate of poor Minette, and perplexed how to account +for her sudden departure. My silence at once arrested my companion's +speech, and we walked along the remainder of the way without a word on +either side. + +The day was just breaking when the first wagon of the convoy entered the +gates of the convent. It was an enormous mass of building, originally +destined for the reception of about three thousand persons; for, in +addition to the priestly inhabitants, there were two great hospitals and +several schools included within the walls. This, before the battle, had +been tenanted by the staffs of many general officers and the corps of +engineers and sappers, but now was entirely devoted to the wounded of +either army; for Austrians and Russians were everywhere to be met with, +receiving equal care and attention with our own troops. + +It was the first time I had witnessed a military hospital after a +battle, and the impression was too fearful to be ever forgotten by me. + +The great chambers and spacious rooms of the convent were soon found +inadequate for the numbers who arrived; and already the long corridors +and passages of the building were crowded with beds, between which a +narrow path scarcely permitted one person to pass. Here, promiscuously, +without regard to rank, officers in command lay side by side with the +meanest privates, awaiting the turn of medical aid, as no other order +was observed than the necessities of each case demanded. A black +mark above the bed, indicating that the patient's state was hopeless, +proclaimed that no further attention need be bestowed; while the +same mark, with a white bar across it, implied that it was a case for +operation. In this way the surgeons who arrived at each moment from +different corps of the army discovered, at a glance, where their +services were required, and not a minute's time was lost. + +The dreadful operations of surgery--for which, in the events of +every-day life, every provision of delicate secrecy, and every minute +detail which can alleviate dread, are so rigidly studied,--were here +going forward on every side; the horrible preparations moved from bed to +bed with a rapidity which showed that where suffering so abounded +there was no time for sympathy; and the surgeons, with arms bare to the +shoulder and bedaubed with blood, toiled away as though life no longer +moved in the creeping flesh beneath the knife, and human agony spoke not +aloud with every motion of their hand. + +"Place there! move forward!" said an hospital surgeon, as they carried +up the litter on which Pioche lay stretched and senseless. + +"What's this?" cried a surgeon, leaning forward, and placing his hand on +the sick man's pulse. "Ah! take him back again; it 's all over there!" + +"Oh, no!" cried I, in agony, "it can scarcely be; they lifted him alive +from the wagon." + +"He's not dead, sir," replied the surgeon, in a whisper, "but he will +soon be; there's internal bleeding going on from that wound, and a few +hours, or less perhaps must close the scene." + +"Can nothing be done? nothing?" + +"I fear not." He opened the jacket of the wounded man as he spoke, and +slitting the inner clothes asunder with a quick stroke of his scissors, +disclosed a tremendous sabre-wound in the side. "That is not the worst," +said he. "Look here," pointing to a small bluish mark of a bullet hole +above it; "here lies the mischief." + +An hospital aid whispered something at the instant in the surgeon's ear, +to which he quickly replied, "When?" + +"This instant, sir; the ligature slipped, and--" + +"Remove him," was the reply. "Now, sir, I have a bed for your poor +fellow here; but I have little hope to give you. His pulse is stronger, +otherwise the endeavor would be lost time." + +While they carried the litter forward, I perceived that another party +were lifting from a bed near a figure, over whose face the sheet was +carelessly thrown. I guessed from the gestures that the form they lifted +was lifeless; the heavy sumph of the body upon the ground showed it +beyond a doubt. The bearers replaced the dead man by the dying body of +poor Pioche; and from a vague feeling of curiosity, I stooped down and +drew back the sheet from the face of the corpse. As I did so, my limbs +trembled, and I leaned back almost fainting against the wall. Pale with +the pallor of death, but scarcely altered from life, I beheld the dead +features of Amedee Pichot, the captain whose insolence had left an +unsettled quarrel between us. The man for whose coming I waited to +expiate an open insult, now lay cold and lifeless at my feet. What a +rush of sensations passed through my mind as I gazed on that motionless +mass! and oh, what gratitude my heart gushed to think that he did not +fall by _my_ hand! + +"A brave soldier, but a quarrelsome friend," said the surgeon, stooping +down to examine the wound, with all the indifference of a man who +regarded life as a mere problem. "It was a cannon-shot carried it off." +As he said this, he disclosed the mangled remains of a limb, torn from +the trunk too high to permit of amputation. "Poor Amedee! it was the +death he always wished for. It was a strange horror he had of falling +by the hand of an adversary, rather than being carried off thus. And now +for the cuirassier." + +So saying, he turned towards the bed on which Pioche lav, still as death +itself. A few minutes' careful investigation of the case enabled him to +pronounce that although the chances were many against recovery, yet it +was not altogether hopeless. + +"All will depend on the care of whoever watches him," said the surgeon. +"Symptoms will arise, requiring prompt attention and a change in +treatment; and this is one of those cases where a nurse is worth a +hundred doctors. Who takes charge of this bed?" he called aloud. + +"Minette, Monsieur," said a sergeant. "She has lain down to take a +little rest, for she was quite worn out with fatigue." + +"Me voici!" said a silvery voice I knew at once to be hers. And the +same instant she pierced the crowd around the bed, and approached the +patient. No sooner had she beheld the features of the sick man than she +reeled back, and grasped the arms of the persons on either side. For a +few seconds she stood, with her hands pressed upon her face, and when +she withdrew them, her features were almost ghastly in their hue, while, +with a great effort over her emotion, she said, in a low voice, "Can he +recover?" + +"Yes, Minette!" replied the surgeon, "and will, if care avail anything. +Just hear me for a moment." + +With that he drew her to one side, and commenced to explain the +treatment he proposed to adopt. As he spoke, her cloak, which up to this +instant she wore, dropped from her shoulders, and she stood there in the +dress of the vivandiere: a short frock coat, of light blue, with a thin +gold braid upon the collar and the sleeve; loose trousers of white jean, +strapped beneath her boots; a silk sash of scarlet and gold entwined was +fastened round her waist, and fell in a long fringe at her side; while +a cap of blue cloth, with a gold band and tassel, hung by a hook at her +girdle. Simple as was the dress, it displayed to perfection the symmetry +of her figure and her carriage, and suited the character of her air and +gesture, which, abrupt and impatient at times, was almost boyish in the +wayward freedom of her action. + +The surgeon soon finished his directions, the crowd separated, and +Minette alone remained by the sick man's bed. For some minutes her cares +did not permit her to look up; but when she did, a slight cry broke from +her, and she sank down upon the seat at the bedside. + +"Minette, dear Minette, you are not angry with me?" said I, in a low and +trembling tone. "I have not done aught to displease you,--have I so?" + +She answered not a word, but a blush of the deepest scarlet suffused her +face and temples, and her bosom heaved almost convulsively. + +"To you I owe my life," continued I, with earnestness; "nay more, I owe +the kindness which made of a sick-bed a place of pleasant thoughts and +happy memories. Can I, then, have offended you, while my whole heart was +bursting with gratitude?" + +A paleness, more striking than the blush that preceded it, now stole +over her features, but she uttered not a word. Her eyes turned from +me and fell upon her own figure, and I saw the tears till up and roll +slowly along her cheeks. + +"Why did you leave me, Minette?" said I, wound up by her obstinate +silence beyond further endurance. "Did the few words of impatience--" + +"No, no, no!" broke she in, "not that! not that!" + +"What then? Tell me, for Heaven's sake, how have I earned your +displeasure? Believe me, I have met with too little kindness in my way +through life, not to feel poignantly the loss of a friend. What was it, +I beseech you?" + +"Oh, do not ask me!" cried she, with streaming eyes; "do not, I beg of +you. Enough that you know--and this I swear to you,--that no fault of +yours was in question. You were always good and always kind to me,--too +kind, too good,--but not even your teaching could alter the waywardness +of my nature. Speak of this no more, I ask you, as the greatest favor +you can bestow on me. See here," cried she, while her lips trembled with +emotion; "I have need of all my courage to be of use to him; and you +will not, I am sure, render me unequal to my task." + +"But we are friends, Minette; friends as before," said I, taking her +hand, and pressing it within mine. + +"Yes, friends!" muttered she, in a broken voice, while she turned her +head from me. "Adieu! Monsieur, adieu!" + +"Adieu, then, since you wish it so, Minette! But whatever your secret +reason for this change towards me, you never can alter the deep-rooted +feeling of my heart, which makes me know myself your friend forever." + +The more I thought of Minette's conduct, the more puzzled I was. No +jealousy on the part of Pioche could explain her abrupt departure from +Elchingen, and her resolve never to rejoin the Fourth. She was, indeed, +a strange girl, wayward and self-willed; but her impulses all had their +source in high feelings of honor and exalted pride. It might have been +that some chance expression had given her offence; yet she denied this. +But still, her former frankness was gone, and a sense of coldness, if +not distrust, had usurped its place. I could make nothing of it. One +thing alone did I feel convinced of,--she did not love Pioche. Poor +fellow! with all the fine traits of his honest nature, the manly +simplicity and openness of his character, he had not those arts of +pleasing which win their way with a woman's mind. Besides that, Minette, +from habit and tone of voice, had imbibed feelings and ideas of a very +different class in society, and with a feminine tact, had contrived to +form acquaintance with, and a relish for, the tastes and pleasures of +the cultivated World. The total subversion of all social order effected +by the Revolution had opened the path of ambition in life equally to +women as to men; and all the endeavors of the Consulate and the Empire +had not sobered down the minds of France to their former condition. +The sergeant to-day saw no reason why he might not wear his epaulettes +to-morrow, and in time exchange his shako even for a crown; and so the +vivandiere, whose life was passed in the intoxicating atmosphere of +glory, might well dream of greatness which should be hers hereafter, +and of the time when, as the wife of a marshal or a peer of France, she +would walk the _salons_ of the Tuileries as proudly as the daughter of a +Rohan or a Tavanne. + +There was, then, nothing vain or presumptuous in the boldest flight of +ambition. However glittering the goal, it was beyond the reach of none; +and the hopes which, in better-ordered communities, had been deemed +absurd, seemed here but fair and reasonable. And from this element alone +proceeded some of the greatest actions, and by far the greatest portion +of the unhappiness, of the period. The mind of the nation was unfixed; +men had not as yet resolved themselves into those grades and classes, +by the means of which public opinion is brought to bear upon individuals +from those of his own condition. Each was a law unto himself, suggesting +his own means of advancement and estimating his own powers of success; +and the result was, a general scramble for rank, dignity, and honors, +the unfitness of the possessor for which, when attained, brought neither +contempt nor derision. The epaulette was noblesse; the shako, a coronet. +What wonder, then, if she, whose personal attractions were so great, and +whose manners and tone of thought were so much above her condition, had +felt the stirrings of that ambition within her heart which now appeared +to be the moving spirit of the nation! + +Lost in such thoughts, I turned homewards towards my quarters, and was +already some distance from the convent when a dragoon galloped up to my +side, and asked eagerly if I were the surgeon of the Sixth Grenadiers. +As I replied in the negative, he muttered something between his teeth, +and added louder, "The poor general; it will be too late after all." + +So saying, and before I could question him further, he set spurs to +his horse, and dashing onwards, soon disappeared in the darkness of the +night. A few minutes afterwards I beheld a number of lanterns straight +before me on the narrow road, and as I came nearer, a sentinel called +out,-- + +"Halt there! stand!" + +I gave my name and rank, when the man, advancing towards me, said in a +half whisper,-- + +"It is our general, sir; they say he cannot be brought any farther, and +they must perform the operation here." + +The soldier's voice trembled at every word, and he could scarcely falter +out, in reply to my question, the name of the wounded officer. + +"General St. Hilaire, sir, who led the grenadiers on the Pratzen," said +the poor fellow, his sorrow struggling with his pride. + +I pressed forward; and there on a litter lay the figure of a large and +singularly fine-looking man. His coat, which was covered with orders, +lay open, and discovered a shirt stained and clotted with blood; but his +most dangerous wound was from a grapeshot in the thigh, which shattered +the bone, and necessitated amputation. A young staff surgeon, the +only medical man present, was kneeling at his side, and occupied in +compressing some wounded vessels to arrest the bleeding, which, at the +slightest stir of the patient, broke out anew. The remainder of +the group were grenadiers of his own regiment, in whose sad and +sorrow-struck faces one might read the affection his men invariably bore +him. + +"Is he coming? can you hear any one coming?" said the young surgeon, in +an anxious whisper to the soldier beside him. + +"No, sir; but he cannot be far off now," replied the man. + +"Shall I ride back to Reygern for assistance?" said I, in a low voice, +to the surgeon. + +"I thank you, sir," said the wounded man, in a low, calm tone,--for with +the quick ear of suffering he had overheard my question,--"I thank you, +but my orderly has already been sent thither. If you could relieve my +young friend here from his fatiguing duty for a little, you would render +us both a service. I am truly grieved to see him so much exhausted." + +"No, no, sir!" stammered the youth, as the tears ran fast down his +cheeks; "this is my place. I will not leave it." + +"Kind fellow!" muttered the general, as he pressed his hand gently on +the young man's arm; "I can bear this better than you can." + +"Ah, here he comes now," said the sentinel; and the same moment a man +dismounted from his horse, and came forward towards us. + +It was Louis, the surgeon of the Emperor himself, despatched by Napoleon +the moment he heard of the event. At any other moment, perhaps, the +abrupt demeanor of this celebrated surgeon would have savored little +of delicacy or feeling; nor even then could I forgive the sudden +announcement in which he conveyed to the sufferer that immediate +amputation must be performed. + +"No chance left but this, Louis?" said the general. + +"None, sir," replied the doctor, while he unlocked an instrument case, +and busied himself in preparation for the operation. + +"Can you defer it a little; an hour or two, I mean?" + +"An hour, perhaps; not more, certainly." + +"But am I certain of your services then, Louis?" said the general, +trying to smile. "You know I always promised myself your aid when this +hour came." + +"I shall return in an hour," replied the doctor, pulling out his watch; +"I am going to Rapp's quarters." + +"Poor Rapp! is he wounded?" + +"A mere sabre-cut; but Sebastiani has suffered more severely. Now then, +Lanusse," said he, addressing the young surgeon, "you remain here. +Continue as you are doing, and in an hour--" + +"In an hour," echoed the wounded man, with a shudder, as though the +anticipation of the dreadful event had thrilled through his very heart. +Nor was it till the retiring sounds of the surgeon's horse had died +away in the distance that his features recovered their former calm and +tranquil expression. + +"A prompt fellow is Louis," said he, after a pause; "and though one +might like somewhat more courtesy in the Faubourg, yet on the field +of battle it is all for the best; this is no place nor time for +compliments." + +The young man answered not a word, either not daring to criticise too +harshly his superior, or perhaps his emotion at the moment was too +strong for utterance. In reply to my offer to remain with him, however, +he thanked me heartily, and seemed gratified that he was not to be left +alone in such a trying emergency. + +"Come," said St. Hilaire, after a pause, "I have asked for time, and +am already forgetting how to employ it. Who can write here? Can you, +Guilbert?" + +"Alas, no, sir!" said a dark grenadier, blushing to the very eyes. + +"If you will permit a stranger, sir," said I, "I will be but too proud +and too happy to render you any assistance in my power. I am on the +staff of General d'Auvergne, and--" + +"A French officer, sir," interrupted he; "quite enough. I ask for no +other guerdon of your honor. Sit down here, then, and--But first try if +you can discover a pocket-book in my sabretache; I hope it has not been +lost." + +"Here it is, General," said a soldier, coming forward with it; "I found +it on the ground beside you." + +"Well, then, I will ask you to write down from my dictation a few lines, +which, should this affair,"--he faltered slightly here,--"this affair +prove unfortunate, you will undertake to convey, by some means or other, +to the address I shall give you in Paris. It is not a will, I assure +you," continued he with a faint smile. "I have no wealth to leave; but +I know his Majesty too well to fear anything on that score. But my +children, I wish to give some few directions--" Here he stopped for +several minutes, and then, in a calm voice, added, "Whenever you are +ready." + +It was with a suffering spirit and a faltering hand I wrote down, from +his dictation, some short sentences addressed to each member of his +family. Of these it is not my intention to speak, save in one instance, +where St. Hilaire himself evinced a wish that his sentiments should not +be a matter of secrecy. + +"I desire," said he, in a firm tone of voice, as he turned round and +addressed the soldiers on either side of him,--"I desire that my son, +now at the Polytechnique, should serve the Emperor better than, and as +faithfully as, his father has done, if his Majesty will graciously +permit him to do so, in the grenadier battalion, which I have long +commanded; it will be the greatest favor I can ask of him." A low murmur +of grief, no longer repressible, ran through the little group around the +litter. "The grenadiers of the Sixth," continued he, proudly, while for +an instant his pale features flushed up, "will not love him the less for +the name he bears. Come, come, men! do not give way thus; what will my +kind young friend here say of us, when he joins the hussar brigade? This +is not their ordinary mood, believe me," said he, addressing me. "The +Russian Guard would give a very different account of them; they are +stouter fellows at the _pas de charge_ than around the litter of a +wounded comrade." + +While he was yet speaking, Louis returned, followed by two officers, one +of whom, notwithstanding his efforts at concealment, I recognized to be +Marshal Murat. + +"We must remove him, if it be possible," said the surgeon, in a whisper. +"And yet the slightest motion is to be dreaded." + +"May I speak to him?" said Murat, in a low voice. + +"Yes, that you may," replied Louis, who now pushed his way forward and +approached the litter. + +"Ah, so soon!" said the wounded man, looking up; "a man of your word, +Louis. And how is Rapp? Nothing in this fashion, I hope," added he, +pointing to his fractured limb with a sickly smile. + +"No, no," replied the surgeon. "But here is Marshal Murat come to +inquire after you, from the Emperor." + +A flush of pride lit up St. Hilaire's features as he heard this, and he +asked eagerly, "Where, where?" + +"We must remove you, St. Hilaire," said Murat, endeavoring to speak +calmly, when it was evident his feelings were highly excited; "Louis +says you must not remain here." + +"As you like, Marshal. What says his Majesty? Is the affair as decisive +as he looked for?" + +"Far more so. The allied army is destroyed; the campaign is ended." + +"Come, then, this is not so bad as I deemed it," rejoined St. Hilaire, +with a tone of almost gayety; "I can afford to be invalided if the +Emperor has no further occasion for me." + +While these few words were interchanging, Louis had applied a tourniquet +around the wounded limb, and having given the soldiers directions how +they were to step, so as not to disturb or displace the shattered bones, +he took his place beside the litter, and said,-- + +"We are ready now, General." + +They lifted the litter as he spoke, and moved slowly forward. Murat +pressed the hand St. Hilaire extended to him without a word; and then, +turning his head away, suffered the party to pass on. + +Before we reached Beygern, the wounded general had fallen into a heavy +sleep, from which he did not awake as they laid him on the bed in the +hospital. + +"Good-night, sir,--or rather, good-morning," said Louis to me, as I +turned to leave the spot. "We may chance to have better news for you +than we anticipated, when you visit us here again." + +And so we parted. + + + +CHAPTER V. A MAITRE D'ARMES. + +The day after the battle of Austerlitz the Prince of Lichtenstein +arrived in our camp, with, as it was rumored, proposals for a peace. +The negotiations, whatever they were, were strictly secret, not even +the marshals themselves being admitted to Napoleon's confidence on this +occasion. Soon after mid-day, a great body of the Guard who had been in +reserve the previous day were drawn up in order of battle, presenting an +array of several thousand men, whose dress, look, and equipment, fresh +as if on parade before the Tuileries, could not fail to strike the +Austrian envoy with amazement. Everything that could indicate the +appearance of suffering, or even fatigue, among the troops, was +sedulously kept out of view. Such of the cavalry regiments as suffered +least in the battle were under arms; while the generals of division +received orders to have their respective staffs fully equipped and +mounted, as if on a day of review. + +It was late in the afternoon when the word was passed along the lines +to stand to arms; and the moment after a _caleche_, drawn by six horses, +passed in full gallop, and took the road towards Austerlitz. The return +of the Austrian envoy set a thousand conjectures in motion, and all were +eager to find out what had been the result of his mission. + +[Illustration: BrowneBivwacAfterBattle027] + +"We must soon learn it all," said an old colonel of artillery near me. +"If the game be war, we shall be called up to assist Davoust's movement +on Goeding. The Russians have but one line of retreat, and that is +already in our possession." + +"I cannot for the life of me understand the Emperor's inaction," said a +younger officer; "here we remain just as if nothing had been done. One +would suppose that a Russian army stood in full force before us, and +that we had not gained a tremendous battle." + +"Depend on it, Auguste," said the old officer, smiling, "his Majesty is +not the man to let slip his golden opportunities. If we don't advance, +it is because it is safer to remain where we are." + +"Safer than pursue a flying enemy?" + +"Even so. It is not Russia, nor Austria, we have in the field against +us; but Europe,--the world." + +"With all my heart," retorted the other, boldly; "nor do I think the +odds unfair. All I would ask is, the General Bonaparte of Cairo or +Marengo, and not the purple-clad Emperor of the Tuileries." + +"It is not while the plain is yet reeking with the blood of Austerlitz +that such a reproach should be spoken," said I, indignantly. "Never was +Bonaparte greater than Napoleon." + +"Monsieur has served in Egypt?" said the young man, contemptuously, +while he measured me from head to foot. + +"Would that I had! Would that I could give whatever years I may have +before me, for those whose every day shall live in history!" + +"You are right, young man," said the old colonel; "they were glorious +times, and a worthy prelude to the greatness that followed them." + +"A bright promise of the future,--never to come," rejoined the younger, +with a flash of anger on his cheek. + +"_Parbleu_, sir, you speak boldly!" said a harsh, low voice from behind. +We turned: it was Napoleon, dressed in a gray coat, all covered with +fur, and looking like one of the couriers of the army. "I did not know +my measures were so freely canvassed as I find them. Who are you, sir?" + +"Legrange, Sire, chef d'escadron of the Second Voltigeurs," said the +young man, trembling from head to foot while he uncovered his head, and +stood, cap in hand, before him. + +"Since when, sir, have I called you into my counsels and asked your +advice? or what is it in your position which entitles you to question +one in mine? Duroc, come here. Your sword, sir!" + +The young man let fall his shako from his hand, and laid it on his +sword-hilt. + +"Ah!" cried the Emperor, suddenly; "what became of your right arm?" + +"I left it at Aboukir, Sire." + +Napoleon muttered something between his teeth; then added, aloud,-- + +"Come, sir, you are not the first whose hand has saved his head. Return +to your duty, and, mark me! be satisfied with doing yours, and leave me +to mine. And you, sir," said he, turning towards me, and using the same +harsh tone of voice, "I should know your face." + +"Lieutenant Burke, of the Eighth Hussars." + +"Ah! I remember,--the Chouanist. So, sir, it seems that I stand somewhat +higher in your esteem than when you kept company with Messieurs Georges +and Pichegru, eh?" + +"No, Sire; your Majesty ever occupied the first place in my admiration +and devotion." + +"_Sacristi!_ then you took a strange way to show it when first I had the +pleasure of your acquaintance. You are on General St. Hilaire's staff?" + +"General d'Auvergne's, Sire." + +"True. D'Auvergne, a word with you." + +He turned and whispered something to the old general, who during the +whole colloquy stood at his back, anxious but not daring to interpose a +word. + +"Well, well," said Napoleon, in a voice of much kinder accent, "I +am satisfied. Your general, sir, reports favorably of your zeal and +capacity. I do not desire to let your former conduct prove any bar to +your advancement; and on his recommendation, of which I trust you may +prove yourself worthy, I name you to a troop in your own regiment." + +"And still to serve on my staff?" said the general, half questioning the +Emperor. + +"As you wish it, D'Auvergne." + +With that he moved forward ere I could do more than express my gratitude +by a respectful bow. + +"I told you, Burke, the time would come for this," said D'Auvergne, as +he pressed my hand warmly, and followed the cortege of the Emperor. + +Hitherto I had lived an almost isolated life. My staff duties had so +separated me from my brother officers that I only knew them by name; +while the other aides-de-camp of the general were men much older than +myself, and with none of them had I formed any intimacy whatever. It +was not without a sense of this loneliness that I now thought over my +promotion. The absence of those who sympathize with our moments of joy +and sorrow reduces our enjoyment to a narrow limit indeed. The only one +of all I knew who would really have felt happy in my advancement was +poor Pioche. He was beyond every thought of pleasure or grief. + +Thus reflecting, I turned towards my quarters at Brunn. It was evening: +the watchfires were lighted, and round them sat groups of soldiers at +their supper, chatting away pleasantly, and recounting the events of the +battle. Many had been slightly wounded, and by their bandaged foreheads +and disabled arms claimed a marked pre-eminence above the rest. A +straw bivouac, with its great blazing fire in front, would denote some +officer's quarters; and here were generally some eight or ten assembled, +while the savory odor of some smoking dish, and the merry laughter, +proclaimed that feasting was not excluded from the life of a campaign. + +As I passed one of these I heard the tones of a voice which, well known, +had somehow not been heard by me for many a day before. Who could it be? +I listened, but in vain. I asked myself whose was it. I dismounted, and +leading my horse by the bridle, passed before the hut. The strong light +of the blazing wood lit up the interior, and showed me a party of +about a dozen officers, seated and lying on a heap of straw, occupied +in discussing a supper, which, however wanting in all the elegancies of +table equipment, even where I stood had a most appetizing odor. Various +drinking vessels, some of them silver, passed from hand to hand +rapidly; and the clinking of cups proclaimed that, although of different +regiments,--as I saw they were,--a kindly feeling united them. + +"Well, Francois," said the same voice, whose accents were so familiar to +me without my being able to say why,--"well, Francois, you have not told +us how it happened." + +"Easily enough," said another; "he broke my blade in his back, and +gave point afterwards and ran me through the chest." It was the maitre +d'armes of the Fourth, my old antagonist, who said this, and I drew near +to hear the remainder. "You could not call the thing unfair," continued +he; "but, after all, no one ever heard of such a _passe_." + +"I could have told you of it, though," rejoined the other; "for I +remember once, in the fencing school at the Polytechnique, I saw him +catch his antagonist's blade in his sleeve, and when he had it secure, +snap it across, and then thrust home with his own. _Parbleu!_ he lost a +coat by it; and I believe, at the time, poor fellow, he could ill spare +it." + +This story, which was told of myself, was an incident which occurred in +a school duel, and was only known to two or three others; and again was +I puzzled to think which of my former companions the speaker could be. +My curiosity was now stronger than aught else; and so, affecting to seek +a light for my cigar, I approached the blaze. + +"Halloo, Comrade! a cup of wine with you," cried out a voice from +within; "Melniker is no bad drinking--" + +"When Chambertin can't be had," said another, handing me a goblet of red +wine. + +"_Par Saint Denis!_ it's the very man himself," shouted a third. "Why, +Burke, my old comrade, do you forget Tascher?" + +"What!" said I, in amazement, turning from one to the other of the +mustached faces, and unable to discover my former friend, while they +laughed loud and long at my embarrassment. + +"Make way for him there; make way, lads! Come, Burke, here's your +place," said he, stretching out his hand and pressing me down beside him +on the straw. "So you did not remember me?" + +In truth, there was enough of change in his appearance since last I saw +him to warrant my forgetfulness. A dark, bushy beard, worn cuirassier +fashion, around the mouth and high on the cheeks, almost concealed his +face, while in figure he had grown both taller and stouter. + +"Art colonel of the Eighth Regiment?" said he, laughing; "you know I +promised you were to be, when we were to meet again." + +"No; but, if I mistake not," said a hussar officer opposite, "monsieur +is in the way to become so. Were you not named to a troop, about half an +hour ago, by the Emperor himself?" + +"Yes!" said I, with an effort to suppress my pride. + +"_Diantre bleu!_" exclaimed Tascher, "what good fortune you always have +I I wish you joy of it, with all my heart. I say, Comrades, let us drown +his commission for him." + +"Agreed! agreed!" cried they all in a breath. "Francois will make us a +bowl of punch for the occasion." + +"Most willingly," said the little maitre d'armes. "Monsieur le +Capitaine, I am sure, bears me no ill-will for our little affair. I +thought not," added he, seizing my hand in both his. "_Ma foi!_ you +spoiled my tierce for me; I shall never be the same man again. Now, +gentlemen, pass down the brandy, and let the man with most credit go +seek for sugar at the canteen." + +While Francois commenced his operations, Tascher proceeded to recount to +me the miserable life he had spent in garrison towns, till the outbreak +of the campaign had called him on active service. + +"It was no use that I asked the Empress to intercede for me, and get me +appointed to another regiment; being the nephew of Napoleon seemed to +set a complete bar to my advancement. Even now," said he, "my name has +been sent forward by my colonel for promotion, and I wager you fifty +Naps I shall be passed over." + +"And what if you be?" said a huge, heavy-browed major beside him; "what +great hardship is it to be a lieutenant in the cuirassiers at two and +twenty? I was a sergeant ten years later." + +"Ay, _parbleu!_" cried another, "I won my epaulettes at Cairo, when +three officers were reported living, in a whole regiment." + +"To be sure," said Francois, looking up from his operation of +lemon-squeezing; "here am I, a maitre d'armes, after twenty-six years' +service; and there's Davoust, who never could stand before me, he's a +general of brigade." + +The whole party laughed aloud at the grievances of Maitre Francois, +whose seriousness on the subject was perfectly real. + +"Ah; you may laugh," said he, half in pique; "but what a mere +accident can determine a man's fortune in life! Would Junot there be a +major-general to-day if he did not measure six feet without his boots? +We were at school together, and, _ma foi!_ he was always at the bottom +of the class." + +"And so, Francois, it was your size, then, that stopped your promotion?" + +"Of course it was. When a man is but five feet--with high heels, too--he +can only be advanced as a maitre d'armes. _Parbleu!_ what should I be +now if I had only grown a little taller?" + +"It is all better as it is," growled out an old captain, between the +puffs of his meerschaum. "If thou wert an inch bigger, there would be' +no living in the same brigade with thee." + +"For all that," rejoined Maitre Francois, "I have put many a pretty +fellow his full length on the grass." + +"How many duels, Francois, did you tell us, the other evening, that you +fought in the Twenty-second?" + +"Seventy-eight!" said the little man; "not to speak of two affairs +which, I am ashamed to confess, were with the broadsword; but they were +fellows from Alsace, and they knew no better." + +"_Tonnerre de ciel!_" cried the major, "a little devil like that is +a perfect plague in a regiment. I remember we had a fellow called +Piccotin--" + +"Ah! Piccotin; poor Piccotin! We were foster-brothers," interrupted +Francois; "we were both from Chalons-sur-Marne." + +"Egad! I 'd have sworn you were," rejoined the major. "One might have +thought ye were twins." + +"People often said so," responded Francois, with as much composure as +though a compliment had been intended. "We both had the same colored +hair and eyes, the same military air, and gave the _passe en tierce_ +always outside the guard exactly in the same way." + +"What became of Piccotin?" asked the major. "He left us at Lyons." +"You never heard, then, what became of him?" "No. We knew he joined +the _chasseurs a pied_." "I can tell you, then," said Francois; "no one +knows better. I parted from Piccotin when we were ordered to Egypt. We +did our best to obtain service in the same brigade, for we were like +brothers, but we could not manage it; and so, with sad hearts, we +separated,--he to return to France, I to sail for Alexandria. This +was in the spring of 1798, or, as we called it, the year Six of the +Republic. For three years we never met; but when the eighth demi-brigade +returned from Egypt, we went into garrison at Bayonne, and the first man +I saw on the ramparts was Piccotin himself. There was no mistaking him; +you know the way he had of walking with a long stride, rising on his +instep at every step, squaring his elbows, and turning his head from +side to side, just to see if any one was pleased to smile, or even so +much as to look closely at him. Ah, _ma foi!_ little Piccotin knew how +to treat such as well as any one. Methinks I see him approaching his man +with a slide and a bow, and then, taking off his cap, I hear him say, in +his mildest tone, 'Monsieur assuredly did not intend that stare and that +grimace for me. I know I must have deceived myself. Monsieur is only a +fool; he never meant to be impertinent.' Then, _parbleu!_ what a +storm would come on, and how cool was Piccotin the whole time! How +scrupulously timid he would be of misspelling the gentleman's name, +or misplacing an accent over it! How delicately he would inquire his +address, as if the curiosity was only pardonable I And then with what +courtesy he would take his leave, retiring half a dozen paces before +he ventured to turn his back on the man he was determined to kill next +morning!" + +"Quite true; perfectly true, Francois," said the major; "Piccotin did +the thing with the most admirable temper and good-breeding." + +"That was the tone of Chalons when we were both boys," said Francois, +proudly; "he and I were reared together." + +He finished a bumper of wine as he made this satisfactory explanation, +and looked round at the company with the air of a conqueror. + +"Piccotin saw me as quickly as I perceived him, and the minute after we +were in each other's arms. 'Ah! _mon cher!_ how many?' said he to me, as +soon as the first burst of enthusiasm had subsided. + +"'Only eighteen,' said I, sadly; 'but two were Mamelukes of the Guard.' + +"'Thou wert ever fortunate, Francois,' he replied, wiping his eyes with +emotion; 'I have never pinked any but Christians.' + +"'Come, come,' said I, 'don't be down-hearted; good times are coming. +They say Le Petit Caporal will have us in England soon.' + +"'Mayhap,' said he, sorrowfully, for he could not get over my Turks. +Well, in order to cheer him up a little, I proposed that we should go +and sup together at the 'Grenadier Rouge;' and away we went accordingly. + +"It would amuse you, perhaps," said Maitre Francois, "were I to tell +some of the stories we related to each other at night. We both had +had our share of adventure since we met, and some droll ones among the +number. However, that is not the question at present. We sat late; so +late that they came to close the cafe at last, and we were obliged to +depart. You know the 'Grenadier Rouge,' don't you?" + +"Yes, I know it well," replied the major; "it's over the glacis, about a +mile outside the barrier." + +"Just so; and there's a pleasant walk across the glacis to the gate. As +Piccotin and I set out together on our way to the town, the night was +calm and mild; a soft moonlight shed a silvery tint over every object, +and left the stately poplars to throw a still longer shadow on the +smooth grass. For some time we walked along without speaking; the +silence of the night, the fragrant air, the mellow light, were all +soft and tranquillizing influences, and we sank each into his own +reflections. + +"When we reached the middle of the plain,--you know the spot, I'm sure; +there's a little bronze fountain, with four cedars round it," (the major +nodded, and he resumed),--"Piccotin came to a sudden halt, and seizing +my hand in both of his, said, 'Francois, canst thou guess what I 'm +thinking of?' + +"I looked at him, and I looked around me, and after a few seconds' pause +I answered, 'Yes, Piccotin, I know it; it is a lovely spot.' + +"'Never was anything like it!' cried he, in a rapture; 'look at the +turf, smooth as velvet, and yet soft to the foot; see the trees, how +they fall back to give the light admittance; and there, that little +fountain, if one felt thirsty, eh! What say you?' + +"'Agreed,' said I, grasping him by both hands; 'for this once; once +only, Piccotin.' + +"'Only once, Francois; a few passes, and no more.' + +"'Just so; the first touch.' + +"'Exactly; the first touch,' said he, as, taking off his cloak, and +folding it neatly, he laid it on the grass. + +"It was a strange thing, but in all our lives, from earliest boyhood up, +we never had measured swords together; and though we were both maitres +d'armes, we never crossed blades, even in jest. Often and often had our +comrades pitted us against each other, and laid wagers on the result, +but we never would consent to meet; I cannot say why. It was not fear; I +know not how to account for it, but such was the fact. + +"'What blade do you wear, Francois?' said he, approaching me, as I +arranged my jacket and vest, with my cap, on the ground. + +"'A Rouen steel,' said I; 'too limber for most men, but I am so +accustomed to it, I prefer it.' + +"'Ah! a pretty weapon indeed,' said he, drawing it from the scabbard, +and making one or two passes with it against an elder trunk. 'Was this +the blade you had with you in Egypt?' + +"'Yes; I have worn none other for eight years.' + +"'Ah, _ma foi!_ those Mamelukes. How I envy you those Mamelukes!' he +muttered to himself, as he walked back to his place. + +"'Move a little, a very little, to the left; there's a shadow from that +tree. Can you see me well?' said I. + +"'Perfectly; are you ready? Well; _en garde!_' + +"Piccotin's forte, I soon saw, lay in the long meditated attack, where +each movement was part of an artfully devised series; and I perceived +that he suffered his adversary to gain several trifling advantages, by +way of giving him a false confidence, biding his own time to play off +the scores. In this description of fence he was more than my equal. +_My_ strength was in the skirmishing passages, where most men lunge at +random; then, no matter how confused the rally, I was as cool as in the +salute. + +"For some time I permitted him to play his game out; and certainly +nothing could be more beautiful than his passes over the hilt. Twice he +planted his point within an inch of my bosom; and nothing but a spring +backwards would have saved me. + +"At length, after a long-contested struggle, he made a feint within, and +then without, the guard, and succeeded in touching my sword-arm, above +the wrist. + +"'A touch, I believe,' said he. + +"'A mere nothing,' said I; for although I felt the blood running down +my sleeve, and oozing between my fingers, I was annoyed to think he had +made the first hit. + +"'Ah, Francois, these Mamelukes were not of the premiere +force, after all. I have only been jesting all this time; see here.' +With that he closed on me, in a very different style from his former +attack. Pushing and parrying with the rapidity of lightning, he evinced +a skill in 'skirmish' I did not believe him possessed of. In this, +however, I was his master; and in a few seconds gave him my point +sharply, but not deeply, in the shoulder. Instead of dropping his +weapon when he received mine, he returned the thrust. I parried it, +and touched him again, a little lower down. He winced this time, and +muttered something I could not catch. 'You shall have it now,' said he, +aloud; 'I owe you this,--and this.' True to his word, he twice pierced +me in the back, outside the guard. Encouraged by success, he again +closed on me; while I, piqued by his last assault, advanced to meet him. + +"Our tempers were both excited; but his far more than mine. The struggle +was a severe one. Three several times his blade passed between my arm +and my body; and at last after a desperate rally, he dropped on one +knee, and gave me the point here, beneath the chest. Before he could +extricate his blade, I plunged mine into his chest, and pushed till I +heard the hilt come clink against his ribs. The blood spurted upwards, +over my face and breast, as he fell backwards. I wiped it hurriedly from +my eyes, and bent over him. He gave a shudder and a little faint moan, +and all was still." + +"You killed him?" cried out three or four of us together. + +"_Ma foi!_ yes. The 'coup' was mortal; he never stirred after. As for +me," continued Francois, "I surrendered myself a prisoner to the +officer on guard at the gate. I was tried ten days after by a military +commission, and acquitted. My own evidence was my accusation +and my defence." + +"_Ventrebleu!_ had I been on the court-martial, you had not been here +to tell the story," said the old major, as his face became almost purple +with passion. + +"Nonsense!" said Tascher, jeeringly. "What signifies a maitre d'armes +the more or the less?" + +"Monsieur will probably explain himself," said Francois, with one of his +cold smiles of excessive deference. + +"It is exactly what I mean to do, Francois." + +"Come, sirs, none of this," broke in the major. "Lieutenant Tascher, +you may not fancy being placed under an arrest when the enemy is in the +field. Master Francois, do you forget the sentence of a court-martial is +hanging over your head for an affair at Elchingen, where you insulted a +young officer of the hussars?" + +"In that case I must be permitted to say that Maitre Francois conducted +himself like a man of honor," said I. + +"_Parbleu!_ and got the worst of it besides," cried he, placing his hand +on his hip. The tone of his voice as he said this, and the grimace he +made, restored the party once more to good-humor, and we chatted away +pleasantly till day was breaking. + +As Tascher strolled along with me towards my quarters, I was rejoiced +to discover that he had never heard of my name as being mixed up in the +Chouan conspiracy; nor was he aware with how little reason he believed +me to be favored by fortune. + +I received, however, all his congratulations without any desire to +undeceive him. Already had I learned the worldly lesson, that while +friends cling closer in adversity, your mere acquaintance deems your +popularity your greatest merit; and I at length perceived that, however +ungenial in many respects the companionship, the life of isolation I +led had rendered me suspected by others, and in a career, too, where +frankness was considered the first of virtues. + +I assented at once with pleasure to the prospect of our meeting +frequently while in camp. My own regiment had joined Davoust's corps, +and I was glad to have the society of some others of my own age, if only +to wean myself from my habits of solitude. While I formed these plans +for the future, I little anticipated what events were in store for +me, nor how soon I should be thrown among scenes and people totally +different from those with which I had ever mixed before. + +"You mess with us, then, Burke,--that's agreed," said Tascher. "They 're +excellent fellows, these cuirassiers of ours, and I know you 'll like +them." + +With this promise we parted, hoping to meet on the morrow. + + + +CHAPTER VI. THE MILL ON THE HOLITSCH ROAD + +At an early hour on the morning of the 4th came orders for the "Garde +a Cheval" to hold themselves in readiness, with two squadrons of the +carabineers, on the road to Holitsch; part of this force being under the +command of General d'Auvergne. We found ourselves fully equipped and in +waiting soon after eight o'clock. From the "tenue" and appearance of +the troops, it was evident that no measure of active service was +contemplated; yet, if a review were intended, we could not guess why +so small a force had been selected. As usual on such occasions, +many conjectures were hazarded, and a hundred explanations passed +current,--one scarcely a whit better than the other, when at last we +perceived a peloton of dragoons advancing towards us at a brisk trot. + +The word was passed to close up and draw swords; and scarcely was it +obeyed when the staff of the Emperor came up. They were all in the full +blaze of their gala uniforms, brilliant with crosses and decorations. +Napoleon alone wore the simple costume of the "Chasseurs of the Garde," +with the decoration of the Legion; but his proud look and his flashing +eye made him conspicuous above them all. He was mounted on his favorite +charger "Marengo," and seemed to enjoy the high spirit of the mettled +animal, as he tossed his long mane about, and lashed his sides with his +great silken tail. + +As the cortege passed we closed up the rear, and followed at a sharp +pace, more than ever puzzled to divine what was going forward. After +about two hours' riding, during which we never drew bridle, we saw a +party of staff-officers in front, who, saluting the Emperor, joined the +cortege. At the same instant General d'Auvergne passed close beside me, +and whispered in my ear. "Bernadotte has just come up, and been most +coldly received." I wished to ask him what was the object of the whole +movement, but he was gone before I could do so. In less than a quarter +of an hour afterwards we left the highroad, and entered upon a large +plain, where the only object I could perceive was an old mill, ruined +and dilapidated. Towards this the imperial staff rode forward, while the +peloton in front wheeled about, and rode to the rear of our squadrons. +The next moment we were halted, and drawn up in order of battle. + +While these movements were going forward, I remarked that the Emperor +had dismounted from his horse and dismissed his staff, all save Marshal +Berthier, who stood at a little distance from him. Several dismounted +dragoons were employed in lighting two immense fires,--a process which +Napoleon appeared to watch with great interest for a second or two; and +then, taking out his glass, he remained for several minutes intently +surveying the great road to Holitsch. + +In this direction at once every eye was turned; but nothing could we +see. The road led through a wide open country for some miles, and at +last disappeared in the recesses of a dark pine wood, that covered the +horizon for miles on either side. Meanwhile Napoleon, with his hands +clasped behind his back, walked hurriedly backwards and forwards beside +the blazing fires, stopping at intervals to look along the road, and +then resuming his walk as before. He was not more than two hundred paces +from where we stood, and I could mark well his gesture of impatience, as +he closed his glass each time, after looking in vain towards Holitsch. + +"I say, Burke," whispered one of my brother officers beside me, "I +should not fancy being the man who keeps him waiting in that fashion. +Look at Berthier, how he keeps aloof; he knows that something is +brewing." + +"What can it all mean?" said I. "Who can he be expecting here?" + +"They say now," whispered my companion, "that Davoust cannot hold the +bridge of Goding, and must fall back before the Russian column; and +that Napoleon has invited Alexander to a conference here to gain time to +reinforce Davoust." + +"Exactly; but the Czar is too wily an enemy for that to succeed; and +probably hence the delay, which appears to irritate him now." + +The supposition, more plausible than most of those I heard before, was +still contradicted by the account of the Emperor Alexander's retreat; +and again was I at a loss to reconcile these discrepancies, when I +beheld Napoleon, with his glass to his eye, motion with his hand for +Berthier to come forward. I turned towards the road, and now could +distinguish in the distance a dark object moving towards us. A few +minutes after the sun shone out, and I remarked the glitter of arms, +stretching in a long line; while my companion, with the aid of a glass, +called out,-- + +"I see them plainly; they are lancers. The escort are Hungarians, and +there's a _caleche_, with four horses in front." + +The Emperor stood motionless, his arms folded on his breast, and his +head a little leaned forward, exactly as I have seen him represented in +so many pictures and statues. His eyes were thrown downwards; and as he +stirred the blazing wood with his foot, one could easily perceive how +intensely his mind was occupied with deep thought. + +The clattering sound of cavalry now turned my attention to another +quarter; and I saw, exactly in front of us, and about five hundred paces +off, a regiment of Hungarian Hussars, and some squadrons of Hulans drawn +up. I had little time to mark their gorgeous equipment and splendid +uniform, for already the _caleche_ had drawn up at the roadside, and +Prince John of Lichtenstein, descending, took off his chapeau, and +offered his arm to assist another to alight. Slowly, and, as it seemed, +with effort, a tall thin figure, in the white uniform of the Austrian +Guard, stepped from the carriage to the ground. The same instant the +officers of the staff fell back, and I saw Napoleon advance with +open arms to embrace him. The Austrian emperor--for it was Francis +himself--seemed scarcely able to control the emotion he felt at this +moment; and we could see that his head rested for several seconds on +Napoleon's shoulder. And what a moment must that have been! How deeply +must the pride of the descendant of the Caesars have felt the humiliation +which made him thus a suppliant before one he deemed a mere Corsican +adventurer! What a pang it must have cost his haughty spirit as he +uttered the words, _Mon frere!_ + +As they walked side by side towards the plateau, where the fires were +lighted, it was easy to mark that Napoleon was the speaker, while +Francis merely bowed from time to time, or made a gesture of seeming +assent. + +As the Emperor arrived at the place of conference, we fell back some +fifty yards; and although the air was still and frosty, and the silence +was perfect around, we could not catch a word on either side. After +about an hour the conversation appeared to assume a tone of gayety and +good-humor, and we could hear the sovereigns laughing repeatedly. + +The conference lasted for above two hours, when once more the emperors +embraced, and, as we thought, with more cordiality, and separated; the +Emperor of Austria returning, accompanied by Prince Lichtenstein; while +Napoleon stood for some minutes beside the fire as if musing, and then, +beckoning his staff to follow, he walked towards the highroad. + +Scarcely had the Austrian emperor reached his carriage, when Savary, +bareheaded and breathless, stood beside the door of it. He was the +bearer of a message from Napoleon. The next moment the _caleche_ +started, accompanied by Savary, who, with a single aide-de-camp, took +the road towards the Austrian headquarters. + +As Napoleon was about to mount his horse, I saw General d'Auvergne +move forward towards him. A few words passed between them; and then the +general, riding up to where I stood, said,-- + +"Burke, you are to remain here, and if any orders arrive from General +Savary, hasten with them to the headquarters of his Majesty. In twelve +hours you will be relieved." + +So saying, he galloped back to the imperial staff; and soon after the +squadrons defiled into the road, the cortege dashed forward, and all +that remained of that memorable scene was the dying embers of the fires +beside which the fate of Europe was decided. + +The old mill of Holitsch had been deserted when the Austrian and Russian +columns took up their position before Austerlitz. The miller and his +household fled at the first news of the advance, and had not dared to +return. It was a solitary spot at best: a wild heath, without shelter of +any kind, stretched away for miles on all sides; but now, in its +utter loneliness, it was the most miserable-looking place that can be +conceived. While, therefore, I contented myself with the hope that my +stay there might not be long, I resolved to do what I could to render my +quarters more comfortable. + +My first care was my horse, which I picketed in the kitchen, where I was +happy to find an abundant supply of firewood; my next, was to explore +the remainder of the concern, in which I discovered traces of its having +been already occupied by the allied troops,--rude caricatures of the +French army in full _deroute_, before terrible-looking dragoons in +Austrian and Russian uniforms, ornamented the walls in many parts; whole +columns of French prisoners were depicted begging their lives from a +single Austrian grenadier; and one figure, which it could be easily +discovered was intended for Napoleon himself, was about to be hanged +upon a tree, to the very marked satisfaction, as it would seem, of a +group of Russian officers, who stood by, laughing. It is easy to smile +at the ridicule of which fortune has thwarted the application and so I +amused myself a good while by contemplating these grotesque frescos. + +But a more welcome sight still awaited me, in a small chamber at the +top of the building, where, in large letters, written with chalk on +the door, I read, "Rittmeister von Oxenhausen's quarters." Here, to my +exceeding delight, I discovered a neatly-furnished chamber, with a +bed, sofa, and, better still, a table, on which the remains of the +Rittmeister's sapper yet stood,--a goodly ham, the greater part of a +capon, a loaf of wheaten bread, and an earthenware crock, with a lid +of brass, containing about two bottles of Austrian red wine. This was a +most agreeable surprise to me,--a pleasant exchange from the meagre +meal of bread and cheese I had but time to procure from a sergeant of +my troop at parting. It need not be supposed that I hesitated long about +becoming the Rittmeister's successor; and so I drew the chair to the +table, and the table nearer to the fire,--for, singularly enough, the +embers of a wood fire still slumbered on the hearth. Having taken the +keen edge off an appetite the cold air had whetted to the sharpest, I +began an inspection of my quarters, first having replenished the fire +with some logs of wood. + +The chamber was an octagon, with five windows in as many of the faces, +a fireplace and two doors occupying the other three. One of the +doors--that by which I entered,--opened from the stairs; the other +led into a granary, or something of that nature,--at least, so I +conjectured, from a heap of sacks which littered the floor, and filled +one corner completely. As I could not discover any corn, I resolved on +sharing my loaf with my horse,--a meal every campaigning steed is well +accustomed to make. And now, returning to my little chamber, I resumed +my supper with all the satisfaction of one who felt he had made his +rounds of duty, and might enjoy repose. + +As I knew the Chateau de Holitsch, where the Emperor Francis held his +quarters, was some six leagues distant, I guessed that General Savary +was not likely to return from his mission before morning at very +soonest; and so it behooved me to make my arrangements for passing the +night where I was. Having, then, looked to my horse, for whose bedding I +made free with some dozen of the corn-sacks in the granary, I brought up +to my own quarters a supply of wood; and having fastened the door, and +secured the windows as well as I was able, I lit my meerschaum, and lay +down before the fire in as happy a frame of mind as need be. + +Indeed, I began to fancy that fortune had done tormenting, and was now +about to treat me more kindly. The notice of the Emperor had relieved my +heart of a load which never ceased to press on it, and I could not help +feeling that a fairer prospect was opening before me. It is true, time +and misfortune had both blunted the ardor of enthusiasm with which I +started in life; the daring aspirations after liberty, the high-souled +desire for personal distinction, had subsided into calmer hopes and less +ambitious yearnings. Young as I yet was, I experienced in myself that +change of sentiment and feeling which comes upon other men later on in +life; and I was gradually reconciling myself to that sense of duty +which teaches a man well to play his part, in whatever station he may +be called to act, rather than indulge in those overweening wishes for +pre-eminence, which in their accomplishment are so often disappointing, +and in their failure a source of regret and unhappiness. These feelings +were impressed on me more by the force of events than by any process of +my own reasoning. The career in which I first started as a boy had led +to nothing but misfortune. The affection I conceived for one,--the only +one I ever loved,--was destined equally to end unhappily. The passion +for liberty, in which all my first aspirations were centred, had met the +rude shocks which my own convictions suggested; and now I perceived +that I must begin life anew, endeavoring to forget the influences whose +shadows darkened my early days, and carve out my destiny in a very +different path from what I once intended. + +These were my last waking thoughts, as my head sank on my arm, and I +fell into a deep sleep. The falling of a log from the fire awoke me +suddenly. I rubbed my eyes, and for a second or two could not remember +where I was. At length I became clearer in mind, and looking at my +watch, perceived it was but two o'clock. As the flame of the replenished +fire threw its light through the room, I remarked that the door into +the granary stood ajar. This struck me as strange. I thought I could +remember shutting it before I went to sleep. Yes,--I recollected +perfectly placing a chair against it, as the latch was bad, and a +draught of cold air came in that way; and now the chair was pushed back +into the room, and the door lay open. A vague feeling, half suspicion, +half curiosity, kept me thinking of the circumstance, when by +chance--the merest chance--my eyes fell upon the table where I had left +my sabre and my pistols. What was my amazement to find that one of the +latter--that which lay nearest the door--was missing! + +In an instant I was on my feet. Nothing can combat drowsiness like the +sense of fear; and I became perfectly awake in a moment. Examining the +room with caution, I found everything in the same state as I had left +it, save the door and the missing pistol. The granary alone, then, could +be the shelter of the invader, whoever he might be. What was to be done? +I was totally unprovided with light, save what the fire afforded; and +even were it otherwise, I should expose myself by carrying one, long +before I could hope to detect a concealed enemy. The best plan I could +hit upon seemed to secure the door once more; and then, placing myself +in such a position as not to be commanded by it again, to wait for +morning patiently. This then, I did at once; and having examined my +remaining pistol, and found the charge and priming all safe, I drew +my sabre, and sat down between the door and the window, but so that it +should open against me. + +Few sensations are more acutely painful than the exercise of the hearing +when pushed to intensity. The unceasing effort to catch the slightest +sound soon becomes fatigue, and as the organ grows weary, the mental +anxiety grows more acute; and then begins a struggle between the failing +sense and the excited brain. The spectral images of the eye in fever are +not one half so terrible as the strange discordant tones that jar +upon the tympanum in such a state as this. Each inanimate object seems +endowed with its own power of voice, and whispering noises come stealing +through the dead silence of midnight. + +In this state of almost frenzied anxiety I sat long,--my eyes turned +towards the door, which oftentimes I fancied I could perceive to move. +At length the thought occurred to me, that by affecting sleep, if any +one lay concealed within whose object was to enter the room, this would +probably induce him. + +[Illustration: 089] + +[Illustration: BrowneLocomotiveChair055] + +I had not long to wait for the success of my scheme. The long-drawn +breathing of my seeming slumber was not continued for more than a few +minutes, when I saw the door slowly, almost imperceptibly, move. At +first it stirred inch by inch; then gradually it opened wider and wider +till it met the obstacle of the chair. There now came a pause of several +seconds, during which it demanded all my efforts to sustain my +part,--the throbbing at my throat and temples increasing almost beyond +endurance, and the impulse to dash forward, and flinging wide the door, +confront my enemy, being nearly too much for my resistance. Again it +moved noiselessly as before; and then a hand stole out, and, laying hold +of the chair, pushed it slowly backwards. The gray light of the breaking +day fell upon the spot, and I could see that the cuff of the coat was +laced with gold. + +This time my anxiety became intense. Another second or two and I should +be engaged in the conflict,--I knew not against how many. I clutched my +sabre more fairly in my grasp, as my breathing grew thicker and shorter. +The chair still continued to slide silently into the room, and already +the arm of the man within protruded. Now was the moment, or never; and +with a spring, I threw myself on it, and, pinioning the wrist in my +hands, held it down upon the floor while I opposed my weight against the +door. + +[Illustration: 090] + +Quick as lightning the other hand appeared, armed with a pistol; and I +had but a moment to crouch my head nearly to the ground when a bullet +whizzed past and smashed through the window behind me, while with +a crash the frail door gave way to a strong push, and a man sprang +fiercely forward to seize me by the throat. Jumping backward, I +recovered my feet; but before I could raise my pistol he made a spring +at me, and we both rolled together on the floor. On the pistol both our +hands met, and the struggle was for the weapon. + +Twice was it pointed at my heart; but my hand held the lock, and not +all his efforts could unclasp it. At last I freed my right hand from the +sword-knot of my sabre, and striking him with my clenched knuckles on +the forehead, threw him back. His grasp relaxed at the instant, and I +wrenched the pistol from his fingers, and placed the muzzle against his +chest. + +Another second and he would have rolled a corpse before me, when, to my +horror and amazement, I saw in my antagonist my once friend, _Henri de +Beauvais_. I flung the weapon from me, as I cried out, "De Beauvais, +forgive me! forgive me!" + +A deathly paleness came over his features; his eyes grew glazed and +filmy, and with a low groan he fell fainting on the floor. I bathed +his temples with water; I moistened his pale lips; I rubbed his clammy +fingers. But it was long before he rallied; and when he did come to +himself and looked up, he closed his eyes again, as though the sight of +me was worse than death itself. + +"Come, Henri!" said I, "a cup of wine, my friend, and you will be better +presently. Thank God, this has not ended as it might." + +He raised his eyes towards me, but with a look of proud and unforgiving +sternness, while he uttered not a word. + +"It is unfair to blame me, De Beauvais, for this," said I. "Once more I +say, forgive me!" + +His lips moved, and some sounds came forth, but I could not hear the +words. + +"There, there," cried I; "it's past and over now. Here is my hand." + +"You struck me with that hand," said he, in a deep, distinct voice, as +though every word came from the very bottom of his chest. + +"And if I did, Henri, my own life was on the blow." + +"Oh that you had taken mine with it!" said he, with a bitterness I can +never forget. "I am the first of my name that ever received a blow; +would I were to be the last!" + +"You forget, De Beauvais--" + +"No, sir; I forget nothing. Be assured, too, I never shall forget +this night. With any other than yourself I should not despair of that +atonement for an injury which alone can wash out such a stain; but +_you_,--I know you well,--_you_ will not give me this." + +"You are right, De Beauvais; I will not," said I, calmly. "Sorry am I +that even an accident should have brought us into collision. It is a +mischance I feel deeply, and shall for many a day." + +"And I, sir," cried he, as, starting up, his eyes flashed with passion +and his cheek grew scarlet,--"and I, sir!--what are to be my feelings? +Think you, that because I am an exile and an outcast,--forced +by misfortune to wear the livery of one who is not my rightful +sovereign,--that my sense of personal honor is the less, and that the +mark of an insult is not as blood-stained on my conscience as ever it +was?" + +"Nothing but passion could blind you to the fact that there can be no +insult where no intention could exist." + +"Spare me your casuistry, sir," replied he, with an insolent wave of his +hand, while he sank into a chair, and laid his head upon the table. + +For an instant my temper, provoked beyond endurance, was about to give +way, when I perceived that a handkerchief was bound tightly around his +leg above the knee, where a great stain of blood marked his trouser. The +thought of his being wounded banished every particle of resentment, and +laying my hand on his shoulder, I said,-- + +"De Beauvais, I know not one but yourself to whom I would three times +say, forgive me. But we were friends once, when we were both happier. +For the sake of him who is no more,--poor Charles de Meudon--" + +"A traitor, sir,--a base traitor to the king of his fathers!" + +"This I will not endure!" said I, passionately. "No one shall dare--" + +"Dare!" + +"Ay, dare, sir!--such was the word. To asperse the memory of one like +him is to dare that which no man can, with truth and honor." + +"Come, sir, I'm ready," said Be Beauvais, rising, and pointing to the +door, "Sortons!" + +No one who has not heard that one word pronounced by the lips of a +Frenchman can conceive how much of savage enmity and deadly purpose +it implies. It is the challenge which, if unaccepted, stamps cowardice +forever on the man who declines it: from that hour all equality ceases +between those whom a combat had placed on the same footing. + +"Sortons!" The word rang in my ears, and tingled through my very heart, +while a host of different impulses swayed me,--shame, sorrow, wounded +pride, all struggling for the mastery: but above them all, a better +and a higher spirit,--the firm resolve, come what would, to suffer no +provocation De Beauvais could offer, to make me stand opposite to him as +an enemy. + +"What am I to think, sir?" said he, with a voice scarcely articulate +from passion,--"what am I to think of your hesitation? or why do you +stand inactive here? Is it that you are meditating what new insult can +be added to those you have heaped on me?" + +"No, sir," I replied, firmly; "so far from thinking of offence, I am but +too sorry for the words I have already spoken. I should have remembered, +and remembering, should have made allowance for, the strength of +partisan feelings, which have their origin in a noble, but, as I +believe, a mistaken source." + +"Indeed!" interrupted he, in mockery. "Is it, then, come to this? Am +I, a Frenchman born, to be lectured on my loyalty and allegiance by a +foreign mercenary?" + +"Not even that taunt, De Beauvais, shall avail you anything. I am firm +in my resolve." + +"_Pardieu!_ then," cried he, with savage energy, "there remains but +this!" + +As he spoke, he leaped from his chair, and sprang towards me. In so +doing, however, his knee struck the table, and with a groan of agony, +he reeled back and fell on the floor, while from his reopened wound a +torrent of blood gushed out and deluged the room. + +For a second or two he motioned me away with his hand; but as his +weakness increased, he lay passive and unresisting, and suffered me to +arrest the bleeding by such means as I was able to practise. + +It was a long time ere I could stanch the gaping orifice, which had been +inflicted by a sabre, and cut clean through the high boot and deep into +the thigh. Fortunately for his recovery, he had himself succeeded in +getting off the boot before, and the wound lay open to my surgical +skill. Lifting him cautiously in my arms, I laid him on the bed, and +moistened his lips with a little wine. Still the debility continued,--no +signs of returning strength were there; but his features, pale and +fallen, were glazed with a cold sweat that hung in heavy drops upon his +brow and forehead. + +Never was agony like mine. I saw his life was ebbing fast; the +respiration was growing fainter and more irregular; his pulse could +scarce be felt; yet dare I not leave my post to seek for assistance. A +hundred thoughts whirled through my puzzled brain, and among the rest, +the self-accusing one that I was the cause of his death. "Yes," thought +I, "better far to have stood before his pistol, at all the hazard of my +life, than see him thus." + +In an instant all his angry speeches and his insulting gestures were +forgotten. He looked so like what I once knew him, that my mind was +wandering back again to former scenes and times, and all resentment was +lost in the flood of memory. Poor fellow! what a sad destiny was his! +fighting against the arms of his country,--a mourner over the triumphs +of his native land! Alien that I was, this pang at least was spared me. + +As these thoughts crossed my mind, I felt him press my hand. Overjoyed, +I knelt down and whispered some words in his ear. + +"No, no," muttered he, in a low, plaintive tone; "not all lost,--not +all! La Vendee yet remains!" He was dreaming. + + + +CHAPTER VII. THE ARMISTICE. + +As I sat thus watching with steadfast gaze the features of the sleeping +man, I heard the clattering of a horse's hoofs on the pavement beneath, +and the next moment the heavy step of some one ascending the stairs. +Suddenly the door was flung wide open, and an officer in the handsome +uniform of the Austrian Imperial Guard entered. + +"Excuse this scant ceremony, Monsieur," said he, bowing with much +courtesy, "but I almost despaired of finding you out. I come from +Holitsch with despatches for your Emperor; they are most pressing, as I +believe this note will inform you." + +While I threw my eye over the few lines addressed by General Savary to +the officer in waiting at Holitsch, and commanding the utmost speed in +forwarding the despatch that accompanied them, the officer drew near the +bed where De Beauvais was lying. + +"_Mere de ciel_, it is the count!" cried he, starting back with +astonishment. + +"Yes," said I, interrupting him; "I found him here on my arrival. He is +badly wounded, and should be removed at once. How can this be done?" + +"Easily. I 'll despatch my orderly at once to Holitsch, and remain here +till he return." + +"But if our troops advance?" + +"No, no! we're all safe on that score; the armistice is signed. The very +despatch in your hands, I believe, concludes the treaty." + +This warned me that I was delaying too long the important duty intrusted +to me, and with a hurried entreaty to the Austrian not to leave De +Beauvais, I hastened down the stairs, and proceeded to saddle for the +road. + +"One word, Monsieur," said the officer, as I was in the act of mounting. +"May I ask the name of him to whom my brother officers owe the life of a +comrade much beloved?" + +"My name is Burke; and yours, Monsieur?" + +"Berghausen, _chef d'escadron_ of the Imperial Guard. If ever you should +come to Vienna--" But I lost the words that followed, as, spurring my +horse to a gallop, I set out towards the headquarters of the Emperor. + +As I rode forward, my eyes were ever anxiously bent in the direction of +our camp, not knowing at what moment I might see the advance of a column +along the road, and dreading lest, before the despatches should reach +the Emperor's house, the advanced vedettes should capture the little +party at Holitsch. At no period of his career was Napoleon more incensed +against the adherents of the Bourbons; and if De Beauvais should fall +into his hands, I was well aware that nothing could save him. The +Emperor always connected in his mind--and with good reason, too--the +machinations of the Royalists with the plans of the English Government. +He knew that the land which afforded the asylum to their king was +the refuge of the others also; and many of the heaviest denunciations +against the "perfide Albion" had no other source than the dread, of +which he could never divest himself, that the legitimate monarch would +one day be restored to France. + +While such were Napoleon's feelings, the death of the Duc d'Enghien had +heightened the hatred of the Bourbonists to a pitch little short of +madness. My own unhappy experience made me more than ever fearful of +being in any way implicated with the members of this party, and I +rode on as though life itself depended on my reaching the imperial +headquarters some few minutes earlier. + +As I approached the camp, I was overjoyed to find that no movement +was in contemplation. The men were engaged in cleaning their arms +and accoutrements, restoring the broken wagons and gun-carriages, and +repairing, as far as might be, the disorders of the day of battle. The +officers stood in groups here and there, chatting at their ease; while +the only men under arms were the new conscript? just arrived from +France,--a force of some thousands,--brought by forced marches from the +banks of the Rhine. + +The crowd of officers near the headquarters of the Emperor pressed +closely about me as I descended from my horse, eager to learn what +information I brought from Holitsch; for they were not aware that I had +been stationed nearly half-way on the road. + +"Well, Burke," said General d'Auvergne, as he drew his arm within mine, +"your coming has been anxiously looked for this morning. I trust the +despatches you carry may, if not Contradict, at least explain what has +occurred." + +"Is this the officer from Holitsch?" said the aide-decamp of the +Emperor, coming hurriedly forward. "The despatch, sir!" cried he; and +the next moment hastened to the little hut which Napoleon occupied as +his bivouac. + +The only other person in the open space where I stood was an officer of +the lancers, whose splashed and travel-stained dress seemed to say he +had been employed like myself. + +"I fancy, Monsieur," said he, bowing, "that you have had a sharp ride +also this morning. I have just arrived from Goeding--four leagues--in +less than an hour; and with all that, too late, I believe, to remedy +what has occurred." + +"What, then, has happened?" + +"Davoust has been tricked into an armistice, and suffered the Russians +to pass the bridge. The Emperor Alexander has taken advantage of the +negotiations with Austria, and got his army clear through; so, at least, +it would seem. I saw Napoleon tear the despatch into fragments, and +stamp his foot upon them. But here he comes." + +The words were scarcely spoken when the Emperor came rapidly up, +followed by his staff. He wore a gray surtout, trimmed with dark fur, +and had his hands clasped within the cuffs of the coat. His face was +pale as death, and save a slight contraction of his brows, there was +nothing to show any appearance of displeasure. + +"Who brought the despatch from Goeding?" + +"I did, Sire," said the officer. + +"How are the roads, sir?" + +"Much cut up, and in one place a torrent has carried away part of a +bridge." + +"I knew it,--I knew it," said he, bitterly; "it is too late. Duroc," +cried he, while the words seemed to come forth with a hissing sound, +"did I not tell you, 'Grattez le Russe, et vous trouverez le Tartare!'" + +The words were graven in my memory from that hour; even yet, I can +recall the very accents as when I heard them. + +"And you, sir," said he, turning suddenly towards me, "you came from +General Savary. Return to him with this letter. Have you written, Duroc? +Well, you'll deliver this to General Savary at Holitsch. He may require +you to proceed to Goeding. Are you well mounted?" + +"Yes, Sire." + +"Come, then, sir. I made you a captain yesterday; let us see if you can +win your spurs to-day." + +From the time I received the despatch to that in which I was in the +saddle not more than five minutes elapsed. The idea of being chosen by +the Emperor himself for a service was a proud one, and I resolved to +acquit myself with credit. With what concert does one's heart beat to +the free stride of a mettled charger! how does each bold plunge warm +the blood and stir up the spirits! and as, careering free over hill and +valley, we pass in our flight the clouds that drift above, how does the +sense of freedom, realized as it is, impart a feeling of ecstasy to +our minds! Our thoughts, revelling on the wayward liberty our course +suggests, rise free and untrammelled from the doubts and cares of +every-day life. + +Onward I went, and soon the old mill came in sight, rearing its ruined +head amid the black desolation of the plain. I could not resist the +impulse to see what had become of De Beauvais; and leading my horse into +the kitchen, I hastened up the stairs and through the rooms. But all +were deserted; the little chamber lay open, the granary too; but no one +was there. + +With a mind relieved, in a great measure, from anxiety, I remounted +and continued my way; and soon entered the dark woods of Holitsch. The +chateau and demesne were a private estate of the Emperor Francis, +and once formed a favorite resort of Joseph the Second in his hunting +excursions. The chateau itself was a large, irregular mass of building, +but still, with all its incongruity of architecture, not devoid of +picturesque effect,--and the older portion of it was even handsome. +While I stood in front of a long terrace, on which several windows +opened from a gallery that ran along one side of the chateau, I was +somewhat surprised that no guard was to be seen, nor even a single +sentinel on duty. I dismounted, and leading my horse, approached the +avenue that led up between a double range of statues to the door. An +old man, dressed in the slouched hat and light blue jacket of a Bohemian +peasant, was busily engaged in wrapping matting around some shrubs, +to protect them from the frost. A little boy--his second self in +costume--stood beside him with his pruning-knife, and stared at me with +a kind of stupid wonder as I approached. With some difficulty I made out +from the old man that the Emperor occupied a smaller building called +the Kaiser-Lust, about half a league distant in the forest, having given +strict orders that no one was to approach the chateau nor its immediate +grounds. It was his favorite retreat, and perhaps he did not wish it +should be associated in his mind with a period of such misfortune. The +old peasant continued his occupation while he spoke, never lifting his +head from his work, and seeming all absorbed in the necessity of what he +was engaged in. As I inquired the nearest road to the imperial quarters, +he employed me to assist him for a moment in his task by holding one end +of the matting, with which he was now about to envelop a marble statue +of Maria Theresa. + +I could not refuse a request so naturally proffered; and while I did +so, a little wicket opened at a short distance off, and a tall man, in a +gray surtout and a plain cocked hat without a feather, came forward. He +held a riding-whip in his hand, and seemed, from his splashed equipment, +to have just descended from the saddle. + +"Well, Fritz," said he, "I hope the frost has done us no mischief?" + +The old gardener turned round at the words, and, touching his hat +respectfully, continued his work, while he replied,-- + +"No, Mein Herr; it was but a white hoar, and everything has escaped +well." + +"And whom have you got here for an assistant, may I ask?" said he, +pointing to me, whom he now saw for the first time. + +As the question was asked in German, although I understood it I left the +reply to the gardener. + +"God knows!" said the old fellow, in a tone of easy indifference; "I +think he must be a soldier of some sort." + +The other smiled at the remark, and, turning towards me, said, in +French,-- + +"You are, perhaps, unaware, sir, being a stranger, that it is the +Emperor of Austria's desire this chateau should not be intruded on." + +"My offending, sir," interrupted I, "was purely accidental. I am the +bearer of despatches for General Savary; and having stopped to inquire +from this honest man--" + +"The general has taken his departure for Goeding," he broke in, without +paying further attention to my explanation. + +"For Goding! and may I ask what distance that may be?" + +"Scarcely a league, if you can hit upon the right path; the road lies +yonder, where you see that dead fir-tree." + +"I thank you, sir," said I, touching my hat; "and must now ask my friend +here to release me,--my orders are of moment." + +"You may find some difficulty in the wood, after all," said he; "I 'll +send my groom part of the way with you." + +Before I could proffer my thanks suitably for such an unexpected +politeness, he had disappeared in the garden through which he entered a +few minutes before. + +"I say, my worthy friend, tell me the name of that gentleman; he's one +of the Emperor's staff, if I mistake not. I 'm certain I 've seen the +face before." + +"If you had," said the old fellow, laughing, "you could scarcely forget +him; old Frantzerl is just the same these twenty years." + +"Whom did you say?" + +Before he could reply, the other was at my side. + +"Now, sir," said he, "he will conduct you to the highroad. I wish you a +good journey." + +These words were uttered in a tone somewhat more haughty than his +previous ones; and contenting myself with a civil acknowledgment of his +attention, I bowed and returned to my horse, which the little peasant +child had been holding. + +"This way, Monsieur," said the groom, who, dressed in a plain dark brown +livery, was mounted on a horse of great size and symmetry. + +As he spoke, he dashed forward at a gallop which all my efforts could +not succeed in overtaking. In less than ten minutes the man halted, +and, waiting till I came up, he pointed to a gentle acclivity before me, +across which the highroad led. + +"There lies the road, sir; continue your speed, and in twenty minutes +you reach Goeding." + +"One word," said I, drawing forth my purse as I spoke,--"one word. Tell +me, who is your master?" + +The groom smiled, slightly touched his hat, and without uttering a word, +wheeled round his horse, and before I could repeat my question, was far +on his road back to the chateau. + +Before me lay the river, and the little bridge of Goeding, across which +now the Russian columns were marching in rapid but compact order. Their +cavalry had nearly all passed, and was drawn with some field-guns along +the bank; while at half-cannon-shot distance, the corps of Davoust were +drawn up in order of battle, and standing spectators of the scene. On an +eminence of the field a splendid staff were assembled, accompanied by a +troop of Tartar horsemen, whose gay colors and strange equipment were +a remarkable feature of the picture; and here, I learned, the Emperor +Alexander then was, accompanied by General Savary. + +As I drew near, my French uniform caught the eye of the latter, and he +cantered forward to meet me. Tearing open the despatch with eagerness, +he rapidly perused the few lines it contained; then, seizing me by the +arm in his-strong grasp, he exclaimed,-- + +"Look yonder, sir! You see their columns extending to Serritz. Go back +and tell his Majesty. But no; my own mission here is ended. You may +return to Austerlitz." + +So saying, he rode back to the group around the Emperor, where I saw +him a few minutes after addressing his Majesty; and then, after a formal +leave-taking, turn his horse's head and set out towards Brunn. + +As I retraced my steps towards the camp, I began to muse over the events +which had just occurred; and even by the imperfect glimpses I +could catch of the negotiations, could perceive that the Czar had +out-manoeuvred Napoleon. It is true, I was not aware by what means +the success had been obtained; nor was it for many a year after that I +became cognizant of the few autograph lines by which Alexander induced +Davoust to suspend his operations, under the pretence that the Austrian +armistice included the Russian army. It was an unworthy act and ill +befitting one whose high personal courage and chivalrous bearing gave +promise of better things. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE COMPAGNIE D'ELITE + +With whatever triumphant feelings the Emperor Napoleon may have +witnessed the glorious termination of this brief campaign, to the young +officers of the army it brought anything rather than satisfaction, +and the news of the armistice was received in the camp with gloom and +discontent. The brilliant action at Elchingen, and the great victory at +Austerlitz, were hailed as a glorious presage of future successes, for +which the high-sounding phrases of a bulletin were deemed but a poor +requital. A great proportion of the army were new levies, who had not +seen service, and felt proportionably desirous for opportunities of +distinction; and to them the promise of a triumphant return to France +was a miserable exchange for those battlefields on which they dreamed +they should win honor and fame, and from whence they hoped to date their +rise of fortune. Little did we guess, that while words of peace and +avowals of moderation were on his lips, Napoleon was at that very moment +meditating on the opening of that great campaign, which, beginning at +Jena, was to end in the most bloody and long sustained of all his wars. + +Nothing, however, was now talked of but the fetes which awaited us on +our return to Paris,--while liberal grants of money were made to all the +wounded, and no effort was spared which should mark that feeling of the +Emperor's, which so conspicuously opened his bulletin, in the emphatic +words, "Soldiers, I am content with you!" + +Napoleon well understood, and indeed appeared to have anticipated, the +disappointment the army would experience at this sudden cessation +of hostilities; and endeavored now to divert the torrent of their +enthusiasm into another and a safer channel. The bulk of the army were +cantoned around Brunn and Olmutz; some picked regiments were recalled +to Vienna, where the Emperor was soon expected to establish his +headquarters; while many of those who had suffered most severely +from forced marches and fatigues were formed into corps of escort to +accompany the Russian prisoners--sixteen thousand in number--on their +way to France; and lastly, a _compagnie d'elite_, as it was called, +was selected to carry to the Senate the glorious spoils of +victory,--forty-five standards taken on the field of Austerlitz, and now +destined to grace the Palace of the Luxembourg. + +I had scarcely seated myself to the humble supper of my bivouac, when an +orderly came to command me to General d'Auvergne's quarters. The little +sitting-room he occupied, in a peasant hut, was so filled with officers +that it was some time before I could approach him; and my impatience +was not lessened by more than once hearing my name mentioned aloud,--a +circumstance not a little trying to a young man in the presence of his +superiors in station. + +"But here he is," said the general, beckoning to me to come forward. +"Burke, his Majesty has most graciously permitted me to include your +name in the _compagnie d'elite_,--a testimony of his satisfaction you've +every reason to be proud of. And just at the moment I was about to +communicate the fact to you, I have received a message from Marshal +Murat, requesting that I may permit you to serve on his own staff." + +"Yes, Captain," said an officer in the uniform of a colonel,--it was the +first time I had been addressed by my new title, and I cannot express +what a thrill of pleasure the word gave me,--"Marshal Murat witnessed +with pleasure the alacrity and steadiness of your conduct on the 2d, and +has sent me with an offer which I fancy few officers would not deem a +flattering one." + +"Unquestionably it is, Colonel," said General d'Auvergne; "nay, more, I +will say I regard it as the making of a young man's fortune, thus early +in his career to have attracted such high notice. But I must be passive +here; Captain Burke shall decide for himself." + +"In that case, sir, I shall cause you but little delay, if you will +still permit me to serve on your own staff." + +"But stay, my boy, do not be rash in this affair. I will not insult your +better feeling by dwelling on the little power I possess, and the very +great enjoyed by Marshal Murat, of serving your interests; but I +must say, that with him, and on his personal staff, opportunities of +distinction--" + +"And here I must interpose," said the colonel, smiling courteously: +"with no officer in this army can a man expect to see service, in its +boldest and most heroic colors, rather than with General d'Auvergne." + +"I know it,--I feel it, too; and with him, if he will allow me--" + +"Enough, my dear boy," said the old man, grasping my hand in his. +"Colonel, you must explain to the marshal how stands this matter; and he +is too kind of heart and too noble of soul to think the worse of any of +us for our obstinacy. And now, my young friend, make your arrangements +to join the _compagnie d'elite_; they march to-morrow afternoon,--and +this is a service you cannot decline. Leave me to make your +acknowledgments to the marshal, and lose no more time here." + +Short as had been my absence from my quarters, when I re-entered, I +descried Tascher seated at the table, and busily employed in discussing +the last fragments of my supper. + +"You see, my dear friend," said he, speaking with his mouth full,--"you +see what it is to have a _salmi_ for supper. I sat eating a confounded +mess of black bread, and blacker veal, for fifteen minutes, when the +breeze brought me the odor of your delicious _plat_. It was in vain I +summoned all my virtue to resist it; if there ever was a dish made to +seduce a subaltern on service, it is this. But, I say, won't you eat +something?" + +"I fear not," said I, half angrily. + +"And why?" replied he. "See what a capital wing that is,--a little bare, +to be sure; and there's the back of a pigeon. _Ma foi!_ you have no +reason to complain. I say, is it true you are named among the _compagnie +d'elite_?" + +I nodded, and ate on. + +"_Diable!_ there never was such fortune. What a glorious exchange +for this confounded swamp, with its everlasting drill from morning to +night,--shivering under arms for four hours, and shaking with the ague +the rest of the day after,--marching, mid-leg in water, half frozen, and +trying quick movements, when the very blood is in icicles! And then +you 'll be enjoying Paris,--delightful Paris!--dining at the 'Rocher,' +supping at the 'Cadran,' lounging into the _salons_, at the very time we +shall be hiding ourselves amidst the straw of our bivouacs. I go mad to +think of it. And, what's worse than all, there you sit, as little +elated as if the whole thing were only the most natural in the world. I +believe, on my word, you 'd not condescend to be surprised if you were +gazetted Marechal de France in to-morrow's gazette." + +"When I can bear, without testifying too much astonishment, to see my +supper eaten by the man who does nothing but rate me into the bargain, +perhaps I may plume myself on some equanimity of temper." + +"Confound your equanimity! It's very easy to be satisfied when one has +everything his own way." + +"And so, Tascher, you deem me such a fortunate fellow?" + +"That I do," replied he, quickly. "You have had more good luck, and made +less of it, than any one I ever knew. What a career you had before you +when we met first! There was that pretty girl at the Tuileries quite +ready to fall in love with you; I know it, because she rather took an +air of coldness with me. Well, you let her be carried off by an old +general, with a white head and a queue,--unquestionably a bit of pique +on her part. Then, somehow or other, you contrived to pink the best +swordsman of the army, little Francois there; and I never heard that the +circumstance gained you a single conquest." + +"Quite true, my friend," said I, laughing; "I confess it all. And, what +is far worse, I acknowledge that until this moment I did not even know +the advantages I was wilfully wasting." + +"And even now," continued he, not minding my interruption,--"even now, +you are about to return to Paris as one of the _elite_. Well, I 'll +wager twenty Naps that the only civil speeches you 'll hear will be from +some musty old senators at the Luxembourg. Oh dear! if my amiable aunt, +the Empress, would only induce my most benevolent uncle, the Emperor, +to put me on that same list, depend upon it you 'd hear of Lieutenant +Tascher in the 'Faubourg St. Honore.'" + +"But you seem to forget," said I, half piqued at last by the +impertinence of his tone, "that I have neither friends nor +acquaintances; that, although a Frenchman by service, I am not so by +birth." + +"And I,--what am I?" interrupted he. "A Creole, come from Heaven knows +what far-away place beyond seas; that there never was a man with +more expensive tastes, and smaller means to supply them,--with worse +prospects, and better connections; in short, a kind of live antithesis. +And yet, with all that, exchange places with me now, and see if, before +a fortnight elapse, I have not more dinner invitations than any officer +of the same grade within the Boulevards; watch if the prettiest girl +at Paris is not at my side in the Opera. But here comes your official +appointment, I take it." + +As he said this, an orderly of the "Garde" delivered a sealed packet +into my hands, which, on opening, I discovered was a letter from General +Duroc, wherein I read, that "it was the wish of his Majesty, Emperor and +King, that I, his well-beloved Thomas Burke, in conformity with certain +instructions to be afterwards made known to me, should proceed with the +_compagnie d'elite_ to Paris, then and there--" + +As I read thus far aloud, Tascher interrupted me, snatching the paper +from my hands, and continued thus:-- + +"Then and there to mope, muse, and be _ennuye_ until such time as active +service may again recall him to the army. My dear Burke, I am really +sorry for you. Wars and campaigning may be--indeed they are--very fine +things; but as the means, not the end. His Majesty, my uncle,--whom may +Heaven preserve and soften his heart to his relations!--loves them for +their own sake; but we,--you and I, for instance,--what possible reason +can we have for risking our bones, and getting our flesh mangled, save +the hope of promotion? And to what end that same promotion, if not for +a wider sphere of pleasure and enjoyment? Think what a career a colonel, +at our age, would have in Paris!" + +"Come, Tascher, I will not believe you in all this. If there were +not something higher to reward one for the fatigues and dangers of a +campaign than the mere sensual delights you allude to, I, for one, would +soon doff the epaulettes." + +"You are impracticable," said he, half angrily; "but it is as much from +the isolation in which you have lived as any conviction on the subject. +You must let me introduce you to some relatives of mine in Paris. They +will be delighted to know you; for, as one of the _compagnie d'elite_, +you might figure as a very respectable 'lion' for two, nay, three entire +evenings. And you will have the _entree_ to the pleasantest house in +Paris; they receive every evening, and all the best people resort there. +I only exact one condition." + +"And that is--" + +"You must not make love to Pauline. That you will fall in love with her +yourself is a fact I can't help,--nor you either. But no advance on your +part; promise me that." + +"In such case, Tascher, it were best for all parties I should not know +the lady. I have no fancy, believe me, for being smitten whether I will +or no." + +"I see, Master Burke, there is a bit of impertinence in all this. You +sneer at my warnings about _la belle cousine_; now, I am determined +you shall see her at least. Besides, you must do me a service with the +countess I have had the bad luck to be for some time out of favor with +my aunt Josephine,--some trumpery debts of mine they make a work +about at the Tuileries. Well, perhaps you could persuade Madame de +Lacostellerie to take up my cause; she has great influence with the +Empress, and can make her do what she pleases. And, if I must confess +it, it was this brought me over to your quarters tonight; and I ate +your supper just to pass away time till you came back again. You 'll not +refuse me?" + +"Certainly not. But reflect for a moment, Tascher, and you will see that +no man was ever less intended for a diplomate. It is only a few minutes +since you laughed at my solitary habits and hermit propensities." + +"I've thought of all that, Burke, and am not a whit discouraged. On the +contrary, you are the more likely to think of my affairs because you +have none of your own; and I don't know any one but yourself I should +fancy to meet Pauline frequently and on terms of intimacy." + +"This, at least, is not a compliment," said I, laughing. + +He shrugged his shoulders, and threw up his eyebrows with a French +expression, as though to say, it can't be helped; and then continued:-- + +"And now remember, Burke, I count on you. Get me out of this confounded +place; I 'd rather be back at Toulon again, if need be. And as I shall +not see you again before you leave, farewell. I 'll send the letter for +the countess early to-morrow." + +We shook hands warmly and parted: he to return to his quarters; and I +to sit down beside my fire, and muse over the events that had just +occurred, and think of Tascher himself, whose character had never been +so plainly exposed to me before. + +If De Beauvais, with his hot-headed impetuosity, his mad devotion to the +cause of the Legitimists, was a type of the followers of the Bourbons; +so, in all the easy indifference and quiet selfishness of his nature, +was Tascher a specimen of another class of his countrymen,--a class +which, wrapped up in its own circle of egotistical enjoyments, believed +Paris the only habitable spot of the whole globe. Without any striking +traits of character, or any very decided vices, they led a life of +pleasure and amusement, rendering every one and everything around them, +so far as they were able, subservient to their own plane and wishes; +and perfectly unconscious the while how glaring their selfishness +had become, and how palpable, even to the least observant, was the +self-indulgence they practised on every occasion. Without cleverness +or tact enough to conceal their failings, they believed they imposed +on others because they imposed on themselves,--just as the child deems +himself unseen when he closes his eyes. + +Josephine's followers were, many of them, like this, and formed a +striking contrast to the young men of the Napoleonite party, who, +infatuated by the glorious successes of their chief, deemed the +career of arms alone honorable. St. Cyr and the Polytechnique were the +nurseries of these,--the principles instilled there were perpetuated +in after life; and however exaggerated their ideas of France and her +destiny, their undoubted heroism and devotion might well have palliated +even heavier errors. + +It was in ruminating thus over the different characters of the few I +had ever known intimately, that I came to think seriously on my own +condition, which, for many a day before, I had rather avoided than +sought to reflect on. I felt,--as how many must have done!--that the +bond of a common country, the inborn patriotism of the native of the +soil, is the great resource on which men fall back when they devote +themselves to the career of arms; that the alien's position, disguise it +how he will, is that of the mere mercenary. How can he identify himself +with interests on which he is but half-informed, or feel attachment to +a land wherein he has neither hearth nor home? In the very glory he wins +he can scarce participate. In a word, his is a false position, which no +events nor accidents of fortune can turn to good account, and he must +rest satisfied with a life of isolation and estrangement. + +I felt how readily, if I had been a Frenchman born, I could have excused +and palliated to my conscience many things which now were matters of +reproach. Aggressive war had lost its horrors in the glory of enlarged +dominions; the greatness of France and the honor of her arms had made +me readily forget the miseries entailed on other nations by her lust of +conquest. But I--the stranger, the alien--had no part in the inheritance +of glory; and personal ambition,--what means it, save to stand high +amongst those we once looked up to as superiors? For me there were +no traditions of a childhood passed amid great names, revered and +worshipped; no early teachings of illustrious examples beside the +paternal hearth. And yet there was one, although lost to me forever, +before whose eyes I would gladly seem to hold a high place. Yes! could +I but think that she had not forgotten me,--would hear my name with +interest, or feel one throb of pleasure if I were spoken of with +honor,--I asked no more! + +"A letter, Monsieur le Capitaine," said my servant, as he deposited +a package on my table. Supposing it was the epistle of which Tascher +spoke, I paid but slight attention to it, when by chance I remarked it +was in General d'Auvergne's handwriting. I opened it at once, and read +as follows:-- + + Bivouac, 11 o'clock. + + My dear Burke,--No one ever set off for Paris without being + troubled with commissions for his country friends, and you + must not escape the ills of common humanity. Happily for + you, however, the debt is easily acquitted; I have neither + undiscovered shades of silk to be matched, nor impossible + bargains to be effected. I shall simply beg of you to + deliver with your own hand the enclosed letter to its + address at the Tuileries; adding, if you think fit, the + civil attentions of a visit. + + We shall both, in all likelihood, be much hurried when we + meet to-morrow,--for I also have received orders to march,-- + so that I take the present opportunity to enclose you a + check on Paris for a trifle in advance of your pay; + remembering too well, in my own aide-de-camp days, the + dilatory habits of the War Office with new captains. + + Yours ever, dear Burke, + + D'Auvergne, Lieut-General. + +The letter of which he spoke had fallen on the table, where I now read +the address,--"A Madame la Comtesse d'Auvergne, nee Comtesse de Meudon, +dame d'honneur de S. M. l'Imperatrice." As I read these lines, I felt my +face grow burning hot, my cheeks flushed up, and I could scarcely have +been more excited were I actually in her presence to whom the letter +was destined. The poor general's kind note, his check for eight thousand +francs, lay there: I forgot them both, and sat still, spelling over +the letters of that name so woven in my destiny. I thought of the first +night I had ever heard it, when, a mere boy, I wept over her sorrows, +and grieved for her whose fate was so soon to throw its shadow over my +own. But in a moment all gave way before the one thought,--I should see +her again, speak to her and hear her voice. It is true, she was the wife +of another: but as Marie de Meudon, our destinies were as wide apart; +under no circumstances could she have been mine, nor did I ever dare +to hope it. My love to her--for it was such, ardent and passionate--was +more the devotion of some worshipper at a shrine than an affection that +sought return. The friendless soldier of fortune, poor, unknown, uncared +for,--how could he raise his thoughts to one for whose hand the noblest +and the bravest were suitors in vain? Yet, with all this, how my heart +throbbed to think that we should meet again! Nor was the thought less +stirring that I felt, that even in the short interval of absence I had +won praise from him for whom her admiration was equal to my own. With +all the turmoil of my hopes and fears I felt a rush of pleasure at my +heart; and when I slept, it was to dream of happy days to come, and a +future far brighter than the past. + +My first thought when morning broke was to ride over to Beygern, to +learn the fate of my wounded friends. On my way thither I fell in with +several officers bound on a similar errand, for already the convent had +become the great hospital to which the sufferers were brought from every +part of the camp. As we went along, I was much struck by the depression +of spirit so remarkable everywhere. The battle over, all the martial +enthusiasm seemed to have evaporated: many grumbled at the tiresome +prospect of a winter in country quarters, or cantoned in the field; some +regretted the briefness of the campaign; while others again complained +that to return to France after so little of active service would only +expose them to ridicule from their companions who had seen Italy and +Egypt. + +"Spare your sorrows on that score, my young friends," said a colonel, +who listened patiently to the complaints around him; "we shall not +see the dome of the Invalides for some time yet. Except the _compagnie +d'elite_, I fancy few of us will figure on the Boulevards." + +"There, again," cried another: "I never heard anything so unfair as that +_compagnie d'elite_; they have been, with two solitary exceptions, taken +from the cavalry. Austerlitz was to be the day of honor for the infantry +of France, said the bulletin." + +"And so it was," interrupted a little dark-eyed major; "and I suppose +his Majesty thought we had enough of it on the field, and did not wish +to surfeit us with glory. But I ask pardon," said he, turning towards +me; "monsieur is, if I mistake not, named one of the _elite_?" + +As I replied in the affirmative, I observed all eyes turned towards me; +but not with any kindly expression,--far from it. I saw that there was a +deliberate canvass of me, as though to see by my outward man how I could +possibly deserve such a favor. + +"Can you explain to us, Monsieur," said the little major to me, "on what +principle the _elite_ were chosen? For we have a thousand contradictory +reports in the camp: some say by ballot; some, that it was only those +who never soiled their jackets in the affair of the other day, and +looked fresh and smart." + +A burst of laughter from the rest interrupted the major's speech, for +its impertinence was quite sufficient to secure it many admirers. + +"I believe, sir," said I, angrily, "I can show you some reasons against +the selection of certain persons." + +As I got thus far, an officer whispered something into the major's ear, +who, with a roar of laughing, exclaimed,-- + +"A thousand pardons! ten thousand, _parbleu!_ I did n't know you. It was +monsieur pinked Francois, the maitre d'armes? Yes, yes; don't deny it," +said he, as I made no reply whatever to a question I believed quite +irrelevant to the occasion,--"don't deny it. That lunge over the guard +was a thing to be proud of; and, by Jove! you shall not practise it at +my expense." + +This speech excited great amusement among the party, who seemed to +coincide perfectly with the reasoning of the speaker; while I myself +remained silent, unable to decide whether I ought to be annoyed or the +reverse. + +"Come, Monsieur," resumed the major, addressing me with courtesy, "I +ask-pardon for the liberty of my speech. By Saint Denis! if all the +_compagnie d'elite_ have the same skill of fence, I 'll not question +their appointment." + +The candor of the avowal was too much for my gravity, and I now joined +in the mirth of his companions. + +If I have mentioned so trivial an incident as this here, it is because I +wish to mark, even thus passingly, a trait of French military life. The +singular confession of a man who regretted his impertinence because he +discovered his adversary was a better swordsman, would, under any other +code or in any other country, have argued poltroonery. Not so here; +no one for a moment suspected his comrade's courage, nor could any +circumstance arise to make it doubtful save an actual instance of +cowardice. The inequality of the combat was reason enough for not +engaging in it: the odds were unfair, because duelling was like a game +where each party was to have an equal chance; and hence no shame was +felt at declining a contest where this inequality existed. + +Such a system, it is obvious, could not have prevailed in communities +where duelling was only resorted to in extreme cases; but here it was +an every-day occurrence, and often formed but a brief interval, scarce +interrupting the current of an old friendship. Any resentful spirit, +any long-continued dislike to the party with whom you once fought, would +have been denounced as unofficer-like and ungenerous; and every day saw +men walking arm-inarm in closest intimacy, who but the morning before +stood opposed to each other's weapons. I now perceived the truth of +what Minette had once said, and which at the time I but imperfectly +comprehended. "Maitre Francois will be less troublesome in future; and +you, Lieutenant, will have an easier life also." + +"Halt there!" shouted a sentry, as we approached the narrow causeway +that led up to the convent. We now discovered, that by a general order +no one was permitted to approach the hospital save such as were provided +with a leave from the medical staff. A bulletin of the deaths was daily +published on the guard-house, except which no other information was +afforded of the condition of the wounded; and to this we turned eagerly, +and with anxious hearts, lest we might read the name of some friend +lost forever. I ran over with a rapid glance the list, where neither St. +Hilaire nor poor Pioche occurred; and then, setting spurs to my horse, +hurried back to my quarters at the top of my speed. When I arrived, the +preparations for the departure of the _elite_ were already in progress, +and I had but time to make my few arrangements for the road when the +order came to join my comrades. + + + +CHAPTER IX. PARIS IN 1800 + +A portion of the Luxembourg was devoted to the reception of the +_compagnie d'elite_ for whom a household on the most liberal scale was +provided, a splendid table maintained, and all that wealth and the taste +of a voluptuous age could suggest, procured, to make their life one of +daily magnificence and pleasure. Daru himself, the especial favorite +of the Emperor, took the head of the table each day, to which generally +some of the ministers were invited; while the "Moniteur" of every +morning chronicled the festivities, giving _eclat_ to the most minute +circumstance, and making Paris re-echo to the glories of him of +whose fame they were but the messengers. The most costly equipages, +saddle-horses of great price, grooms in gorgeous liveries, all that +could attract notice and admiration, were put in requisition; while +ceremonies of pomp went forward day by day, and the deputation received +in state the congratulatory visits of different departments of the +Government. + +While thus this homage was paid to the semblance of Napoleon's glory, +his progress through Germany was one grand triumphal procession. One day +we read of his arrival at Munich, whither the Empress had gone to meet +him. There he was welcomed with the most frantic enthusiasm: he had +restored to them their army almost without loss, and covered with +laurels; he had elevated their elector to a throne; while he cemented +the friendship between the two nations by the marriage of Eugene +Beauharnais with the Princess of Bavaria. Another account would tell +us of sixteen thousand Russian prisoners on their way to France, +accompanied by two thousand cannon taken from the Austrians. All +that could excite national enthusiasm and gratify national vanity was +detailed by the Government press, and popular excitement raised to a +higher pitch than in the wildest periods of the Revolution. + +Hourly was his arrival looked forward to with anxiety and impatience. +Fetes on the most splendid scale of magnificence were in preparation, +and the public bodies of Paris held meetings to concert measures for +his triumphal reception. At last a telegraphic despatch announced his +arrival at Strasburg. He crossed the Rhine at the very place where, +exactly one hundred days before, he passed over on his march against +the Austrians; one hundred days of such glory as not even his career had +equalled,--Ulm and Austerlitz, vanquished Russia, and ruined Austria the +trophies of this brief space! Never had his genius shone with greater +splendor; never had Fortune shown herself 'more the companion of his +destiny. + +Each hour was now counted, and every thought turned to the day when he +might be expected to arrive; and on the 24th came the intelligence that +the Emperor was approaching Paris. He had halted part of a day at Nancy +to review some regiments of cavalry, and now might be expected in less +than twenty-four hours. The next morning all Paris awoke at an early +hour; when what was the surprise and disappointment to see the great +flag floating from the pavilion of the Tuileries! His Majesty had +arrived during the night, when, at once sending for the Minister of +Finance, he proceeded, without taking a moment's repose, to examine into +the dreadful crisis which threatened the Bank of France and the very +existence of the Government. + +At eleven, the Council of State were assembled at the Tuileries; and +at twelve, a proclamation, dispersed through Paris, announced that M. +Molien was appointed minister, and M. Marbois was dismissed from his +office. The rapidity of these changes, and the avoidance of all public +homage by the Emperor, threw for several days a cast of gloom over the +whole city; which was soon dissipated by the reappearance of Napoleon, +and the publication of that celebrated report by M. Champagny in which +the glories of France--her victories, her acquisitions in wealth, +territory, and influence--were recited in terms whose adulation it would +be now difficult to digest. + +From that moment the festivities of Paris commenced, and with a splendor +unsurpassed by any period of the Empire. It was the Augustan era of +Napoleon's life in all that concerned the fine arts; for literature, +unhappily, did not flourish at any time beneath his reign. Gerard and +Gros, David, Ingres, and Isabey committed to canvas the glories of the +German campaigns; and the capitulation of Ulm, the taking of Vienna, +the passage of the Danube, and the field of Austerlitz still live in the +genius of these great painters. + +The Opera, too, under the direction of Gimerosa, had attained to an +unwonted excellence; while Spontini and Boieldieu, in their separate +walks, gave origin to the school so distinctly that of the Comic Opera. +Still, the voluptuous tastes of the day prevailed above all; and the +ballet, and the strange conceptions of Nicolo, a Maltese composer,--in +which music, dancing, romance, and scenery all figured,--were the +passion of the time. + +Dancing was, indeed, the great art of the era. Vestris and Trenis were +the great names in every _salon_; and all the extravagant graces and +voluptuous groupings of the ballet were introduced into the amusements +of society: even the taste in dress was made subordinate to this +passion,--the light and floating materials, which mark the figure and +display symmetry, replacing the heavier and more costly robes of former +times. The reaction to the stern puritanism of the Republican age had +set in, and secretly was favored by Napoleon himself; who saw in all +this extravagance and abandonment to pleasure the basis of that new +social state on which he purposed to found his dynasty. + +Never were the entertainments at the Tuileries more costly; never was +a greater magnificence displayed in all the ceremonial of state. The +marshals of the Empire were enjoined to maintain a style corresponding +to their exalted position; and the reports of the police were actually +studied respecting such persons as lived in what was deemed a manner +unbefitting their means of expense. Cambaceres and Fouche, Talleyrand +and Murat, all maintained splendid establishments. Their dinners were +given twice each week, and their receptions were almost every evening. +If the Emperor conferred wealth with a liberal hand, so did he expect to +see it freely expended. He knew well the importance of conciliating the +affections of the _bourgeoisie_ of Paris; and that by no other means +could such an end be accomplished more readily than by a lavish +expenditure of money throughout all classes of society. This was alone +wanting to efface every trace of the old Republican spirit. The simple +habits and uncostly tastes of the Jacobins were at once regarded as +meannesses; their frugal and unpretending modes of life pronounced low +and vulgar; and many, who could have opposed a stout heart against +the current of popular feeling on stronger grounds, yielded to the +insinuations and mockeries of their own class, and conformed to tastes +which eventually engendered opinions and even principles. + +I ask pardon of my reader for digressing from the immediate subject of +my own career, to speak of topics which are rather the province of the +historian than a mere story-teller like myself; still, I should not be +able to present to his view the picture of manners I desired, without +thus recalling some features of that time, so pregnant with the fate of +Europe and the future destiny of France. And now to return. + +Immediately on the Emperor's arrival, the Empress and her suite took +their departure for Versailles; from whence it was understood they were +not to return before the end of the month, for which time a splendid +ball was announced at the Tuileries. Unwilling to detain General +d'Auvergne's letter so long, and unable from the position I occupied +to obtain leave of absence from Paris, I forwarded the letter to the +comtesse, and abandoned the only hope of meeting her once more. The +disappointment from this source; the novelty of the circumstances in +which I found myself; the fascinations of a world altogether strange +to me,--all conspired to confuse and excite me, and I entered into the +dissipation of those around me, if not with all their zest, at least +with as headlong a resolution to drown all reflection in a life of +voluptuous enjoyment. + +The only person of my own standing among the _compagnie d'elite_ was a +captain of the Chasseurs of the Guard, who, although but a few years +my senior, had seen service in the Italian campaign. By family a +Bour-bonist, he joined the revolutionary armies when his relatives fled +from France, and slowly won his steps to his present rank. A certain +_hauteur_ in his manner with men--an air of distance he always wore--had +made him as little liked by them as it usually succeeds in making a man +popular with women, to whom the opposite seems at once a compliment. +He was a man who had seen much of the world, and in the best society; +gifted with the most fascinating address, whenever he pleased to exert +it, and singularly good-looking, he was the _beau ideal_ of the French +officer of the highest class. + +The Chevalier Duchesne and myself had travelled together for some +days without exchanging more than the ordinary civilities of distant +acquaintance, when some accident of the road threw us more closely +together, and ended by forming an intimacy which, in our Paris life, +brought us every hour into each other's society. + +Stranger as I was in the capital, to me the acquaintance was a boon of +great price. He knew it thoroughly: in the gorgeous and stately _salons_ +of the Faubourg; in the _guingettes_ of the Rue St. Denis; in the costly +mansion of the modern banker (the new aristocracy of the land); or in +the homely _menage_ of the shopkeeper of the Rue St. Honore,--he was +equally at home, and by some strange charm had the _entree_ too. + +The same "sesame" opened to him the _coulisse_ of the Opera and the +penetralia of the Francais. In fact, he seemed one of those privileged +people who are met with occasionally in life in places the most +incongruous and with acquaintances the most opposite, yet never carrying +the prestige of the one or the other an inch beyond the precincts it +belongs to. Had he been wealthy I could have accounted for much of this, +for never was there a period when riches more abounded nor when their +power was more absolute: but he did not seem so; although in no want of +money, his retinue and simple style of living betrayed nothing beyond +fair competence. Neither, as far as I could perceive, did he incline to +habits of extravagance; on the contrary, he was too apt to connect every +display with vulgarity, and condemn in his fastidiousness the gorgeous +splendor that characterized the period. + +Such, without going further, did Duchesne appear to be, as we took up +our quarters at the Luxembourg, and commenced an intimacy which each day +served to increase. + +"Well, thank Heaven, this vaudeville is over at last!" said he, as he +threw himself into a large chair at my fire, and pitched his chapeau, +all covered with gold and embroidery, into a far corner of the room. + +We had just returned from Notre Dame, where the grand ceremonial of +receiving the standards was held by the Senate with all the solemnity of +a high mass and the most imposing observances. + +"Vaudeville?" said I, turning round rapidly. + +"Yes; what else can you call it? What, I ask you, had those poor +decrepit senators, those effeminate priests in the costumes of +_beguines_, to do with the eagles of a brave but unfortunate army? In +what way can you connect that incense and that organ with the smoke of +artillery and the crash of mitraille? And, lastly, was it like old +Daru himself to stand there, half crouching, beside some wretched +half-palsied priest? But I feel heartily ashamed of myself, though I +played but the smallest part in the whole drama." + +"Is it thus you can speak of the triumph of our army? the glories--" + +"You mistake me much. I only speak of that miserable mockery which +converts our hard-won laurels into chap-lets of artificial flowers. +These displays are far beneath us, and would only become the victories +of some national guard." + +"So, then," said I, half laughingly, "it is your Republican gorge that +rises against all this useless ceremonial?" + +"You are the very first ever detected me in that guise," said he, +bursting into a hearty laugh. "But come, I'd wager you agree with me +all this while. This was a very contemptible exhibition; and, for my own +part, I 'd rather see the colors back again with those poor fellows we +chased at Austerlitz, than fluttering in the imbecile hands of dotage +and bigotry." + +"Then I must say we differ totally. I like to think of the warlike +spirit nourished in a nation by the contemplation of such glorious +spoils. I am young enough to remember how the Invalides affected me--" + +"When you took your Sunday walk there from the Poly-technique, two and +two, with a blue ribbon round your neck for being a good boy during the +week. Oh, I know it all; delicious times they were, with their souvenirs +of wooden legs and plum-pudding. Happy fellow you must be, if the +delusion can last this while!" + +"You are determined it shall not continue much longer," said I, +laughing; "that is quite evident." + +"No; on the contrary, I shall be but too happy to be your convert, +instead of making you mine. But unfortunately, Sa Majeste, Empereur et +Roi, has taught me some smart lessons since I gave up mathematics; and I +have acquired a smattering of his own policy, which is to look after +the substance, and leave the shadow--or the _drapeau_, if you like it +better--to whoever pleases." + +"I confess, however," said I, "I don't well understand your enthusiasm +about war and your indifference about its trophies. To me the +associations they suggest are pleasurable beyond anything." + +"I think I remember something of that kind in myself formerly," said he, +musing. "There was a time when the blast of a trumpet, or even the clank +of a sabre, used to set my heart thumping. Happily, however, the organ +has grown steeled against even more stirring sounds; and I listened to +the salute to-day, fired as it was by that imposing body, the artillery +of the 'Garde Nationale,' with an equanimity truly wonderful. Apropos, +my dear Burke; talk of heroism and self-devotion as you will, but show +me anything to compare with the gallantry of those fellows we saw to-day +on the Quai Voltaire,--a set of grocers, periwig-makers, umbrella and +sausage men, with portly paunches and spectacles,--ramming down charges, +sponging, loading, and firing real cannon. On my word of honor, it was +fearful." + +"They say his Majesty is very proud indeed of the National Guard of +Paris." + +"Of course he is. Look at them, and just think what must be the +enthusiasm of men who will adopt a career so repugnant, not only to +their fancy, but their very formation. Remember that he who runs +yonder with a twenty-four pounder never handled anything heavier than a +wig-block, and that the only charges of the little man beside him have +been made in his day-book. By Saint Denis! the dromedary guard we had +in Egypt were more at home in their saddles than the squadron who rode +beside the archbishop's carriage." + +"It is scarcely fair, after all," said I, half laughing, "to +criticise them so severely; and the more, as I think you had some old +acquaintances among them." + +"Ha! you saw that, did you?" said he, smiling. "No, by Jove! I never met +them before. But that _confrerie_ of soldiers--you understand--soon made +us acquainted; and I saw one old fellow speaking to a very pretty girl I +guessed to be his daughter, and soon cemented a small friendship with +him: here's his card." + +"His card! Why, are you to visit him?" + +"Better again; I shall dine there on Monday next. Let us see how he +calls himself: 'Hippolyte Pierrot, stay and corset-maker to her Majesty +the Empress, No. 22 Rue du Bac,--third floor above the _entresol._' +_Diable!_ we 're high up. Unfortunately, I am scarcely intimate enough +to bring a friend." + +"Oh, make no excuses on that head," said I, laughing; "I really have no +desire to see Monsieur Hippolyte Pierrot's _menage_. And now, what are +your engagements for this evening? Are you for the Opera?" + +"I don't well know," said he, pausing. "Madame Caulaincourt receives, +and of course expects to see our gay jackets in her _salon_ any time +before or after supper. Then there's the Comtesse de Nevers: I never go +there without meeting my tailor; the fellow's a spy of the police, and +a confectioner to boot, and he serves the ices, and reports the +conversations in the Place Vendome and that side of the Rue St. +Honore,--I couldn't take a glass of lemonade without being dunned. Then, +in the Faubourg I must go in plain clothes,--they would not let the +'livery of the Usurper' pass the porter's lodge; besides, they worry one +with their enthusiastic joy or grief,--as the last letter from England +mentions whether the Comte d'Artois has eaten too many oysters, or found +London beer too strong for him." + +"From all which I guess that you are indisposed to stir." + +"I believe that is about the fact. Truth is, Burke, there is only one +soiree in all Paris I 'd take the trouble to dress for this evening; +and, strange enough, it's the only house where I don't know the people. +He is a commissary-general, or a 'fournisseur' of some kind or other of +the army; always from home, they say; with a wife who was once, and a +daughter who is now, exceeding pretty; keeps a splendid house; and, like +an honest man, makes restitution of all he can cheat in the campaign by +giving good dinners in the capital. His Majesty, at the solicitation of +the Empress, I believe, made him a count,--God's mercy it was not a +king!--and as they come from Guadaloupe, or Otaheite, no one disputes +their right. Besides, this is not a time for such punctilio. This is all +I know of them, for unfortunately they settled here since I joined the +army." + +"And the name?" + +"Oh, a very plausible name, I assure you. Lacostellerie,--Madame la +Comtesse de Lacostellerie." + +"By Jove! you remind me I have letters for her,--a circumstance I had +totally forgotten, though it was coupled with a commission." + +"A letter! Why, nothing was ever so fortunate. Don't lose a moment; you +have just time to leave it, with your card, before dinner. You'll have +an invitation for this evening at once." + +"But I have not the slightest wish." + +"No matter, _I_ have; and you shall bring me." + +"You forget," said I, mimicking his own words, "I am unfortunately not +intimate enough." + +"As to that," replied he, "there is a vast difference between the +etiquette Rue du Bac, No. 22, three floors above the _entresol_, and the +gorgeous _salons_ of the Hotel Clichy, Rue Faubourg St. Honore; ceremony +has the advantage in the former by a height of three pair of stairs, not +to speak of the _entresol_." + +"But I don't know the people." + +"Nor I." + +"But how am I to present you?" + +"Easily enough,--'Captain Duchesne, Imperial Guard;' or, if you prefer +it, I 'll do the honors for _you_." + +"With all my heart, then," said I, laughing; and pre-pared to pay the +visit in question. + + + +CHAPTER X. THE HOTEL DE CLICHY + +Duchesne was correct in all his calculations. I had scarcely reached the +Luxembourg when a valet brought me a card for the comtesse's soiree +for that evening. It was accordingly agreed upon that we were to go +together; I as the invited, he as my friend. + +"All your finery, Burke, remember that," said he, as we separated to +dress. "The uniform of the _compagnie d'elite_ is as much a decoration +in a _salon_ as a camellia or a geranium." + +When he re-entered my room half an hour later, I was struck by the blaze +of orders and decorations with which his jacket was covered; while at +his side there hung a magnificent _sabre d'honneur_, such as the Emperor +was accustomed to confer on his most distinguished officers. + +"You smile at all this bravery," said he, wilfully misinterpreting +my look of admiration; "but remember where we are going." + +"On the contrary," interrupted I; "but it is the first time I knew you +had the cross of the Legion." + +"_Parbleu!_" said he, with an insolent shrug of his shoulders, "I had +lent it to my hairdresser for a ball at the 'Cirque.' But here comes the +carriage." + +While we drove along towards the Faubourg I had time to learn some +further particulars of the people to whose house we were proceeding; +and for my reader's information may as well impart them here, with such +other facts as I subsequently collected myself. + +Like most of the _salons_ of the new aristocracy, Madame Lacostellerie +received people of every section of party and every class of political +opinion. Standing equally aloof from the old regime and the members +of the Jacobin party, her receptions were a kind of neutral territory, +where each could come without compromise of dignity: for already, except +among the most starched adherents of the Bourbons, few of whom remained +in France, there was a growing spirit to side with the Napoleonists +in preference to the revolutionary section; while the latter, with all +their pretensions to simplicity and primitive tastes, felt no little +pride in mixing with the very aristocracy they so loudly inveighed +against. Besides all this, wealth had its prestige. Never, in the +palmiest days of the royalty, were entertainments of greater splendor; +and the Legitimists, however disposed to be critical on the company, +could afford to be just regarding the cuisine,--the luxury of these +modern dinners eclipsing the most costly displays of former times, where +hereditary rank and ancient nobility contributed to adorn the scene. +And, lastly, the admixture of every grade and class extended the field +of conversational agreeability, throwing in new elements and eliciting +new features in a society where peers, actors, poets, bankers, painters, +soldiers, speculators, journalists, and adventurers were confusedly +mixed together; making, as it were, a common fund of their principles +and their prejudices, and starting anew in life with what they could +seize in the scramble. + +After following the long line of carriages for above an hour, we at last +turned into a large courtyard, lit up almost to the brightness of day. +Here the equipages of many of the ministers were standing,--a privilege +accorded to them above the other guests. I recognized among the number +the splendid liveries of Decres; and the stately carriage of Talleyrand, +whose household always proclaimed itself as belonging to a "seigneur" +of the oldest blood of France,--the most perfect type of a highbred +gentleman. Our progress from the vestibule to the stairs was a slow one. +The double current of those pressing upwards and downwards delayed us +long; and at last we reached a spacious antechamber, where even greater +numbers stood awaiting their turn, if happily it should come, to move +forward. + +While here, the names of those announced conveyed tous a fair impression +of the whole company. Among the first was Le General Junot, Berthollet +(the celebrated chemist), Lafayette, Monges, Daru, Comte de Mailles (a +Legitimist noble), David (the regicide), the Ambassador of Prussia, +M. Pasquier, Talma. Such were the names we heard following in quick +succession; when suddenly an avenue was opened by a master of the +ceremonies before me, who read from my card the words, "Le Capitaine +Burke, officier d'elite; le Chevalier Duchesne, presente par lui." And +advancing within the doorway, I found myself opposite a very handsome +woman, whose brilliant dress and blaze of diamonds concealed any ravages +time might have made upon her beauty. + +She was conversing with the Arch-Chancellor, Cambaceres, when my name +was announced; and turning rapidly round, touched my arm with her +bouquet, as she said, with a most gracious smile,-- + +"I am but too much flattered to see you on so short an invitation; but +M. de Tascher's note led me to hope I might presume so far. Your friend, +I believe?" + +"I have taken the great liberty--" + +"Indeed, Madame la Comtesse," said Duchesne, interrupting, "I must +exculpate my friend here. This intrusion rests on my own head, and has +no other apology than my long cherished wish to pay my homage to the +most distinguished ornament of the Parisian world." + +As he spoke, the quiet flow of his words, and the low deferential bow +with which he accompanied them, completely divested his speech of its +tone of gross flattery, and merely made it seem a very fitting and +appropriate expression. + +"This would be a very high compliment, indeed," replied Madame de +Lacostellerie, with a flush of evident pleasure on her cheek, "had it +even come from one less known than the Chevalier Duchesne. I hope the +Duchesse de Montserrat is well,--your aunt, if I mistake not?" "Yes, +Madame," said he, "in excellent health; it will afford her great +pleasure when I inform her of your polite inquiry." + +Another announcement now compelled us to follow the current in front, +which I was well content to do, and escape from an interchange of fine +speeches, of whose sincerity, on one side at least, I had very strong +misgivings. + +"So, then, the comtesse is acquainted with your family?" said I, in a +whisper. + +"Who said so?" replied he, laughing. + +"Did she not ask after the Duchesse de Montserrat?" + +"And then?" + +"And didn't you promise to convey her very kind message?" + +"To be sure I did. But are you simple enough to think that either of us +were serious in what we said? Why, my dear friend, she never saw my +aunt in her life; nor, if I were to hint at her inquiry for her to +the duchesse, am I certain it would not cost me something like a half +million of francs the old lady has left me in her will,--on my word, I +firmly believe she'd never forgive it. You know little what these people +of the _vieille roche_, as they call themselves, are like. Do you see +that handsome fellow yonder, with a star on a blue cordon?" + +"I don't know him; but I see he's a Marshal of France." + +"Well, I saw that same aunt of mine rise up and leave the room because +_he_ sat down in her presence!" + +"Oh! that was intolerable." + +"So she deemed his insolence. Come, move on; they 're dancing in the +next _salon_." And without saying more, we pushed through the crowd in +the direction of the music. + +It is only by referring to the sensations experienced by those who see +a ballet at the Opera for the first time that I can at all convey my own +on entering the _salle de danse_. My first feeling was that of absolute +shame. Never before had I seen that affectation of stage costume which +then was the rage in society. The short and floating jupe--formed of +some light and gauzy texture, which, even where it covered the figure, +betrayed the form and proportions of the wearer--was worn low on the +bosom and shoulders, and attached at the waist by a ribbon, whose knot +hung negligently down in seeming disorder. The hair fell in long and +floating masses loose upon the neck, waving in free tresses with every +motion of the figure, and adding to that air of abandon which seemed so +studiously aimed at. But more than anything in mere costume was the +look and expression, in which a character of languid voluptuousness +was written, and made to harmonize with the easy grace of floating +movements, and sympathize with gestures full of passionate fascination. + +[Illustration: The Dance 134] + +"Now, Burke," said Duchesne, as he threw his eyes over the room, "shall +I find a partner for you? for I believe I know most of the people here. +That pretty blonde yonder, with the diamond buckles in her shoes, is +Mademoiselle de Rancy, with a dowry of some millions of francs; what say +you to pushing your fortune there? Don't forget the _officier d'elite_ +is a trump card just now; and there's no time to lose, for there will +soon be a new deal." + +"Not if she had the throne of France in reversion," said I; turning away +in disgust from a figure which, though perfectly beautiful, outraged at +every movement that greatest charm of womanhood,--her inborn modesty. + +"Ah, then, you don't fancy a blonde!" said he, carelessly, whether +wilfully misunderstanding me or not I could not say. "Nor I either," +added he. "There, now, is something far more to my taste; is she not a +lovely girl?" + +She to whom he now directed my attention was standing at the side of +the room, and leaning on her partner's arm; her head slightly turned, +so that we could not see her features, but her figure was actually +faultless. Hers was not one of those gossamer shapes which flitted +around and about us, balancing on tiptoe, or gracefully floating with +extending arms. Rather strongly built than otherwise, she stood with +the firm foot and the straight ankle of a marble statue; her arms, well +rounded, hung easily from her full, wide shoulders; while her head, +slightly thrown back, was balanced on her neck with an air at once +dignified and easy. Her dress well suited the character of her figure: +it was entirely of black, covered with a profusion of deep lace,--the +jupe looped up in Andalusian fashion to display the leg, whose symmetry +was perfect. Even her costume, however, had something about it too +theatrical for my taste; but there was a stamp of firmness, _fierte_ +even, in her carriage and her attitude, that at once showed hers was +no vulgar desire of being remarkable, but the womanly consciousness of +being dressed as became her. She suddenly turned her head around, and +we both exclaimed in the same breath, "How lovely!" Her features were of +that brilliant character only seen in Southern blood: eyes large, black, +and lustrous, fringed with lashes that threw their shadow on the very +cheek; full lips, curled with an air of almost saucy expression; while +the rich olive tint of her transparent skin was scarce colored with the +pink flush of exercise, and harmonized perfectly with the proud repose +of her countenance. + +"She must be Spanish,--that's certain," said Duchesne. "No one ever saw +such an instep come from this side the Pyrenees; and those eyes have got +their look of sleepy wickedness from Moorish blood. But here comes one +will tell us all about her." + +This was the Baron de Treve,--a withered-looking, dried-up old man, +rouged to the eyes, and dressed in the extravagance of the last fashion; +the high collar of his coat rising nearly to the back of his head, as +his deep cravat in front entirely concealed his mouth, and formed a kind +of barrier around his features. + +As Duchesne addressed him, he stopped short, and assuming an attitude +of great intended grace, raised his glass slowly to his eye, and looked +towards the lady. + +"Ah! the senorina. Don't you know _her?_ Why, where have you been, my +dear chevalier? Oh! I forgot. You've been in Austria, or Russia, or some +barbarous place or other. She is the belle, _par excellence_; nothing +else is talked of in Paris." + +"But her name? Who is she?" said Duchesne, impatiently. + +"Mademoiselle de Lacostellerie, the daughter of the house," said the +baron, completely overcome with astonishment at our ignorance. "And you +not to know this!--you, of all men living! Why," he continued, dropping +his voice to a lower key, "there never was such a fortune. Mines of +rubies and emeralds; continents of coffee, rice, and sandal-wood; spice +islands and sugar plantations, to make one's mouth water." + +"By Jove, Baron! you seem somewhat susceptible yourself." + +"I had my thoughts on the subject," said he, with a half sigh. "But, +_helas!_ there are so many ties to be broken! so many tender chains one +must snap asunder!" + +"I understand," said Duchesne, with an air of well-assumed seriousness; +"the thing was impossible. Now, then, what say you to assist a friend?" + +"You,--yourself, do you mean?" + +"Of course, Baron; no other." + +"Come this way," said the old man, taking him by the arm, and leading +him along to another part of the room, while Duchesne, with a sly look +at me, followed. + +While I stood awaiting his return, my thoughts became fixed on Duchesne +himself, of whose character I never felt free from my misgivings. The +cold indifference he manifested on ordinary occasions to everything and +everybody, I now saw could give way to strong impetuosity; but even this +might be assumed also. As I pondered thus, I had not remarked that the +dance was concluded; and already the dancers were proceeding towards +their seats, when I heard my name uttered beside me,--"Capitaine +Burke." I turned; it was the countess herself, leaning on the arm of her +daughter. + +"I wish to present you to my daughter," said she, with a courteous +smile. "The college friend and brother officer of your cousin Tascher, +Pauline." + +The young lady courtesied with an air of cold reserve; I bowed deeply +before her; while the countess continued,-- + +"We hope to have the pleasure of seeing you frequently during your +stay in Paris, when we shall have a better opportunity of making your +acquaintance." + +As I expressed my sense of this politeness, I turned to address a few +words to mademoiselle; and requesting to have the honor of dancing +with her, she looked at me with an air of surprise, as though not +understanding my words, when suddenly the countess interposed,-- + +"I fear that my daughter's engagements have been made long since; but +another night--" + +"I will hope--" + +But before I could say more, the countess addressed another person near +her, and mademoiselle, turning her head superciliously away, did not +deign me any further attention; so that, abashed and awkward at so +unfavorable a _debut_ in the gay world, I fell back, and mixed with the +crowd. + +As I did so, I found myself among a group of officers, one of whom was +relating an anecdote just then current in Paris, and which I mention +merely as illustrating in some measure the habits of the period. + +At the levee of the Emperor on the morning before, an old general of +brigade advanced to pay his respects, when Napoleon observed some drops +of rain glistening on the embroidery of his uniform. He immediately +turned towards one of his suite, and gave orders to ascertain by what +carriage the general had arrived. The answer was, that he had come in +a _fiacre_,--a hired vehicle, which by the rules of the Court was not +admitted within the court of the Tuileries, and thus he was obliged to +walk above one hundred yards before he could obtain shelter. The old +officer, who knew nothing of the tender solicitude of the Emperor, was +confounded with astonishment to observe at his departure a handsome +_caleche_ and two splendid horses at his service. + +"Whose carriage is this?" said he. + +"Yours, Monsieur le General." + +"And the servant, and the horses?" + +"Yours, also. His Majesty has graciously been pleased to order them for +you; and desires you will remember that the sum of six thousand francs +will be deducted from your pay to meet the cost of the equipage which +the Emperor deems befitting your rank in the service." + +"It is thus," said the narrator, "the Emperor would enforce that +liberality on others he so eminently displays himself. The spoils of +Italy and Austria are destined, not to found a new _noblesse_, but to +enrich the _bourgeoisie_ of this good city of Paris. I say, Edward, +is not that Duchesne yonder? I thought he was above patronizing the +_salons_ of a mere commissary-general." + +"You don't know the chevalier," replied the other; "no game flies +too high or too low for his mark. Depend upon it, he's not here for +nothing." + +"If mademoiselle be the object," said a third, "I'll swear he shall have +no rivalry on my side. By Jove I I 'd rather face a charge of Hulans +than speak to her." + +"If thou wert a Marshal of France, Claude, thou wouldst think +differently." + +"If I were a Marshal of France," repeated he, with energy, "I'd rather +marry Minette, the vivandiere of ours." + +"And no bad choice either," broke in a large! heavy-looking officer. +"There is but one objection to such an arrangement." + +"And that, if I might ask--" + +"Simple enough. She would n't have you." + +The young man endeavored to join in the laugh this speech excited among +the rest, though it was evident he felt ill at ease from the ridicule. + +"A thousand pardons, my dear Burke," said Duchesne, at this moment, as +he slipped his arm through mine; "but I thought I should have been in +need of your services a few minutes ago." + +"Ah! how?" + +"Move a little aside, and I 'll tell you. I wished to ask mademoiselle +to dance, and approached her for the purpose. She was standing with +a number of people, all strangers to me, at the doorway +yonder,--Dobretski, that Russian prince, the only man I knew amongst +them. A very chilling 'Engaged, sir,' was the answer of the lady to my +first request. The same reply met my second and third; when the Russian, +as if desirous to increase the awkwardness of my position, interposed +with, 'And the fourth set mademoiselle dances with me.' + +"'In that case,' said I, 'I may fairly claim the fifth.' + +"'On what grounds, sir?' said she, with a look of easy impertinence. + +"'The Emperor's orders, Mademoiselle,' said I, proudly. + +"'Indeed, sir! May I ask how and when?' + +"'Austerlitz, December 2. The order of four o'clock, dated from Reygern, +says, "The Imperial Guard will follow closely on the track of the +Russians." (Signed) "Napoleon."' + +"'In that case, sir,' said she, 'I cannot dispute his Majesty's orders. +I shall dance the fifth with you.'" + +"And the Russian,--what said he?" + +"_Ma foi!_ I paid no attention to him; for as mademoiselle moved off +with her partner, I strolled away in search of you." + +If I was amused at this recital of the chevalier, I could not avoid +feeling piqued at the greater success he had than myself; for still the +chilling reception I had met with was rankling in my mind. + +"Let us move away from this quarter," said Duchesne. "Here we have got +ourselves among a knot of old campaigners, with their stupid stories +of Cairo and Acre, Alexandria and the Adige. By Jove! if anything would +make me a Legitimist, it is my disgust at those confounded narratives +about Kleber and Desaix; the Emperor himself does not despise the time +of the Revolution more heartily than I do. Come, there's _bouillotte_ +yonder; let us go and win some pieces. I feel I'm in vein; and even +to lose would be better than listen to these people. It was only a few +minutes ago I was hunted, away from Madame de Muraire by old Berthollet, +who is persuading her that her diamonds are but charcoal, and that a +necklace is only fit to roast an ortolan. This comes of letting savants +into society; decidedly, they had much better taste in the time of the +Monarchy." + +It was with some difficulty we succeeded in approaching the _bouillotte_ +table, where, to judge from the stakes, very high play was going +forward. Duchesne was quickly recognized among the players, who made +place for him among them. I soon saw that he was not mistaken in +supposing he was in luck; every _coup_ was successful, and, while he +continued to win time after time, the heap of gold grew greater, till it +covered the part of the table before him. + +"Most certainly, Burke," said he, in a whisper, "this is a strong turn +of Fortune, who, being a woman, won't long be of the same mind. Five +thousand francs," cried he, throwing the _billet de banque_ carelessly +before him, while he turned to resume what he was saying to me. "Were I +in action now, I 'd win the _baton de marechal_. I feel it; there's an +innate sense of luck when it means to be steady." + +"The Chevalier Duchesne! the Chevalier Duchesne!" was repeated from +voice to voice, outside the circle; "Mademoiselle de Lacostellerie is +waiting to waltz with you." + +"A thousand pardons," said he, rising. "Burke, continue my game, while +I try if I can't push fortune the whole way." So saying, and without +listening to my excuses about ignorance of play, he pressed me into his +seat, and pushed his way through the crowd to join the dancers. + +It was only when the players asked me if I intended to go on that I was +aware of the position in which I found myself. I knew little more of the +game than I had learned in looking over the table; but I was aware of +the strict etiquette in all the play of society, which enjoins a revenge +to every loser, so that I continued to bet and stake for Duchesne as +I had seen him do already,--not, however, with such fortune. He had +scarcely left the table when luck changed; and now I saw his riches +decreasing even more rapidly than they had been accumulated. At last, +after a long run of ill fortune, when I had staked a very large sum on +the board, just as the banker was about to begin, I changed my mind and +withdrew half of it. + +"No, no,--let it stay," whispered a voice in my ear; "the sooner this is +over the better." + +I turned. It was Duchesne himself, who for some time had been seated +behind my chair and looking on at the game. + +Fleeting as was the glance I had of his features, I fancied they were +somewhat paler than usual. Could this be from the turn of fortune? But +no. I watched him now, and I perceived that he never even looked at the +game. At last, I staked all that remained in one _coup_, and lost; when, +drawing forth my own purse, I was about to make another bet,-- + +"No, no, Burke," whispered he in my ear; "I was only waiting for this +moment. Let us come away now. I rise as I sat down, Messieurs," he said, +gayly; while he added, in a lower tone, "Sauf l'honneur." + +"Have you had enough of gayety for one night?" said he, as he drew my +arm within his. "Shall we turn home wards?" + +"Willingly," said I; for somehow I felt chagrined and vexed at my +ill-luck, and was angry with myself for playing. + +"Come along, then; this door will bring us to the stairs." + +As we passed along hastily through the crowd, I saw that a young officer +in a hussar uniform whispered something in Duchesne's ear; to which +he quickly replied, "Certainly." And as he spoke again in the same low +tone, Duchesne answered, "Agreed, sir," with a courteous smile, and a +look of much pleasure. + +"Well, Burke," said he, turning to me, "these are about the most +splendid _salons_ in Paris; I think I never saw more perfect taste. I +certainly must thank you for being my chaperon here." + +"You forget, Duchesne, the Duchesse de Montserrat, it seems," said I, +laughing. + +"By Jove, and so I had!" said he. "Yet the initiative lay with you; +how the termination may be is another matter," added he, in a mumbling +voice, not intended to be heard. + +"At all events," said I, puzzled what to say, and feeling I should +say something, "I am happy your Russian friend took no notice of your +speech." + +"And why?" said he, with a peculiar smile,--"and why?" + +"I abhor a duel, in the first place." + +"But, my dear boy, that speech smacks much more of the Ecole de Jesuites +than of St. Cyr. Don't let any one less your friend than I am hear you +say so." + +"I care not who may hear it. Necessity may make me meet an adversary in +single combat; but as to acting the cold-blooded part of a bystander--as +to being the witness of my friend's crime, or his own death--" + +"Come, come; when you exchange the dolman for an alb I 'll listen to +this from you, if I can listen to it from any one. But happily, now we +have no time for more morality, for here comes the carriage." + +Chatting pleasantly about the soiree and its company, we rolled along +towards our quarters, and parted with a cordial shake of the hand for +the night. + + + +CHAPTER XI. A SALLE DE POLICE + +When I entered the breakfast-room the following morning, I found +Duchesne stretched before the fire in an easy-chair, busily engaged +in reading the "Moniteur" of that day, where a long list of imperial +_ordonnances_ filled nearly three columns. + +"Here have I been," said he, "conning over this catalogue of princely +favor these twenty minutes, and yet cannot discern one word of our +well-beloved cousins Captains Burke and Duchesne. And yet there seems to +be a hailstorm of promotions. Some of them have got grand duchies; some +principalities; some have the cross of the Legion; and here, by +Jove! are some endowed with wives. Now that his Majesty has taken to +christening and marrying, I suppose we shall soon see him administering +all the succors of Holy Church. Have you much interest in hearing +that Talleyrand is to be called Prince of Benevente, and Murat is now +Grand-Duke of Berg,--that Sebastiani is to be married to Mademoiselle de +Coigny, and Monsieur Decazes, _fils de_ M. Decazes, has taken some one +else to wife? Oh dear, oh dear! It's all very tiresome, and not even the +fete of Saint Napoleon--" + +"Of whom?" said I, laughing. + +"Saint Napoleon, _parbleu!_ It's no joking matter, I assure you. Here +is the letter of the cardinal legate to the arch-bishops and bishops +of France, commanding that the first Sunday in the August of each year +should be set apart to celebrate his saintship, with an account of the +processions to take place, and various plenary indulgences to the pious +who shall present themselves on the occasion. Fouche could tell you the +names of some people who bled freely to get rid of all this trumpery; +and, in good sooth, it's rather hard, if we could not endure Saint +Louis, to be obliged to tolerate Saint Napoleon,--saints, like Bordeaux +wine, being all the more palatable when they have age to mellow them. I +could forgive anything, however, but this system of forced marriages; +it smacks too much of old Frederick for my taste. And one cannot always +have the luck of your friend General d'Auvergne." + +I felt my cheek grow burning hot at the words. Duchesne did not notice +my confusion, but continued,-- + +"And yet, of all the ill-assorted unions for which his sainted Majesty +will have to account hereafter, that was unquestionably the most +extraordinary." + +"But I have heard, and I believe too, that the marriage was not of the +Emperor's making; it was purely a matter of liking." + +"Come, come, Burke," said he, laughing, "you will not tell me that the +handsomest girl at the Court, with a large dowry, an ancient name, and +every advantage of position, marries an old weather-beaten soldier--the +senior officer of her own father once--of her own free will and choice. +The thing is absurd. No, no; these are the Imperial recompenses, when +grand duchies are scarce and confiscations few. The Emperor does not +travel for nothing. He brought back with him from Egypt something +besides his Mameluke Guard: that clever trick the pachas have of +providing a favorite with an ex-sultana. There, there! don't look so +angrily. We shall both be marshals of France one of these days, and that +may reconcile one to a great deal." + +"You are determined to owe nothing of your promotion to a blind devotion +to Napoleon,--that's certain," said I, annoyed at the tone of insolent +disparagement in which he spoke. + +"You are right,--perfectly right there," replied he, in a quiet tone of +voice. "No man would rather hug himself up in an illusion, if he could +but make it minister to his pleasure or his enjoyment; but when it does +neither,--when the material is so flimsy as to be seen through at every +minute,--I throw it from me as a worthless garment, unfit to wear." + +"Can you, then, deem Napoleon's glory such?" + +"Of course, to me it is. How am I a sharer in his triumphs, save as the +charger that marches in the cavalcade? You don't perceive that I, as the +descendant of an old Loyalist family, would have fared far better with +the Bourbons, from reasons of blood and kindred; and a hundred times +better with the Jacobins, from very recklessness." + +"How then came it--" + +"I will spare you the question. I liked neither emigration nor the +guillotine, and preferred the slow suffering of ennui to the quick death +of the scaffold. There has been but one career in France for many a day +past. I adopted it as much from necessity as choice; I followed it more +from habit than either." + +"But you cannot be insensible to the greatness of your country, nor her +success in arms." + +"Nor am I; but these things are a small ingredient in patriotism. You, +the stranger, share with us all our triumphs in the field. But the +inherent features of a nation,--the distinctive traits of which every +son of the soil feels proud,--where are they now? What is France to me +more than to you? One half my kindred are exiled; of those who remain, +many regard me as a renegade. Their properties confiscated, themselves +suspected, what tie binds them to this country? You are not more an +alien here than I am." + +"And yet, Duchesne, you shed your blood freely for this same cause you +condemn. You charged the Pratzen, some days ago, with four squadrons, +against a whole column of Russian cavalry." + +"Ay, and would again to-morrow, boy. Had you been a gambler, I need n't +have told you that it is the game, not the stake, that interests the +real gamester. But come, do not fancy I want to make you a convert to +these tiresome theories of mine. What say you to the pretty Mademoiselle +Pauline? Did you admire her much?" + +"She is unquestionably very handsome; but, if I must confess it, her +manner towards me was too ungracious to make me loud in her praise." + +"I like that, I vow," said Duchesne; "that saucy air has an +indescribable charm for me. I don't know if it is not the very thing +which pleases me most about her. She has been spoiled by flattery and +admiration; for her beauty and her fortune are prizes in the great +wheel. And that she is aware of the fact is nothing wonderful, +considering that she hears it repeated every evening of her life, by +every-rank in the service, from a marshal of France down to--a captain +in the _chasseurs a cheval_," said he, laughing. + +"Who, probably, was one of the last to tell her so," said I, looking at +him slyly. + +"What have we here?" said he, suddenly, without paying any attention to +my remark, as he again took up the "Moniteur." "'It is rumored that the +Russian Prince, Drobretski, was dangerously wounded this morning in an +affair of honor. The names of the other party and the seconds are +still unknown; but the efforts of the police, stimulated by the express +command of the Emperor, will, it is to be hoped, succeed in discovering +them ere long.'" + +"Is not that the name of your Russian friend of last night, Duchesne?" + +"Yes. And the same person, too, formerly Russian minister at Madrid, and +latterly residing on his parole at Paris," continued he, reading from +the paper. "'The very decided part his Majesty has taken against the +practice of duelling is strengthened on this occasion by a recent order +of council respecting the prisoners on parole.' _Diable!_ Burke, what +a scrupulous turn Napoleon seems to have taken in regard to these +Cossacks! And here follows a long list of witnesses who have seen +nothing, and suspicious circumstances that occur every morning in the +week without remark. After all, I don't think the Empire has advanced +us much on the score of police,--the same threadbare jests, the same +old practical jokes, amused the _bourgeoisie_ in the time of Louis the +Fourteenth." + +"I don't clearly understand your meaning." + +"It is simply this,--that every Government of France, from Pepin +downwards, has understood the value of throwing public interest, from +time to time, on a false scent, and to this end has maintained a police. +Now, if for any cause his Majesty thought proper to incarcerate that +Russian prince in the Temple or La Force, the affair would cause a +tremendous sensation in Paris, and soon would ring over the whole of +Germany and the rest of Europe, with every variation of despotism, +tyranny, and all that, attached to it, long before any advantages to be +derived from the step could be realized. Whereas see the effect of an +opposite policy. By this report of a duel, for instance,--I don't +mean to assert it false, here,--the whole object is attained, and +an admirable subject of Imperial praise obtained into the bargain. +Governments have learned wisdom from the cuttlefish, and can muddy +the water on their enemies at the moment of danger. I should not be +surprised if the affairs of the Bank looked badly this morning." + +"It is evident, then, you disbelieve the whole statement about the +duel." + +"My dear friend," said he, smiling, "who is there in all Paris, from +Montmartre to St. Denis, believes, or disbelieves, any one thing in the +times we live in? Have we not trusted so implicitly for years past to +the light of our reason that we have actually injured our eyesight with +ils brilliancy. Little reproach, indeed, to our minds, when our very +senses seem to mislead us; when one sees the people who enter the +Tuileries now with embroidered coats, who in our father's days never +came nearer to it than the Place de Carrousel. _Helas!_ it's no time for +incredulity, that's certain. But to conclude," said he, turning to the +paper once more: "'The _commissaires de police_ throughout Paris have +received orders to spare no effort to unravel the mystery and detect the +other parties in this unhappy affair.' Military tribunal; prisoners +on parole; rights of hospitality; honor of France; and the old +peroration,--the usual compliment on the wisdom which presides over +every department of state. How weary I do become of all this! Let your +barber puff his dye for the whiskers, or your bootmaker the incomparable +effulgence of his blacking,--the thing is in keeping, no one objects to +it. I don't find fault with my old friend, Pigault Lebrun, if he now and +then plays the critic on himself, and shows the world the beauties they +neglectfully slurred over. But, Burke, have you ever seen a _bureau de +police?_" + +"Never; and I have the greatest curiosity to do so." + +"Come, then, I 'll be your guide. The _commissaire_ of this quarter +has a very extended jurisdiction, stretching away towards the Bois de +Boulogne, and if there be anything in this report, he is certain to +know it; and assuredly, no other topic will be talked of till to-morrow +evening, for it's not Opera night, and Talma does not play either." + +I willingly accepted this proposition; and when our breakfast was over, +we mounted our horses, and set out for the place in question. + +"If the forms of justice where we are now going," said Duchesne, +"be divested of much of their pomp and ceremony, be assured of one +thing,--it is not at the expense of the more material essence. Of all +the police tribunals about Paris, this obscure den in the Bue de Dix +Sous is the most effective. Situated in a quarter where crime is as +rife as fever in the Pontine Marshes, it has become acquainted with +the haunts and habits of the lowest class in Paris,--the lowest class, +probably, in any city of Europe. Watching with parental solicitude, +it tracks the criminal from his first step in vice to his last deed in +crime; from his petty theft to his murder. Knowing the necessities to +which poverty impels men, and studying with attention the impulses +that grow up amid despair and hunger, it sees motives through a mist of +intervening circumstances that would baffle less subtle observers, and +can trace the tortuous windings of crime where no other sight could +find the clew. Is it not strange to think with what ingenuity men will +investigate the minute anatomy of vice, and how little they will do to +apply this knowledge to its remedy? Like the surgeon, enamored of +his operating skill, he would rather exhibit his dexterity in the +amputation, than his science in the saving, of the limb. Such is the +bureau of the police in the poorer quarters. In the more fashionable +ones it takes a higher flight; amusing the world with its scenes, +alternately humorous and pathetic, it forms a kind of feature in the +literature of the period, and is the only reading of thousands. In these +places the _commissaire_ is usually a _bon vivant_ and a wit; despising +the miserable function of administering the law, he takes his seat upon +the bench to cap jokes with the witnesses, puzzle the complainant, +and embarrass the prisoner. To the reporters alone is he civil; and in +return, his poor witticisms appear in the morning papers, with the usual +'loud laughter' that never existed save in type." + +As we thus chatted, we entered a quarter of dirty and narrow streets, +inhabited by a poor-looking, squalid population. The women, with little +to mark their sex in their coarse, heavy countenances, wore colored +kerchiefs on their heads in lieu of a cap, and were for the most part +without shoes or stockings. The men, a brutalized, stupid race, sat +smoking in the doorways, scarcely lifting their eyes as we passed; or +some were eating a coarse morsel of black rye bread, which, by their +eagerness in devouring it, seemed an unusual delicacy. + +"You scarcely believed there was such poverty in Paris," said he; "but +this is by no means the worst of the quarter. Though M. de Champagny, in +his late report, makes no mention of these 'signs of prosperity,' we are +now entering the region where, even in noonday, the passage is deemed +perilous; but the number of police agents on duty to-day will make the +journey a safe one." + +The street we entered at the moment consisted of a mass of tall houses, +almost falling from decay and neglect,--scarcely a window remained in +many of them; while in front, a row of miserable booths, formed of rude +planks, narrowed the passage to a mere path, scarce wide enough for +three people abreast. There, vice of every description, and drunkenness, +waited not for the dark hours to shroud them, but came forth in the +sunlight,--the ruffian shouts of intoxication mingling with the almost +maniacal laugh of misery or the reckless chorus of some degrading song. +Half-naked wretches leaned from the windows as we passed along,--some +staring in stupid wonderment at our appearance; others saluting us with +mockery and grimace, or even calling out to us in the slang dialect of +the place. + +"Yes," said Duchesne, as he saw the expression of horror and disgust +the scene impressed on me, "here are the rotting seeds of revolutions +putrefying, to germinate at some future day. Starvation and vice, +misery, even to despair, inhabit every den around you. The furious +and bloodthirsty wretch of '92, the Chouan, the Jacobite, the escaped +galley-slave, the untaken murderer, are here side by side,--crime their +great bond of union. To this place men come for an assassin or a false +witness, as to a market. Such are the wrecks the retiring waves of a +Revolution have left us. So long as the trade of blood lasted, openly, +like vultures, they fattened on it; but once the reign of order +restored, they were driven to murder and outrage as a livelihood." + +While he was speaking, we approached a narrow arched passage, within +which a flight of stone steps arose. "We dismount here," said he. + +At the same moment a group of ragged creatures, of every age, surrounded +us to hold our horses, not noticing the orderly who rode at some +distance behind us. I followed Duchesne up the steps, and along a gloomy +corridor, to a little courtyard, where several dismounted gendarmes +were standing in a circle, chatting. Passing through this, we entered a +dirty, mean-looking house, around the door of which several people were +collected, some of whom saluted the chevalier as he came up. + +"Who are these fellows?" said I. "They seem to know you." + +"Oh! nothing but the common police spies," said he, carelessly; "the +fellows who lounge about the cabarets and the low gambling-houses. But +here comes one of higher mark." + +As he spoke, he laid his hand on the arm of a tall, powerful-looking +man, in a blouse; he wore immense whiskers, and a great beard, +descending far below his chin. "Ah! Bocquin, what have we got going +forward to-day? I came to show a young friend here the interior of your +_salle_." + +"Monsieur le Capitaine, your most obedient," said the man, in a deep +voice, as he removed his casquette, and bowed ceremoniously to us; "and +yours also, Monsieur," added he, turning to me. "Why, there is nothing +to speak of, save that duel, Capitaine." + +"Come, come, Bocquin; no nonsense with me. What was that story got up +for?" + +"Ah! you mistake there," said Bocquin. "By Jove! there's a man badly +wounded, shot through the neck, and no one to tell a word about it. No +seconds present, the thing done quite privately; the wounded man left at +his own door, and the other off,--Heaven knows where." + +"And you believe this tale, Bocquin?" said Duchesne, superciliously. + +"Believe it!--that I do. I have been to see the place where the man lay; +and by tracking the wheel marks, I have discovered they came from the +Champs Elysees. The cabriolet, too, was a private one; no _fiacre_ has +got so narrow a tire to the wheel." + +"Closely followed up,--eh, Burke?" said the chevalier, turning towards +me with a smile of admiration at his sagacity. "Go on, Bocquin." + +"Well, I followed the scent to the Barriere de l'Etoile, where I learned +that one cabriolet passed towards the Bois de Boulogne, and returned in +about half an hour. As the pace was a sharp one, I guessed they could +not have gone far, and so I turned into the wood at the first road to +the right, where there is least recourse of people; and, by Jove! I was +all correct. There, in a small open space between the trees, I saw the +marks of recent footsteps, and a little farther on found the grass all +covered with blood." + +"Monsieur Bocquin! Monsieur Bocquin! the _commissaire_ wants you," cried +a voice from the landing of the stair; and with an apology for leaving +thus suddenly, he turned away. + +We followed, however, curious to hear the remainder of this singular +history; and, after some difficulty, succeeded in gaining admittance to +a small room, now densely crowded with people, the most of whom were +of the very lowest class. The _commissaire_ speedily made place for +us beside him on the bench; for, like every one else in a conspicuous +position, he also was an acquaintance of Duchesne. + +While the _commissaire_ conversed with Bocquin in a low tone, we had +time to observe the _salle_ and its occupants. Except the witnesses, +two or three of whom were respectable persons, they were the +squalid-looking, ragged wretches of the quarter, listening with the +greedy appetite of crime to any tale of bloodshed. The surgeon, who had +just returned from visiting the wounded man, was waiting to be examined. +To him now the _commissaire_ directed his attention. It appeared that +the wound was by no means of the dangerous character described, being +merely through the fleshy portion of the neck, without injuring any +part of importance. Having described circumstantially the extent of +the injury and its probable cause, he replied to a question of the +_commissaire_, that no entreaty could persuade the wounded man to +give any explanation of the occurrence, nor mention the name of his +adversary. Duchesne paid little apparent attention to the evidence, and +before it was concluded, asked me if I were satisfied with my police +experience, and disposed to move away. + +Just at this moment there was a stir among the people round the door, +and we heard the officers of the court cry out, "Room! make way +there!" and the same moment General Duroc entered, accompanied by an +aide-de-camp. He had been sent specially by the Emperor to ascertain +what progress the investigation had made. His Majesty had determined to +push the inquiry to its utmost limits. The general appeared dissatisfied +with the little prospect there appeared of elucidation; and turning to +Duchesne, remarked,-- + +"This is peculiarly ill-timed just now, as negotiations are pending with +Russia, and the prince's family are about the person of the Czar." + +"But as the wound would seem of little consequence, in a few days +perhaps the whole thing may blow over," said Duchesne. + +"It is for that very reason," replied Duroc, earnestly, "that we are +pressed for time. The object is to mark the sentiments of his Majesty +_now_. Should the prince be once pronounced out of danger, it will be +too late for sympathy." + +"Oh! I perceive," said Duchesne, smiling; "your observation is most +just. If my friend here, however, cannot put you on the track, I fear +you have little to hope for elsewhere." + +"I am aware of that; and Monsieur Cauchois knows the great reliance his +Majesty reposes in his skill and activity." + +Monsieur Cauchois, the _commissaire_, bowed with a most respectful air +at the compliment, probably of all others the highest that could be paid +him. + +"A brilliant soiree we had last evening, Duchesne," said the general. "I +hope this unhappy affair will not close that house at present; you are +aware the prince is the suitor of mademoiselle?" + +"I only suspected as much," said the chevalier, with a peculiar smile; +"it was my first evening there." + +As General Duroc addressed a few words in a low tone to the +_commissaire_, the man called Bocquin approached the bench, and handed +up a small slip of paper to Duchesne. The chevalier opened it, and +having thrown his eyes over it, passed it into my hand. All I could see +were two words, written coarsely with the pencil,--"How much?" + +The chevalier turned the back of the paper, and wrote, "Fifty +napoleons." + +On reading which the large man tore the scrap, and nodding slightly +with his head, sauntered from the room. We rose a few moments after, +and having taken a formal leave of the general and the _commissaire_, +proceeded towards the street, where we had left our horses. As we passed +along the corridor, however, we found Bocquin awaiting us. He opened +a door into a small, mean-looking apartment, of which he appeared the +owner. Having ushered us in, and cautiously closed it behind him, he +drew from his pocket a piece of cloth, to which a button and a piece of +gold embroidery were attached. + +"Your jacket would be spoiled without this morsel, Captain," said he, +laughing, in a low, dry laugh. + +"So it would, Bocquin," said Duchesne, examining his coat, which I now +perceived was torn on the shoulder, and a small piece--the exact one in +his hand--wanting, but which had escaped my attention from the mass of +gold lace and embroidery with which it was covered. + +"Do you know, Bocquin," said Duchesne, in a tone much graver than he had +used before, "I never noticed that?" + +"_Parbleu!_ I believe you," said he, laughing; "nor did I, till you sat +on the bench, when I was so pleased with your coolness, I could not for +the life of me interrupt you." + +"Have you got any money, Burke?" said the chevalier; "some twenty gold +pieces--" + +"No, no, Captain," said Bocquin, "not now; another time. I must call +upon you one of these mornings about another affair, and it will be time +enough then." + +"As you please, Bocquin," said the chevalier, putting up his purse +again; "and so, till we meet." + +"Till we meet, gentlemen," replied the other, as he bowed us +respectfully to the door. + +"You seem to have but a very faint comprehension of all this, Burke," +said Duchesne, as he took my arm; "you look confoundedly puzzled, I must +say." + +"If I didn't, I should be an admirable actor, that's all," said I. + +"Why, I think the thing is plain enough, in all conscience; Bocquin +found that piece of my jacket on the ground, and, of course, the affair +was in his hands." + +"Why, do you mean to say--" + +"That I shot Monsieur le Prince this morning, at a quarter past seven +o'clock, and felt devilish uncomfortable about it till the last ten +minutes, my boy. If I did not confide the matter to you before, it +was because that until all chance of detection was passed, I could not +expose you to the risk of an examination before the _prefet de police_. +Happily, now these dangers are all over. Bocquin is too clever a fellow +not to throw all the other spies on a wrong scent, so that we need have +no fear of the result." + +I could scarcely credit the evidence of my senses at the coolness and +duplicity of the chevalier throughout an affair of such imminent +risk, nor was I less astonished at the account he gave of the whole +proceeding. + +One word, on leaving the soiree, had decided there should be a meeting +the following day; and as the Russian well knew the danger of his +adventure, from the law which was recently passed regarding prisoners +on parole, he proposed they should meet without seconds on either side. +Duchesne acceded; and it was arranged that the chevalier should drive +along the Bue de Rivoli at seven the next morning, where the Russian +would join him, and they should drive together to the Bois de Boulogne. + +"To do my Cossack justice," said Duchesne, "he behaved admirably +throughout the whole affair; and on taking his place beside me in the +cab, entered into conversation freely and easily on the topics of +the day. We chatted of the campaign; of the cavalry; of the Russian +service,--their size and equipment, only needing a higher organization +to make them first-rate troops. We spoke of the Emperor Alexander, of +whom he was evidently proud, and much pleased to hear the favorable +opinion Napoleon entertained of his ability and capacity; and it was in +the middle of an anecdote about Savary and the Czar we arrived at the +Bois de Boulogne. + +"I need not tell you the details of the affair, save that we loaded +our own pistols, and stepped the ground ourselves. They were like other +things of the same sort,--the first shot concluded the matter. I aimed +at his shoulder, but the pistol threw high. As to his bullet, it was +only awhile ago I knew it went so near me. It was nervous work passing +the _barriere_; for had he not made an effort to sit up straight in the +cab, the sentry might have detained and examined us. All that you heard +about his being left at his own door, covered with blood and fainting, I +need not tell you has no truth. I never left the spot till the door was +opened, and I saw him in the hands of a servant. Of course I concealed +my face, and then drove off at full speed." + +By this time we arrived at the Luxembourg, and Duchesne, with all the +coolness in the world, joined a knot of persons engaged in discussing +the duel, and endeavoring, by sundry clever and ingenious explanations, +to account for the circumstance. + +As I sauntered along to my quarters, I pondered over the adventure and +the character of the chevalier; and however I might turn the matter in +my mind, one thought was ever uppermost,--a sincere wish that I had not +been made his confidant in the secret. + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE RETURN OF THE WOUNDED + +A few mornings after this occurrence, when, as Duchesne himself +prophesied, all memory of it was completely forgotten, the _ordre du +jour_ from the Tuileries commanded all the troops then garrisoned in +Paris to be under arms at an early hour in the Champs Elysees, when the +Emperor would pass them in review. The spectacle had, however, another +object, which was not generally known. The convoys of the wounded from +Austerlitz were that same day to arrive at Paris, and the display of +troops was intended at once to honor this _entree_, and give to the sad +procession of the maimed and dying the semblance of a triumph. Such were +the artful devices which ever ministered to the deceit of the nation, +and suffered them to look on but one side of their glory. + +As I anticipated, the chevalier was greatly out of temper at the +whole of this proceeding. He detested nothing more than those military +displays which are got up for the populace; he despised the exhibition +of troops to the vulgar and unmeaning criticism of tailors and barbers; +and, more than all, he shrank from the companionship of the National +Guard of Paris,--those shop-keeping soldiers, with their umbrellas and +spectacles, who figured with such pride on these occasions. + +"Another affair like this," said he, passionately, "and I'd resign my +commission. A procession at the Porte St. Martin,--the _boeuf gras_ on +Easter Monday,--I'm your man for either: but to sit bolt upright on your +saddle for three, maybe four hours; to be stared at by every _bourgeois_ +from the Rue du Bac; to be pointed at with pink parasols and compared +with some ribbon-vender of the Boulevards,--_par Saint Louis!_ I can't +even bear to think of it! Look yonder," said he, pointing to the court +of the Palace, where already a regiment was drawn up under arms, +and passing in inspection before the colonel; "there begins the +dress-rehearsal already. His Majesty says mid-day; the generals of +division draw out their men at eleven o'clock; the colonels take a +look at their corps at ten; the _chefs de bataillon_ at nine; and, +_parbleu!_the corporals are at work by daybreak. Then, what confounded +drilling and dressing up, as if Napoleon could detect the slightest +waving of the line over two leagues of ground; while you see the +luckless adjutants flying hither and thither, cursing, imprecating, +and threatening, and hastily reiterating at the head of each company, +'Remember, men, be sure to remember, that when the drums beat to arms, +you shout "Vive l'Empereur!"' Rely upon it, Burke, if we had but one +half of these preparations before a battle, we 'd not be the dangerous +fellows those Russians and Austrians think us." + +"Come, come," said I, "you shall not persuade me that the soldiers feel +no pride on these occasions. The same men who fight so valiantly for +their Emperor--" + +"Stop there, I beg of you," said he, bursting into a fit of laughter. +"I must really cry halt now. So long as you live, my dear friend, let +nothing induce you to repeat that worn cant, 'Fight for their Emperor!' +Why, they fought as bravely for Turenne, and Villars, and Marechal Saxe; +they were as full of courage under Moreau, and Kleber, and Desaix, and +Hoche; ay, and will be again when the Emperor is no more, and Heaven +knows who stands in his place. The genius of a French army is fighting, +not for gain, nor plunder, nor even for glory, so much as for fighting +itself; and he is the best man who gives them most of it. What reduced +the reckless hordes of the Revolution to habits of discipline and +obedience but the warlike spirit of their leaders, whose bravery they +respected? And think you Napoleon himself does not feel this in his +heart, and know the necessity of continual war to feed the insatiable +appetite of his followers? In a word, my friend," added he, in a tone of +mock solemnity, "we are a great people; and Nature intended us to be so +by giving us a language in which _Gloire_ rhymes with _Victoire_. And +now for the march, for I fancy we are late enough already." + +There are few sources of annoyance more poignant than to discover any +illusion we have long indulged in assailed by the sneers and sarcasms +of another, who assumes a tone of superior wisdom on the faith of a +difference of opinion. The mass of our likings and dislikings find their +way into our heart more from impulse than reason, and when attacked are +scarcely defensible by any effort of the understanding. This very fact +renders us more painfully alive to their preservation, and we shrink +instinctively from any discussion of them. While such is the case, we +feel more bitterly the cruelty of him who, out of mere wantonness, can +sport with the sources of our happiness, and assail the hidden stores +of so many of our pleasures; for unhappily the mockery once listened to +lies associated with the idea forever. + +Already had Duchesne stripped me of more than one delusion, and made me +feel that I was but indulging in a deceptive happiness in my dream of +life; and often did I regret that I ever knew him. It is not enough to +feel the sophistry of one's adversary, you should be able to detect and +expose it, otherwise the triumphant tone he assumes gives him an air +of victory which ends by imposing on yourself. And of this I now felt +convinced in my own case. + +These thoughts rendered me silent as we wended our way towards the +Tuileries, where the various officers of the staff and the _corps +d'elite_ were assembled. Here we found several of the marshals in +waiting for the Emperor, while the Mameluke Guard, in all the splendor +of its gay equipments, stood around the great entrance to the Palace. +Many handsome equipages were also there; one, conspicuous above the +rest for its livery of white and gold, with four outriders, belonged to +Madame Murat, the Grand-Duchess of Berg, whose taste for splendor and +show extended to every department of her household. + +At last there was a movement in those nearest the Palace; the drums +beat to arms, the guard within the vestibule presented, and the Emperor +appeared, followed by a brilliant staff. He stood for a few seconds on +the steps, his hands clasped behind his back, and his head a little bent +forwards as if in thought; then, drawing himself up, he looked with +a gaze of proud composure on the crowd that filled the court of the +Palace, and where now all was silent and still. Never before had I +remarked the same imperious expression of his features; but as his +eye ranged over the brilliant array, now I could read the innate +consciousness of superiority in which he excelled. Ney, Murat, Victor, +Bessieres,--how little seemed they all before that mighty genius, whose +glory they but reflected! + +Oh, how lightly then did I deem the mocking jests of Duchesne, or all +that his sarcasm could invent! There stood the conqueror of Italy +and Egypt, the victor of Marengo and Austerlitz, looking every inch a +monarch and a soldier. Whether from thoughtless inattention or studied +affectation I cannot say, but at that moment, when all stood in +respectful silence before the Emperor, Duchesne had approached the +grille of the Palace, next to the Place du Carrousel, and was busily +chatting with a pretty-looking girl, who, with a number of others, sat +in a hired caleche. A hearty burst of laughter at something he said rang +through the court, and turned every eye in that direction. In an instant +the Emperor's eagle glance pierced the distance, and fastened on the +chevalier, who, seated carelessly on one side of his saddle, paid no +attention to what was going forward; when suddenly an aide-de-camp +touched him on the arm, and said,-- + +"Monsieur le Capitaine Duchesne, his Majesty the Emperor would speak +with you." + +Duchesne turned; a faint, a very faint flush, covered his cheek, and +putting spurs to his horse, he galloped up to the front of the terrace, +where the Emperor was standing. From the distance at which I stood, +to hear what passed was impossible; but I watched with a most painful +interest the scene before me. + +The Emperor's attitude was unchanged as the chevalier rode up; and when +Duchesne himself seemed to listen with a respectful manner to the words +of his Majesty, I could see by his easy bearing that his self-possession +had never deserted him. The interview lasted not many minutes, when the +Emperor waved his hand haughtily; and the chevalier, saluting with his +sabre, backed his horse some paces, and then, wheeling round, rapidly +galloped towards the gate, through which he passed. + +"This evening, then, Mademoiselle," said he, with a smile, "I hope to +have the honor." And, with a courteous bow, rode on towards the archway +opening on the quay. + +"What has happened?" said I, eagerly, to the officer at my side. + +He shook his head as if doubtful, and half fearing even to whisper at +the moment. + +"His privilege of the _elite_ is withdrawn, sir," said an old general +officer. "He must leave Paris to join his regiment in twenty-four +hours." + +"Poor fellow!" muttered I, half aloud, when a savage frown from the +veteran officer corrected my words. + +"What, sir!" said he, in a low voice, where every word was thickened to +a guttural sound--"what, sir! is the court of the Tuileries no more than +a canteen or a bivouac? _Pardieu!_ if it was not for his laced jacket he +had been degraded to the ranks; ay, and deserved it too!" + +The coarse accents and underbred tone of the speaker showed me at once +that it was one of the old generals of the Republican army, who never +could endure the descendants of aristocratic families in the service, +and who were too willing always to attribute to insolence and +premeditated affront even the slightest breaches of military etiquette. + +Meanwhile the Emperor mounted, and accompanied by the officers of his +staff, rode forward towards the Champs Elysees, while all of lesser note +followed at a distance. From the garden of the Tuileries to the Barriere +de l'Etoile the troops were ranged in four lines, the cavalry of the +Guard and the artillery forming the ranks along the road by which the +convoy must pass. It was a bright day, with a clear, frosty atmosphere +and a blue sky, and well suited the brilliant spectacle. + +Scarcely had the Emperor issued from the Tuileries, when ten thousand +shouts of "Vive l'Empereur!" rent the air; the cannon of the Invalides +thundered forth at the same moment; and the crash of the military bands +added their clangor to the sounds of joy. He rode slowly along the +line, stopping frequently to speak with some of the soldiers, and giving +orders to his suite concerning them. Of the officers in his staff that +day, the greater number had been wounded at Austerlitz, and still bore +the traces of their injuries. Rapp displayed a tremendous scar from a +sabre across his cheek; Sebastiani wore his sword-arm in a sling; and +Friant, unable to mount his horse, followed the Emperor on foot, leaning +on a stick, and walking with great difficulty. The sight of these brave +men, whose devotion to Napoleon had been proved on so many battlefields, +added to the interest of the scene, and tended to excite popular +enthusiasm to its utmost. But on Napoleon still all eyes were bent. The +general who led their armies to victory, the monarch who raised France +to the proudest place among the nations, was there, within a few paces +of them. Each word he spoke was sinking deeply into some heart, prouder +of that moment than of rank or riches. + +So slow was the Emperor's progress along the ranks that it was near +three o'clock before he had arrived at the extremity of the line. The +cavalry were now ordered to form in squadrons, and move past in +close order. While this movement was effecting, a cannon-shot at the +_barriere_ announced the approach of the convoy. The cavalry were halted +in line once more, and the same moment the first wagon of the train +appeared above the summit of the hill. So secretly had the whole been +managed that none, save the officers of the various staffs, knew what +was coming. While each look was turned, then, towards the _barriere_ +in astonishment, gradually the wagon rolled on, another followed, and +another: these were, however, but the ambulances of the hospitals. And +now the wounded themselves came in sight,--a white flag, that well-known +signal, waving in front of each wagon, while a guard of honor, +consisting of picked men of the different regiments, rode at either +side. + +One loud cheer--a shout echoed back from the Tuileries itself--rang out, +as the soldiers saw their brave companions restored to them once more. +With that impulse which, even in discipline, French soldiers never +forget, the men rushed forward to the wagons, and in a moment officers +and men were in the arms of their comrades. What a scene it was to +see the poor and wasted forms, mangled by shot and maimed of limb, +brightening up again as home and friends surrounded them,--to hear their +faint voices mingle with the questions for this one or for that, while +the fate of some brave fellow met but one word in elegy! + +On they passed,--a sad train, but full of glorious memories. There were +the grenadiers of Oudinot, who carried the Russian centre; eleven +wagons were filled with their wounded. Here come the voltigeurs of +Bernadotte's brigade; see how the fellows preserve their ancient +repute, cheering and laughing,--ever the same, whether roistering at +midnight in the Faubourg St. Antoine or rushing madly upon the ranks of +the enemy! There are the dragoons of Nansouty, who charged the Imperial +Guard of Russia; see the proud line that floats on their banner, "All +wounded by the sabre!" And here come the cuirassiers of the Guard, with +a detachment of their own as escort; how splendidly they look in the +bright sun, and how proudly they come! + +As I looked, the Emperor rode forward, bareheaded, his whole staff +uncovered. "Chapeau bas, Messieurs!" said he, in a loud voice. "Honor to +the brave in misfortune!" + +Just then the escort halted, and I heard a laugh in front, close to +where the Emperor was standing; but from the crowded staff around him, +could not see what was going forward. + +"What is it?" said I, curious to learn the least incident of the scene. + +"Advance a pace or two, Captain," said the young officer I addressed; +"you can see it all." + +I did so, and then beheld--oh, with what delight and surprise!--my poor +friend, Pioche, seated on the driving-seat of a gun, with his hand in +salute as the Emperor spoke to him. + +"Thou wilt not have promotion, nor a pension. What, then, can I do for +thee?" said Napoleon, smiling. "Hast any friend in the service whom I +could advance for thy sake?" + +"Yes, _parbleu!_" said Pioche, scratching his forehead, with a sort of +puzzle and confusion even the Emperor smiled at, "I have a friend. But +mayhap those wouldn't like--" + +"Ask me for nothing thou thinkest I could not, ought not to grant," said +the Emperor, sternly. "What is't now?" + +The poor corporal seemed thoroughly nonplussed, and for a second or +two could not reply. At last, as if summoning all his courage for the +effort, he said,-- + +"Well, thou canst but refuse, and then the fault will be all thine. She +is a brave girl, and had she been a man--" + +"Whom can he mean?" said Napoleon. "Is the man's head wandering?" + +"No, _mon general!_ all right there; that shell has turned many a sabre's +edge. I was talking of Minette, the vivandiere of ours. If thou art so +bent on doing me a service, why, promote _her_, and thou'lt make the +whole regiment proud of it." + +This speech was lost in the laugh which, beginning with the Emperor, +extended to the staff, and at last to all the bystanders. + +"Dost wish I should make her one of my aides-de-camp?" said Napoleon, +still laughing. + +"_Parbleu!_ thou hast more ill-favored ones among them," said Pioche, +with a significant look at the grim faces of Rapp and Dam, whose hard +and weather-beaten features never deigned a smile, while every other +face was moved in laughter. + +"But thou hast not said yet what I am to do," rejoined the Emperor. + +"Thou used not to be so hard to understand," grumbled out Pioche. "I +have seen the time thou 'd have said, 'Is it Minette that was wounded at +the Adige? Is that the girl stood in the square at Marengo? _Parbleu!_ I +'ll give her the cross of the Legion!'" + +"And she shall have it, Corporal Pioche," said Napoleon, as he detached +the decoration he wore on the breast of his coat. "Give the order for +the vivandiere to advance." + +Scarce were the words spoken, when the sound of a horse pressed to his +speed was heard, and mounted upon a small but showy Arab, a present from +the regiment, Minette rode up, in the bloom of health, and flushed +by exercise and the excitement of the moment. I never saw her look +so handsome. Reining in her horse short, as she came in front of the +Emperor, the animal reared up, almost straight, and pawed the air with +his forelegs; while she, with all the composure in life, raised her hand +to her cap, and saluted the Emperor with an action the most easy and +graceful. + +"Thou hast some yonder," said Pioche, with a grim smile at the staff, +"would be sore puzzled to keep their saddles as well." + +[Illustration: Minnette 170] + +[Illustration: BrowneMinnette105] + +"Minette," said the Emperor, while he gazed on her handsome features +with evident pleasure, "your name is well known to me for many actions +of kindness and self-devotion. Wear this cross of the Legion of Honor; +you will not value it the less that until now it has been only worn by +me. Whenever you find one worthy to be your husband, Minette, I will +charge myself with the dowry." + +"Oh, Sire!" said the trembling girl, as she pressed the Emperor's +fingers to her lips,--"oh, Sire, is this real?" + +"Yes, _parbleu!_" said Pioche, wiping a large tear from his eye as he +spoke; "he can make thee be a man, and make me feel like a girl." + +As Duroc attached the cross to the buttonhole of the vivandiere's frock, +she sat pale as death, totally overcome by her sensations of pride, and +unable to say more than "Oh, Sire!" which she repeated three or four +times at intervals. + +Again the procession moved on; other wagons followed with their brave +fellows; but all the interest of the scene was now, for me at least, +wrapped up in that one incident, and I took but little notice of the +rest. + +For full two hours the cortege continued to roll on,--wagon after +wagon, filled with the shattered remnants of an army. Yet such was the +indomitable spirit of the people, such the heartfelt passion for glory, +all deemed that procession the proudest triumph of their arms. Nor was +this feeling confined to the spectators; the wounded themselves leaned +eagerly over the sides of the _charrettes_ to gaze into the crowds on +either side, seeking some old familiar face, and looking through all +their sufferings proudly on the dense mob beneath them. Some tried +to cheer, and waved their powerless hands; but others, faint and +heart-sick, turned their glazed eyes towards the "Invalides," whose +lofty dome appeared above the trees, as though to say, that was now +their resting-place,--the only one before the grave. + +He who witnessed that day could have little doubt about the guiding +spirit of the French nation; nor could he distrust their willingness to +sacrifice anything--nay, all--to national glory. Suffering and misery, +wounds, ghastly and dreadful, were on every side; and yet not one word +of pity, not a look of compassion was there. These men were, in _their_ +eyes, far too highly placed for sympathy; theirs was that path to which +all aspired, and their trophies were their own worn frames and mangled +bodies. And then how they brightened up as the Emperor would draw near! +how even the faintest would strive to catch his eye and gaze with parted +lips on him as he spoke, as though drinking in his very words,--the balm +to their bruised hearts,--and the faint cry of "l'Empereur! l'Empereur!" +passed like a murmur along the line. + +Not until the last wagon had defiled before him did the Emperor leave +the ground. It was then nearly dark, and already the lamps were lighted +along the quays, and the windows of the Palace displayed the brilliant +lustre of the preparations for a grand dinner to the marshals. + +As we moved slowly along in close order, I found myself among a group +of officers of the Emperor's staffs eagerly discussing the day and its +events. + +"I am sorry for Duchesne," said one; "with all his impertinences--and +he had enough of them--he was a brave fellow, and a glorious leader at a +moment of difficulty." + +"Well, well, the Emperor has perhaps forgiven him by this time; and +it is not likely he would mar the happiness of a day like this by +disgracing an officer of the _elite_." + +"You are wrong, my friend; his Majesty is not sorry for the occasion +which can prove that he knows as well how to punish as to reward. +Duchesne's fate is sealed. You are not old enough to remember, as I can, +the morning at Lonado, where the same _ardre du jour_ conferred a mark +of honor on one brother, and condemned another to be shot." + +"And was this, indeed, the case?" + +"Ay, was it. Many can tell you of it, as well as myself. They were both +in the same regiment--the fifteenth demi-brigade of light infantry. They +held a chateau at Salo against the enemy for eight hours, when at length +the elder, who commanded at the front, capitulated and laid down his +arms; the younger refused to comply, and continued to fight. They were +reinforced an hour afterwards, and the Austrians beaten off. The day +after they were both tried, and the result was as I have told you; the +utmost favor the younger could obtain was, not to witness the execution +of his brother." + +As I heard this story, my very blood curdled in my veins, and I looked +with a kind of dread on him who now rode a few paces in front of +me,--the stern and pitiless Napoleon. + +At last we entered the court of the Tuileries, when the Emperor, +dismissing his staff, entered the Palace, and we separated, to follow +our own plans for the evening. For a moment or two I remained uncertain +which way to turn. I wished much to see Duchesne, yet scarcely hoped to +meet with him by returning to the Luxembourg. It was not the time to be +away from him, at a moment like this, and I resolved to seek him out. + +For above an hour I went from cafe to cafe, where he was in the habit of +resorting, but to no purpose. He had not been seen in any of them during +the day; so that at length I turned homeward with the faint hope that I +should see him there on my arrival. + +Somehow I never had felt more sad and depressed; and the events of the +day, so far from making me participate in the general joy, had left me +gloomy and desponding. My spirit was little in harmony with the gay and +merry groups that passed along the streets, chanting their campaigning +songs, and usually having some old soldier of the "Guard" amongst +them; for they felt it as a fete, and were hurrying to the cabarets to +celebrate the day of Austerlitz. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE CHEVALIER. + +When men of high courage and proud hearts meet with reverses in life, +our anxiety is rather to learn what new channel their thoughts and +exertions will take in future, than to hear how they have borne up under +misfortune. I knew Duchesne too well to suppose that any turn of fate +would find him wholly unprepared; but still, a public reprimand, and +from the lips of the Emperor, too, was of a nature to wound him to the +quick, and I could not guess, nor picture to myself in what way he would +bear it. The loss of grade itself was a thing of consequence, as the +service of the _elite_ was reckoned a certain promotion; not to speak +of--what to him was far more important--the banishment from Paris and +its _salons_ to some gloomy and distant encampment. In speculations like +these I returned to my quarters, where I was surprised to discover that +the chevalier had not been since morning. I learned from his servant +that he had dismissed him, with his horses, soon after leaving the +Tuileries, and had not returned home from that time. + +I dined alone that day, and sat moodily by myself, thinking over the +events of the morning, and wondering what had become of my friend, and +watching every sound that might tell of his coming. It is true there +were many things I liked not in Duchesne: his cold, sardonic spirit, his +_moqueur_ temperament, chilled and repelled me; but I recognized, even +through his own efforts at concealment, a manly tone of independence, +a vigorous reliance on self, that raised him in my esteem, and made me +regard him with a certain species of admiration. With his unsettled or +unstable political opinions, I greatly dreaded the excess to which a +spirit of revenge might carry him. + +I knew that the Jacobin party, and the Bourbons themselves, lay in +wait for every erring member of the Imperial side; and I felt no little +anxiety at the temptations they might hold out to him, at a moment when +his excitement might have the mastery over his cooler judgment. + +Late in the evening a Government messenger arrived with a large letter +addressed to him from the Minister of War; and even this caused me fresh +uneasiness, since I connected the despatch in my mind with some detail +of duty which his absence might leave unperformed. + +It was long past midnight, as I sat, vainly endeavoring to occupy myself +with a book, which each moment I laid down to listen, when suddenly +I heard the roll of a _fiacre_ in the court beneath, the great doors +banged and closed, and the next moment the chevalier entered the room. + +He was dressed in plain clothes, and looked somewhat paler than usual, +but though evidently laboring under excitement, affected his wonted ease +and carelessness of manner, as, taking a chair in front of me, he sat +down. + +"What a day of worry and trouble this has been, my dear friend!" he +began. "From the moment I last saw you to the present one, I have not +rested, and with four invitations to dinner, I have not dined anywhere." + +He paused as he said thus much, as if expecting me to say something; +and I perceived that the embarrassment he felt rather increased than +otherwise. I therefore endeavored to mumble out something about his +hurried departure and the annoyance of such a sentence, when he stopped +me suddenly. + +"Oh, as to _that_, I fancy the matter is arranged already; I should have +had a letter from the War Office." + +"Yes, there is one here; it came three hours ago." + +He turned at once to the table, and breaking the seal, perused the +packet in silence, then handed it to me, as he said,-- + +"Bead that; it will save a world of explanation." + +It was dated five o'clock, and merely contained the following few +words:-- + + His Majesty I. and R. accepts the resignation of Senior + Captain Duchesne, late of the Imperial Guard; who, from the + date of the present, is no longer in the service of France. + + (Signed) + + BERTHIER, Marshal of France. + +A small sealed note dropped from the packet, which Duchesne took up, and +broke open with eagerness. + +"Ha! _parbleu!_" cried he, with energy; "I thought not. See here, Burke; +it is Duroc who writes:--" + + My dear Duchesne,--I knew there was no use in making such a + proposition, and told you as much. The moment I said the + word 'England,' he shouted out 'No!' in such a tone you + might have heard it at the Luxembourg. You will perceive, + then, the thing is impracticable; and perhaps, after all, + for your own sake, it is better it should be so. + + Yours ever, D. + +"This is all mystery to me, Duchesne; I cannot fathom it in the least." + +"Let me assist you; a few words will do it. I gave in my _demission_ as +Captain of the Guard, which, as you see, his Majesty has accepted; +we shall leave it to the 'Moniteur' of to-morrow to announce whether +graciously or not. I also addressed a formal letter to Duroc, to ask the +Emperor's permission to visit England, on private business of my own." +His eyes sparkled with a malignant lustre as he said these last words, +and his cheek grew deep scarlet. "This, however, his Majesty has not +granted, doubtless from private reasons of his own; and thus we stand. +Which of us, think you, has most spoiled the other's rest for this +night?" + +"But still I do not comprehend. What can take you to England? You have +no friends there; you've never been in that country." + +"Do you know the very word is proscribed,--that the island is covered +from his eyes in the map he looks upon, that _perfide_ Albion is the +demon that haunts his dark hours, and menaces with threatening gesture +the downfall of all his present glory? Ah, by Saint Denis, boy! had I +been you, it is not such an epaulette as this I had worn." + +"Enough, Duchesne; I will not hear more. Not to you, nor any one, am +I answerable for the reasons that have guided my conduct; nor had I +listened to so much, save that such excitement as yours may make that +pardonable which in calmer moments is not so." + +"You say right, Burke," said he, quickly, and with more seriousness of +manner; "it is seldom I have been betrayed into such a passionate warmth +as this. I hope I have not offended you. This change of circumstance +will make none in our friendship. I knew it, my dear boy. And now let us +turn from such tiresome topics. Where, think you, have I been spending +the evening? But how could you ever guess? Well, at the Odeon, attending +Mademoiselle Pierrot, and a very pretty friend of hers,--one of our +vivandieres, who happens to be in the brigade with mademoiselle's +brother, and dined there to-day. She only arrived in Paris this morning; +and, by Jove! there are some handsome faces in our gay _salons_ would +scarcely stand the rivalry with hers. I must show you the fair Minette." + +"Minette!" stammered I, while a sickly sensation--a fear of some unknown +misfortune to the poor girl--almost stopped my utterance. "I know her; +she belongs to the Fourth Cuirassiers." + +"Ah, you know her? Who would have suspected my quiet friend of such an +acquaintance? And so, you never hinted this to me. _Ma foi!_ I 'd have +thought twice about throwing up my commission if I had seen her half +an hour earlier. Come, tell me all you know of her. Where does she come +from?" + +"Of her history I am totally ignorant; I can only tell you that her +character is without a stain or reproach, in circumstances where few, if +any save herself, ever walked scathless; that on more than one occasion +she has displayed heroism worthy of the best among us." + +"Oh dear, oh dear, how disappointed I am! Indeed, I half feared as much: +she is a regular vivandiere of the melodrame,--virtuous, high-minded, +and intrepid. You, of course, believe all this,--don't be angry, +Burke,--but I don't; and the reason is I can't,--the gods have left +me incredulous from the cradle. I have a rooted obstinacy about me, +perfectly irreclaimable. Thus, I fancy Napoleon to be a Corsican; a +modern marshal to be a promoted sergeant; a judge of the upper court to +be a public prosecutor; and a vivandiere of the _grande armee_--But I'll +not offend,--don't be afraid, my poor fellow,--even at the risk of the +rivalry. Upon my life, I 'm glad to see you have a heart susceptible +of any little tenderness. But you cannot blame me if I 'm weary of this +eternal travesty of character which goes on amongst us. Why will our +Republican and _sans culotte_ friends try courtly airs and graces, while +our real aristocracy stoop to the affected coarseness of the _canaille?_ +Is it possible that they who wish to found a new order of things do not +see that all these pantomime costumes and characters denote nothing +but change,--that we are only performing a comedy after all? I scarcely +expect it will be a five-act one. And, apropos of comedies,--when shall +we pay our respects to Madame de Lacostellerie? It will require all my +diplomacy to keep my ground there under my recent misfortune. Nothing +short of a tender inquiry from the Duchesse de Montserrat will open the +doors for me. Alas, and alas! I suppose I shall have to fall back on the +Faubourg." + +"But is the step irrevocable, Duchesne? Can you really bring yourself to +forego a career which opened with such promise?" + +"And terminated with such disgrace," added he, smiling placidly. + +"Nay, nay; don't affect to take it thus. Your services would have placed +you high, and won for you honors and rank." + +"And, _ma foi!_ have they not done so? Am I not a very interesting +individual at this moment,--more so than any other of my life? Are not +half the powdered heads of the Faubourg plotting over my downfall, and +wondering how they are to secure me to the 'true cause'? Are not the hot +heads of the Jacobites speculating on my admission, by a unanimous vote, +into their order? And has not Fouche gone to the special expense of a +new police spy, solely destined to dine at the same cafe, play at the +same _salon_, and sit in the same box of the Opera with me? Is this +nothing? Well, it will be good fun, after all, to set their wise brains +on the wrong track; not to speak of the happiness of weeding one's +acquaintance, which a little turn of fortune always effects so +instantaneously." + +"One would suppose from your manner, Duchesne, that some unlooked-for +piece of good luck had befallen you; the event seems to have been the +crowning one of your life." + +"Am I not at liberty, boy? have I not thrown the slavery behind me? Is +that nothing? You may fancy your collar, because there is some gold upon +it; but, trust me, it galls the neck as cursedly as the veriest brass. +Come, Burke, I must have a glass of champagne, and you must pledge me in +a creaming bumper. If you don't join in the sentiment now, the time will +come later on. We may be many a mile apart,--ay, perhaps a whole world +will divide us; but you'll remember my toast,--'To him that is free!' +I am sick of most things; women, wine, war, play,--the game of life +itself, with all its dashing and existing interests,--I have had them +to satiety. But liberty has its charm; even to the palsied arm and the +withered hand freedom is dear; and why not to him who yet can strike?" + +His eyes flashed fire as he spoke, and he drained glass after glass of +wine, without seeming aware of what he was doing. + +"If you felt thus, Duchesne, why have you remained so long a soldier?" + +"I 'll tell you. He who travels unwillingly along some dreary path stops +often as he goes, and looks around to see if, in the sky above or the +road beneath, some obstacle may not cross his way and bid him turn. The +faintest sound of a brewing storm, the darkening shadow of a cloud, +a swollen rivulet, is enough, and straightway he yields: so men seem +swayed in life by trifles which never moved them, by accidents which +came not near their hearts. These, which the world called their +disappointments, were often but the pivots of their fortune. I have +had enough, nay, more than enough, of all this. You must not ask the +hackneyed actor of the melodrama to start at the blue lights, and feel +real fear at burning forests and flaming chateaux. This mock passion of +the Emperor--" + +"Come, my friend, that is indeed too much; unquestionably there was no +feigning there." + +Duchesne gave a bitter laugh, and laying his hand on my arm, said,-- + +"My good boy, I know him well. The knowledge has cost me something; but +I have it. A soldier's enthusiasm!" said he, in irony,--"bah! Shall I +tell you a little incident of my boyhood? I detest story-telling, but +this you must hear. Fill my glass! listen, and I promise you not to be +lengthy." + +It was the first time in our intimacy in which Duchesne referred +distinctly to his past life; and I willingly accepted the offer he made, +anticipating that any incident, no matter how trivial, might throw a +light on the strange contrarieties of his character. + +He sat for several minutes silent, his eyes turned towards the ground. A +faint smile, more of sadness than aught else, played about his lips, as +he muttered to himself some words I could not catch. Then rallying, with +a slight effort, he began thus--But, short as his tale was, we must give +him a chapter to himself. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. A BOYISH REMINISCENCE + +"I believe I have already told you, Burke, that my family were most of +them Royalists. Such as were engaged in trade followed the fortunes +of the day, and cried 'Vive la Republique!' like their neighbors. Some +deemed it better to emigrate, and wait in a foreign land for the happy +hour of returning to their own,--a circumstance, by the way, which must +have tried their patience ere this; and a few, trusting to their obscure +position, living in out-of-the-way, remote spots, supposed that in +the general uproar they might escape undetected; and, with one or two +exceptions, they were right. Among these latter was an unmarried brother +of my mother, who having held a military command for a great many years +in the Ile de Bourbon, retired to spend the remainder of his days in +a small but beautiful chateau on the seaside, about three leagues +from Marseilles. The old viscount (we continued to call him so among +ourselves, though the use of titles was proscribed long before) had met +with some disappointment in love in early life, which had prevented his +ever marrying, and turned all his affections towards the children of his +brothers and sisters, who invariably passed a couple of months of +each summer with him, arriving from different parts of France for the +purpose. + +"And truly it was a strange sight to see the mixture of look, +expression, accent, and costume, that came to the rendezvous: the +long-featured boy, with blue eyes and pointed chin,--cold, wary, +and suspicious, brave but cautious,--that came from Normandy; the +high-spirited, reckless youth from Brittany; the dark-eyed girl of +Provence; the quick-tempered, warm-hearted Gascon and, stranger than +all, from his contrast to the rest the little Parisian, with his airs +of the capital and his contempt for his rustic brethren, nothing daunted +that in all their boyish exercises he found himself so much their +inferior. Our dear old uncle loved nothing so well as to have us around +him; and even the little ones, of five and six years old, when not +living too far off, were brought to these reunions, which were to us the +great events of each year of our lives. + +"It was in the June of the year 1794--I shall not easily forget the +date--that we were all assembled as usual at 'Le Luc.' Our party was +reinforced by some three or four new visitors, among whom was a little +girl of about twelve years old,--Annette de Noailles, the prettiest +creature I ever beheld. Every land has its own trait of birth distinctly +marked. I don't know whether you have observed that the brow and the +forehead are more indicative of class in Frenchmen than any other +portion of the face: hers was perfect, and though a mere child, +conveyed an impression of tempered decision and mildness that was most +fascinating; the character of her features was thoughtful, and were +it not for a certain vivacity in the eyes, would have been even sad. +Forgive me, if I dwell--when I need not--on these traits: she is no +more. Her father carried her with him in his exile, and your lowering +skies and gloomy air soon laid her low. + +"Annette was the child of Royalist parents. Both her father and mother +had occupied places in the royal household; and she was accustomed from +her earliest infancy to hear the praise of the Bourbons from lips which +trembled when they spoke. Poor child! how well do I remember her +little prayer for the martyred saint,--for so they styled the murdered +king,--which she never missed saying each morning when the mass was over +in the chapel of the chateau. It is a curious fact that the girls of a +family were frequently attached to the fortunes of the Bourbons, while +the boys declared for the Revolution; and these differences penetrated +into the very core, and sapped the happiness of many whose affection had +stood the test of every misfortune save the uprooting torrent of anarchy +that poured in with the Revolution. These party differences entered +into all the little quarrels of the schoolroom and the nursery; and the +taunting epithets of either side were used in angry passion by those who +neither guessed nor could understand their meaning. Need it be +wondered at, if in after life these opinions took the tone of intense +convictions, when even thus in infancy they were nurtured and fostered? +Our little circle at Le Luc was, indeed, wonderfully free from such +causes of contention; whatever paths in life fate had in store for us +afterwards, then, at least, we were of one mind. A few of the boys, +it is true, were struck by the successes of those great armies the +Revolution poured over Europe; but even they were half ashamed to +confess enthusiasm in a cause so constantly allied in their memory with +everything mean and low-lived. + +"Such, in a few words, was the little party assembled around the +supper-table of the chateau, on one lovely evening in June. The windows, +opening to the ground, let in the perfumed air from many a sweet and +flowery shrub without; while already the nightingale had begun her lay +in the deep grove hard by. The evening was so calm we could hear the +plash of the making tide upon the shore, and the minute peals of the +waves smote on the ear with a soft and melancholy cadence that made +us silent and thoughtful. As we sat for some minutes thus, we suddenly +heard the sound of feet coming up the little gravel walk towards the +chateau, and on going to the window, perceived three men in uniform +leading their horses slowly along. The dusky light prevented our being +able to distinguish their rank or condition; but my uncle, whose fears +were easily excited by such visitors, at once hastened to the door to +receive them. + +"His absence was not of many minutes' duration; but even now I can +remember the strange sensations of dread that rendered us all speechless +as we stood looking towards the door by which he was to enter. He came +at last, and was followed by two officers; one, the elder, and the +superior evidently, was a thin, slight man, of about thirty, with a +pale but stern countenance, in which a certain haughty expression +predominated; the other was a fine, soldierlike, frank-looking fellow, +who saluted us all as he came in with a smile and a pleasant gesture of +his hand. + +"'You may leave us, children,' said my uncle, as he proceeded towards +the bell. + +"'You were at supper, if I mistake not?' said the elder of the two +officers, with a degree of courtesy in his tone I scarcely expected. + +"'Yes, General. But my little friends--' + +"'Will, I hope, share with us,' said the general, interrupting; 'and I, +at least, am determined, with your permission, that they shall remain. +It is quite enough that we enjoy the hospitality of your chateau for the +night, without interfering with the happiness of its inmates; and I beg +that we may give you as little inconvenience as possible in providing +for our accommodation.' + +"Though these words were spoken with an easy and a kindly tone, there +was a cold, distant manner in the speaker that chilled us all, and +while we drew over to the table again, it was in silence and constraint. +Indeed, our poor uncle looked the very picture of dismay, endeavoring +to do the honors to his guests and seem at ease, while it was clear his +fears were ever uppermost in his mind. + +"The aide-de-camp--for such the young officer was--looked +like one who could have been agreeable and amusing if the restraint of +the general's presence was not over him. As it was, he spoke in a low, +subdued voice, and seemed in great awe of his superior. + +"Unlike our usual ones, the meal was eaten in mournful stillness, the +very youngest amongst us feeling the presence of the stranger as a thing +of gloom and sadness. + +"Supper over, my uncle, perhaps hoping to relieve the embarrassment +he labored under, asked permission of the general for us to remain, +saying,-- + +"'My little people, sir, are great novelists, and they usually amuse me +of an evening by their stories. Will this be too great an endurance for +you?' + +"'By no means,' said the general, gayly; 'there's nothing I like better, +and I hope they will admit me as one of the party. I have something of a +gift that way myself.' + +"The circle was soon formed, the general and his aide-de-camp making +part of it; but though they both exerted themselves to the utmost to win +our confidence, I know not why or wherefore, we could not shake off the +gloom we had felt at first, but sat awkward and ill at ease, unable to +utter a word, and even ashamed to look at each other. + +"'Come,' said the general, 'I see how it is. I have broken in upon a +very happy party. I must make the only _amende_ in my power,--I shall be +the story-teller for this evening.' + +"As he said this, he looked around the little circle, and by some +seeming magic of his own, in an instant he had won us every one. We drew +our chairs close towards him, and listened eagerly for his tale. Few +people, save such as live much among children, or take the trouble to +study their tone of feeling and thinking, are aware how far reality +surpasses in interest the force of mere fiction. The fact is with them +far more than all the art of the narrative; and if you cannot say 'this +was true,' more than half of the pleasure your story confers is lost +forever. Whether the general knew this, or that his memory supplied +him more easily than his imagination, I cannot say; but his tale was +a little incident of the siege of Toulon, where a drummer boy was +killed,--having returned to the breach, after the attack was repulsed, +to seek for a little cockade of ribbon his mother had fastened on his +cap that morning. Simple as was the story, he told it with a subdued and +tender pathos that made our hearts thrill and filled every eye around +him. + +"'It was a poor thing, it's true,' said he, 'that knot of ribbon, but it +was glory to him to rescue it from the enemy. His heart was on the time +when he should show it, blood-stained and torn, and say, "I took it from +the ground amid the grapeshot and the musketry. I was the only living +thing there that moment; and see, I bore it away triumphantly."' As the +general spoke, he unbuttoned the breast of his uniform, and took forth +a small piece of crumpled ribbon, fastened in the shape of a cockade. +'Here it is,' said he, holding it up before on? eyes; 'it was for this +he died.' We could scarce see it through our tears. Poor Annette held +her hands upon her face, and sobbed violently. 'Keep it, my sweet +child,' said the general, as he attached the cockade to her shoulder;' +it is a glorious emblem, and well worthy to be worn by one so pure and +so fair as you are.' + +"Annette looked up, and as she did, her eyes fell upon the tricolor that +hung from her shoulder,--the hated, the despised tricolor, the badge +of that party whose cruelty she had thought of by day and dreamed of +by night. She turned deadly pale, and sat, with lips compressed and +clenched hands, unable to speak or stir. + +"'What is it? Are you ill, child?' said the general, suddenly. + +"'Annette, love! Annette, dearest!' said my uncle, trembling with +anxiety, 'speak; what is the matter?' + +"'It is that!' cried I, fiercely, pointing to the knot, on which her +eyes were bent with a shrinking horror I well knew the meaning of,--' it +is that!' + +"The general bent on me a look of passionate meaning, as with a hissing +tone he said, 'Do you mean this?' + +"'Yes,' said I, tearing it away, and trampling it beneath my +feet,--'yes! it is not a Noailles can wear the badge of infamy and +crime; the blood-stained tricolor can find slight favor here.' + +"'Hush, boy! hush, for Heaven's sake!' cried my uncle, trembling with +fear. + +"The caution came too late. The general, taking a note-book from his +pocket, opened it leisurely, and then turning towards the viscount, +said, 'This youth's name is--' + +"'Duchesne; Henri Duchesne.' + +"'And his age?' + +"'Fourteen in March,' replied my uncle, as his eyes filled up; while he +added, in a half whisper, 'if you mean the conscription, General, he has +already supplied a substitute.' + +"'No matter, sir, if he had sent twenty; such defect of education as his +needs correction. He shall join the levies at Toulon in three days; in +three days, mark me! Depend upon it, sir,' said he, turning to me, 'you +shall learn a lesson beneath that tricolor you'll be somewhat long +in forgetting. Dumolle, look to this.' With this direction to his +aide-de-camp he arose, and before my poor unhappy uncle could recover +his self-possession to reply, had left the room. + +"'He will not do this, sir; surely, he will not,' said the viscount to +the young officer. + +"'General Bonaparte does not relent, sir; and if he did, he 'd never +show it,' was the cold reply. + +"That day week I carried a musket on the ramparts of Toulon. Here began +a career I have followed ever since; with how much of enthusiasm I leave +you to judge for yourself." + +As Duchesne concluded this little story he arose, and paced the room +backwards and forwards with rapid steps, while his compressed lips and +knitted brow showed he was lost in gloomy recollections of the past. + +"He was right, after all, Burke," said he, at length. "Personal honor +will make the soldier; conviction may make the patriot. I fought as +stoutly for this same cause as though I did not loathe it: how many +others may be in the same position? You yourself, perhaps." + +"No, no; not I." + +"Well, be it so," rejoined he, carelessly. "Goodnight" And with that he +strolled negligently from the room, and I heard him humming a tune as he +mounted the stairs towards his bedroom. + + + +CHAPTER XV. A GOOD-BY + +"I have come to bring you a card for the Court ball, Capitaine," said +General Daru, as he opened the door of my dressing-room the following +morning. "See what a number of them I have here; but except your own, +the addresses are not filled up. You are in favor at the Tuileries, it +would seem." + +"I was not aware of my good fortune, General," replied I. + +"Be assured, however, it is such," said he. "These things are not, as so +many deem them, mere matters of chance; every name is well weighed +and conned over: the officers of the household serve one who does not +forgive mistakes. And now that I think of it, you were intimate--very +intimate, I believe--with Duchesne?" + +"Yes, sir; we were much together." + +"Well, then, after what has occurred, I need scarcely say your +acquaintance with him had better cease. There is no middle course in +these matters. Circumstances will not bring you, as formerly, into each +other's company; and to continue your intimacy would be offensive to his +Majesty." + +"But surely, sir, the friendship of persons so humble as we are can be +a subject neither for the Emperor's satisfaction nor displeasure, if he +even were to know of it?" + +"You must take my word for that," replied the general, somewhat sternly. +"The counsel I have given to-day may come as a command to-morrow. The +Chevalier Duchesne has given his Majesty great and grave offence; see +that you are not led to follow his example." With a marked emphasis on +the last few words, and with a cold bow, he left the room. + +"That I am not led to follow his example!" said I, repeating his words +over slowly to myself. "Is that, then, the danger of which he would warn +me?" + +The remembrance of the misfortunes which opened my career in life came +full before me,--the unhappy acquaintance with De Beauvais, and the long +train of suspicious circumstances that followed; and I shuddered at the +bare thought of being again involved in apparent criminality. And yet, +what a state of slavery was this! The thought flashed suddenly across my +mind, and I exclaimed aloud, "And this is the liberty for which I have +perilled life and limb,--this the cause for which I have become an alien +and an exile!" + +"Most true, my dear friend," said Duchesne, gayly, as he slipped into +the room, and drew his Chair towards the fire. "A wise reflection, but +most unwisely spoken. But there are men nothing can teach; not even the +'Temple' nor the 'Palais de Justice.'" + +"How, then,--you know of my unhappy imprisonment?" + +"Know of it? To be sure I do. Bless your sweet innocence! I have been +told, a hundred times over, to make overtures to you from the Faubourg. +There are at least a dozen old ladies there who believe firmly you are a +true Legitimist, and wear the white cockade next your heart. I have had, +over and over, the most tempting offers to make you. Faith, I 'm +not quite certain if we are not believed to be, at this very moment, +concocting how to smuggle over the frontier a brass carronade and a +royal livery, two pounds of gunpowder and a court periwig, to restore +the Bourbons!" + +He burst into a fit of laughing as he concluded; and however little +disposed to mirth at the moment, I could not refrain from joining in the +emotion. + +"But now for a moment of serious consideration, Burke; for I can be +serious at times, at least when my friends are concerned. You and I must +part here; it is all the better for you it should be so. I am what the +world is pleased to call a 'dangerous companion;' and there's more truth +in the epithet than they wot of who employ it. It is not because I am a +man of pleasure, and occasionally a man of expensive habits and costly +tastes, nor that I now and then play deep, or drink deep, or follow up +with passionate determination any ruling propensity of the moment; but +because I am a discontented and unsettled man, who has a vague ambition +of being something he knows not what, by means he knows not how,--ever +willing to throw himself into an enterprise where the prize is great and +the risk greater, and yet never able to warm his wishes into enthusiasm +nor his belief into a conviction: in a word, a Frenchman, born a +Legitimist, reared a Democrat, educated an Imperialist, and turned +adrift upon the world a scoffer. Such men as I am are dangerous +companions; and when they increase, as they are likely to do in our +state of society, will be still more dangerous citizens. But come, my +good friend, don't look dismayed, nor distend your nostrils as if you +were on the scent for a smell of brimstone,--'Satan s'en va!'" + +With these words he arose and held out his hand to me. "Don't let your +Napoleonite ardor ooze out too rapidly, Burke, and you 'll be a marshal +of France yet. There are great prizes in the wheel, to be had by those +who strive for them. Adieu!" + +"But we shall meet, Duchesne?" + +"I hope so. The time may come, perhaps, when we may be intimate without +alarming the police of the department. But, for the present, I am about +to leave Paris; some friends in the South have been kind enough to +invite me to visit them, and I start this afternoon." + +We shook hands once more, and Duchesne moved towards the door; then, +turning suddenly about, he said, "Apropos of another matter,--this +Mademoiselle de Lacostellerie. + +"What of her?" said I, with some curiosity in my tone. + +"Why, I have a kind of half suspicion, ripening into something like an +assurance, that when we meet again she may be Madame Burke." + +"What nonsense, my dear friend! the absurdity--" + +"There is none whatever. An acquaintance begun like yours is very +suggestive of such a termination. When the lady is saucy and the +gentleman shy, the game stands usually thus: the one needs control and +the other lacks courage. Let them change the cards, and see what comes +of it." + +"You are wrong, Duchesne,--all wrong." + +"Be it so. I have been so often right, I can afford a false prediction +without losing all my character as prophet. Adieu!" + +No sooner was I alone than I sat down to think over what he had said. +The improbability, nay, as it seemed to me, the all but impossibility, +of such an event as he foretold, seemed not less now than when first I +heard it; but somehow I felt a kind of internal satisfaction, a sense of +gratified vanity, to think that to so acute an observer as Duchesne such +a circumstance did not appear even unreasonable. How hard it is to call +in reason against the assault of flattery! How difficult to resist +the force of an illusion by any appeal to our good sense and calmer +judgment! + +It must not be supposed from this that I seriously contemplated such a +possible turn of fortune,--far less wished for it. No; my satisfaction +had a different source. It lay in the thought that I, the humble captain +of hussars, should ever be thought of as the suitor of the greatest +beauty and the richest dowry of the day: here was the mainspring of +my flattered pride. As to any other feeling, I had none. I admired +Mademoiselle de Lacostellerie greatly; she was, perhaps, the very +handsomest girl I ever saw; there was not one in the whole range +of Parisian society so much sought after; and there was a degree of +distinction in being accounted even among the number of her admirers. +Besides this, there lay a lurking desire in my heart that Marie de +Meudon (for as such only could I think of her) should hear me thus +spoken of. It seemed to me like a weak revenge on her own indifference +to me; and I longed to make anything a cause of connecting my fate with +the idea of her who yet held my whole heart. + +Only men who live much to themselves and their own thoughts know the +pleasure of thus linking their fortunes, by some imaginary chain, to +that of those they love. They are the straws that drowning men catch at; +but still, for the moment, they sustain the sinking courage, and nerve +the heart where all is failing. I felt this acutely. I knew well that +she was not, nor could be, anything to me; but I knew, also, that to +divest my mind of her image was to live in darkness, and that the mere +chance of being remembered by her was happiness itself. It was while +hearing of her I first imbibed the soldier's ardor from her own brother. +She herself had placed before me the glorious triumphs of that career in +words that never ceased to ring in my ears. All my hopes of distinction, +my aspirations for success, were associated with the half prediction +she had uttered; and I burned for an occasion by which I could signalize +myself,--that she might read my name, perchance might say, "And _he_ +loved me!" + +In such a world of dreamy thought I passed day after day. Duchesne was +gone, and I had no intimate companion to share my hours with, nor with +whom I could expand in social freedom. Meanwhile, the gay life of the +capital continued its onward course; fetes and balls succeeded +each other; and each night I found myself a guest at some splendid +entertainment, but where I neither knew nor was known to any one. + +It was on one morning, after a very magnificent fete at the +Arch-Chancellor's, that I remembered, for the first time, I had not seen +my poor friend Pioche since his arrival at Paris. A thrill of shame +ran through me at the thought of having neglected to ask after my old +comrade of the march, and I ordered my horse at once, to set out for +the Hotel-Dieu, which had now been in great part devoted to the wounded +soldiers. + +The day was a fine one for the season; and as I entered the large +courtyard I perceived numbers of the invalids moving about in groups, to +enjoy the air and the sun of a budding spring. Poor fellows! they were +but the mere remnants of humanity. Several had lost both legs, and few +were there without an empty sleeve to their loose blue coats. In a large +hall, where three long tables were being laid for dinner, many were +seated around the ample fireplaces; and at one of these a larger +group than ordinary attracted my attention. They were not chatting and +laughing, like the rest, but apparently in deep silence. I approached, +curious to know the reason; and then perceived that they were all +listening attentively to some one reading aloud. The tones of the voice +were familiar to me; I stopped to hear them more plainly. + +It was Minette herself--the vivandiere--who sat there in the midst; +beside her, half reclining in a deep, old-fashioned armchair, was "le +gros Pioche," his huge beard descending midway on his chest, and his +great mustache curling below his upper lip. He had greatly rallied since +I saw him last, but still showed signs of debility and feebleness by the +very attitude in which he lay. + +[Illustration 194] + +Mingling unperceived with the crowd, who were far too highly interested +in the recital to pay any attention to my approach, I listened +patiently, and soon perceived that mademoiselle was reading some +incident of the Egyptian campaign from one of those innumerable volumes +which then formed the sole literature of the garrison. + +"The redoubt," continued Minette, "was strongly defended in front by +stockades and a ditch, while twelve pieces of artillery and a force of +seven hundred Mamelukes were within the works. Suddenly an aide-de-camp +arrived at full gallop, with orders for the Thirty-second to attack the +redoubt with the bayonet, and carry it. The major of the regiment (the +colonel had been killed that morning at the ford) cried out,-- + +"'Grenadiers, you hear the order,--Forward!' But the same instant a +terrible discharge of grape tore through the ranks, killing three and +wounding eight others. 'Forward, men! forward!' shouted the major. But +no one stirred." + +"_Tete d'enfer_," growled out Pioche, "where was the tambour?" + +"You shall hear," said Minette, and resumed. + +"'Do you hear me?' cried the major, 'or am I to be disgraced forever? +Advance--quick time--march!' + +"'But, Major,' said a sergeant, aloud, 'they are not roasted apples +those fellows yonder are pelting.' + +"'Silence!' called out the major; 'not a word! Tambour, beat the +charge!' + +"Suddenly a man sprang up to his knees from the ground where he had been +lying, and began to beat the drum with all his might. Poor fellow! his +leg was smashed with a shot, but he obeyed his orders in the midst of +all his suffering. + +"'Forward, men! forward!' cried the major, waving his cap above his +head. 'Fix bayonets--charge!' And on they dashed after him. + +"'Halloo, comrades!' shouted the tambour; 'don't leave me behind you.' +And in an instant two grenadiers stooped down and hoisted him on their +shoulders, and then rushed forward through the smoke and flame. Crashing +and smashing went the shot through the leading files; but on they went, +leaping over the dead and dying." + +"With the tambour still?" asked Pioche. + +"To be sure," said Minette; "there he was. But listen:-- + +"Just as they reached the breach a shot above their heads came whizzing +past, and a terrible bang rang out as it went. + +"'He is killed,' said one of the grenadiers, preparing to lower the +body; 'I heard his cry.' + +[Illustration: BrowneDrummerBoy121] + +"'Not yet, Comrade,' cried the tambour; 'it is the drum-head they have +carried away, that's all;' and he beat away on the wooden sides harder +than ever. And thus they bore him over the glacis, and up the rampart, +and never stopped till they placed him, sitting, on one of the guns on +the wall." + +"Hurrah! well done!" cried Pioche; while every throat around him +re-echoed the cry, "Hurrah!" + +"What was his name, Mademoiselle?" cried several voices. "Tell us the +name of the tambour!" + +"_Ma foi, Messieurs!_they have not given it." + +"Not given his name," growled they out. "_Ventrebleu!_ that is too bad!" + +"An he had been an officer of the Guard they would have told us his +whole birth and parentage," said a wrinkled, sour-looking old fellow, +with one eye. + +"Or a lieutenant of hussars, Mademoiselle!" said Pioche, looking fixedly +at the vivandiere, who held the book close to her face to conceal a deep +blush that covered it. + +"But, halloo, there! Qui vive?" The cuirassier had just caught a glimpse +of me at the moment, and every eye was turned at once to where I was +standing. "Ah, Lieutenant, you here! Not invalided, I hope?" + +"No, Pioche. My visit was intended for you; and I have had the good +fortune to come in for the tale mademoiselle was reading." + +Before I had concluded these few words, the wounded soldiers, or such of +them as could, had risen from their seats, and stood respectfully around +me; while Minette, retreating behind the great chair where Pioche lay, +seemed to wish to avoid recognition. + +"Front rank, Mademoiselle! front rank!" said Pioche. "_Parbleu!_when one +has the 'cross of the Legion' from the hands of the Emperor himself, one +need not be ashamed of being seen. Besides," added he, in a lower tone, +but one I could well overhear, "thou art not dressed in thy uniform now; +thou hast nothing to blush for!" + +Still she hung down her head, and her confusion seemed only to increase; +so that, unwilling to prolong her embarrassment, which I saw my presence +had caused, I merely made a few inquiries from Pioche regarding his own +health, and took my leave of the party. + +As I rode homeward, I could not help turning over in my mind the words +of Pioche, "Thou art not in thy uniform now; thou hast nothing to blush +for!" Here, then, seemed the key to the changed manner of the poor girl +when I met her at Austerlitz,--some feeling of womanly shame at being +seen in the costume of the vivandiere by one who had known her only in +another guise. But could this be so? I asked myself,--a question a +very little knowledge of a woman's heart might have spared me. And thus +pondering, I returned to the Luxembourg. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. AN OLD FRIEND UNCHANGED + +They who took their tone in politics from the public journals of France +must have been somewhat puzzled at the new and unexpected turn of +the papers in Government influence at the period I now speak of. The +tremendous attacks against the "perfide Albion," which constituted +the staple of the leading articles in the "Moniteur," were gradually +discontinued; the great body of the people were separated from the +"tyrannical domination of an insolent aristocracy;" an occasional eulogy +would appear, too, upon the "native good sense and right feeling of John +Bull" when not led captive by appeals to his passions and prejudices; +and at last a wish more boldly expressed that the two countries, whose +mission it should be to disseminate civilization over the earth, could +so far understand their real interest as to become "fast friends, +instead of dangerous enemies." + +The accession of the Whigs to power in England was the cause of this +sudden revolution. The Emperor, when First Consul, had learned to +know and admire Charles Fox,--sentiments of mutual esteem had grown up +between them,--and it seemed now as if his elevation to power were +the only thing wanting to establish friendly relations between the two +countries. + +How far the French Emperor presumed on Fox's liberalism,--and the strong +bias to party inducing him to adopt such a line of policy as would run +directly counter to that of his predecessors in office, and thus dispose +the nation to more amicable views towards France,--certain it is that he +miscalculated considerably when he built upon any want of true English +feeling on the part of that minister, or any tendency to weaken, by +unjust concessions, the proud attitude England had assumed at the +commencement and maintained throughout the entire Continental war. + +A mere accident led to a renewal of negotiations between the two +countries. A villain, calling himself Guillet de la Grevilliere, had +the audacity to propose to the English minister the assassination of +Napoleon, and to offer himself for the deed. He had hired a house at +Passy, and made every preparation for the execution of his foul scheme. +To denounce this wretch to the French minister of foreign affairs, +Talleyrand, was the first step of Fox. This led to a reply, in which +Talleyrand reported, word for word, a conversation that passed between +the Emperor and himself, and wherein expressions of the kindest nature +were employed by Napoleon with regard to Fox, and many flattering +allusions to the times of their former intimacy; the whole concluding +with the expression of an ardent desire for a good understanding and +a "lasting peace between two nations designed by nature to esteem each +other." + +Although the whole scheme of the assassination was a police stratagem +devised by Fouche to test the honor and good faith of the English +minister, the result was eagerly seized on as a basis for new +negotiations; and from that hour the temperate language of the French +papers evinced a new policy towards England. The insolent allusions of +journalists, the satirical squibs of party writers, the caricatures of +the English eccentricity, were suppressed at once; and by that magic +influence which Napoleon wielded, the whole tone of public feeling +seemed altered as regarded England and Englishmen. From the leaders +in the "Moniteur" to the shop windows of the Palace an Anglomania +prevailed; and the idea was thrown out that the two nations had divided +the world between them,--the sea being the empire of the British, the +land that of Frenchmen. Commissioners were appointed on both sides: +at first Lord Yarmouth, and then Lord Lauderdale, by England; General +Clarke and M. Champagny, on the part of France. Lord Yarmouth, at that +time a _detenu_ at Verdun, was selected by Talleyrand to proceed to +England, and learn the precise basis on which an amicable negotiation +could be founded. + +Scarcely was the interchange of correspondence made public, when the +new tone of feeling and acting towards England displayed itself in every +circle and every _salon_. If a proof were wanting how thoroughly the +despotism of Napoleon had penetrated into the very core of society, here +was a striking one: not only were many of the _detenus_ liberated and +sent back to England, but were feted and entertained at the various +towns they stopped at on their way, and every expedient practised to +make them satisfied with the treatment they had received on the soil +of France. An English guest was deemed an irresistible attraction at +a dinner party, and the most absurd attempts at imitation of English +habits, dress, and language were introduced into society as the last +"mode," and extolled as the very pinnacle of fashionable excellence. + +It would be easy for me here to cite some strange instances of this new +taste; but I already feel that I have wandered from my own path, and owe +an apology to my reader for invading precincts which scarce become me. +Yet may I observe here,--and the explanation will serve once for all,--I +have been more anxious in this "true history" to preserve some passing +record of the changeful features of an eventful period in Europe, than +merely to chronicle personal adventures, which, although not devoid of +vicissitudes, are still so insignificant in the great events by which +they were surrounded. The Consulate, the Empire, and the Restoration +were three great tableaux, differing in their groupings and color, but +each part of one mighty whole,--links in the great chain, and evidencing +the changeful aspect of a nation crouching beneath tyranny, or dwindling +under imbecility and dotage. + +I have said the English were the vogue in Paris; and so they were, but +especially in those _salons_ which reflected the influence of the Court, +and where the tone of the Tuileries was revered as law. Every member of +the Government, or all who were even remotely connected with it, at once +adopted the reigning mode; and to be _a l'Anglaise_ became now as much +the type of fashion as ever it had been directly the opposite. Only such +as were in the confidence of Fouche and his schemes knew how hollow all +this display of friendly feeling was, or how ready the Government +held themselves to assume their former attitude of defiance when +circumstances should render it advisable. + +Among those who speedily took up the tone of the Imperial counsels, +the _salons_ of the Hotel Glichy were conspicuous. English habits, as +regarded table equipage; English servants; even to English cookery did +French politeness extend its complaisance; and many of the commonest +habitudes and least cultivated tastes were imported as the daily +observances of fashionable people _outremer_. + +In this headlong Anglomania, my English birth and family (I say English, +because abroad the petty distinctions of Irishman or Scotchman are +not attended to) marked me out for peculiar attention in society; and +although my education and residence in France had well-nigh rubbed off +all or the greater part of my national peculiarities, yet the flatterers +of the day found abundant traits to admire in what they recognized as +my John Bull characteristics. And in this way, a blunder in French, a +mistake in grammar, or a false accentuation became actually a _succes +de salon_. Though I could not help smiling at the absurdity of a vogue +whose violence alone indicated its unlikeliness to last, yet I had +sufficient of the spirit of my adopted country to benefit by it while it +did exist, and never spent a single day out of company. + +At the Hotel Clichy I was a constant guest; and while with Mademoiselle +de Lacostellerie my acquaintance made little progress, with the countess +I became a special favorite,--she honoring me so far as to take me into +her secret counsels, and tell me all the little nothings which Fouche +usually disseminated as state secrets, and circulated twice or thrice +a week throughout Paris. From him, too, she learned the names of the +various English who each day arrived in Paris from Verdun, and thus +contrived to have a succession of those favored guests at her dinner and +evening parties. + +During all this time, as I have said, my intimacy with mademoiselle +advanced but slowly, and certainly showed slight prospect of verifying +the prophecy of Duchesne at parting. Her manner had, indeed, lost its +cold and haughty tone; but in lieu of it there was a flippant, half +impertinent, _moqueur_ spirit, which, however easily turned to advantage +by a man of the world like the chevalier, was terribly disconcerting to +a less forward and less enterprising person like myself. Dobretski still +continued an invalid; and although she never mentioned his name nor +alluded to him in any instance, I could see that she suspected I knew +something more of his illness and the cause of it than I had ever +confessed. It matters little what the subject of it be, let a secret +once exist between a young man and a young woman,--let there be the +tacit understanding that they mutually know of something of which others +are in ignorance,--and from that moment a species of intelligence is +established between them of the most dangerous kind. They may not be +disposed to like each other; there may be attachments elsewhere; there +may be a hundred reasons why love should not enter into the case; yet +will there be a conscious sense of this hidden link which binds them; +strangely at variance with their ordinary regard for each other, +eternally mingling in all their intercourse, and suggesting modes +of acting and thinking at variance with the true tenor of the +acquaintanceship. + +Such, then, was my position at the Hotel Clichy, at which I was almost +daily a visitor or a guest, in the morning, to hear the chit-chat of the +day,--the changes talked of in the administration, the intended plans of +the Emperor, or the last modes in dress introduced by the Empress, whose +taste in costume and extravagant habits were much more popular with the +tradespeople than with Napoleon. + +An illness of a few days' duration had confined me to the Luxembourg, +and unhappily deprived me of the Court ball, for which I had received +my invitation several weeks before. It seemed as if my fate forbade any +chance of my ever seeing her once more whose presence in Paris was the +great hope I held out to myself when coming. Already a rumor was afloat +that several officers had received orders to join their regiments; and +now I began to fear lest I should leave the capital without meeting her, +and was thinking of some plan by which I could attain that object, when +a note arrived from Mademoiselle de Lacostellerie, written with more +than her usual cordiality, and inviting me to dinner on the following +day with a very small party, but when I should meet one of my oldest +friends. + +I thought of every one in turn who could be meant under the designation, +but without ever satisfying my mind that I had hit upon the right one. +Tascher it could not be, for the very last accounts I had seen from +Germany spoke of him as with his regiment. My curiosity was sufficiently +excited to make me accept the invitation; and, true to time, I found +myself at the Hotel Clichy at the hour appointed. + +On entering the _salon_, I discovered that I was alone. None of the +guests had as yet arrived, nor had the ladies of the house made their +appearance; and I lounged about the splendid drawing-room, where every +appliance of luxury was multiplied: pictures, vases, statues, and +bronzes abounded,--for the apartment had all the ample proportions of +a gallery,--battle scenes from the great "vents of the Italian and +Egyptian campaigns; busts of celebrated generals and portraits of +several of the marshals, from the pencils of Gerard and David. But +more than all was I struck by one picture: it was a likeness of Pauline +herself, in the costume of a Spanish peasant. Never had artist caught +more of the character of his subject than in that brilliant sketch,--for +it was no more. The proud tone of the expression; the large, full eye, +beaming a bright defiance; the haughty curl of the lip; the determined +air of the figure, as she stood one foot in advance, and the arms +hanging easily on either side,--all conveyed an impression of high +resolve and proud determination quite her own. + +I was leaning over the back of a chair, my eye steadfastly fixed on the +painting, when I heard a slight rustling of a dress near me. I turned +about: it was mademoiselle herself. Although the light of the apartment +was tempered by the closed jalousies, and scarcely more than a mere +twilight admitted, I could perceive that she colored and seemed confused +as she said,-- + +"I hope you don't think that picture is a likeness?" + +"And yet," said I, hesitatingly, "there is much that reminds me of you; +I mean, I can discover--" + +"Say it frankly, sir; you think that saucy look is not from mere fancy. +I deemed you a closer observer; but no matter. You have been ill; I +trust you are recovered again." + +"Oh, a mere passing indisposition, which unfortunately came at the +moment of the Court ball. You were there, of course?" + +"Yes; it was there we had the pleasure to meet your friend, the general: +but perhaps this is indiscreet on my part; I believe, indeed, I promised +to say nothing of him." + +"The general! Do you mean General d'Auvergne?" + +"That much I will answer you,--I do not. But ask me no more questions. +Your patience will not be submitted to a long trial; he dines with us +to-day." + +I made no reply, but began to ponder over in my mind who the general in +question could be. + +"There! pray do not worry yourself about what a few moments will reveal +for you, without any guessing. How strange it is, the intense feeling of +curiosity people are afflicted with who themselves have secrets." + +"But I have none, Mademoiselle; at least, none worth the telling." + +"Perhaps," replied she, saucily. "But here come our guests." + +Several persons entered the _salon_ at this moment, with each of whom I +was slightly acquainted; they were either members of the Government +or generals on the staff. The countess herself soon after made her +appearance; and now we only waited for the individual so distinctively +termed "my friend" to complete the party. + +"Pauline has kept our secret, I hope," said the countess to me. "I shall +be sadly disappointed if anything mars this surprise." + +"Who can it be?" thought I. "Or is the whole thing some piece of +badinage got up at my expense?" + +Scarcely had the notion struck me, when a servant flung wide the +folding-doors, and announced "le General" somebody, but so mumbled was +the word, the nearest thing I could make of it was "Bulletin." This +time, however, my curiosity suffered no long delay; for quickly after +the announcement a portly personage in an English uniform entered +hastily, and approaching madame, kissed her hand with a most gallant +air; then turning to mademoiselle, he performed a similar ceremony. All +this time my eyes were riveted upon him, without my being able to make +the most remote guess as to who he was. + +"Must I introduce you, gentlemen?" said the countess: "Captain Burke." + +"Eh, what! my old friend, my boy Tom! This you, with all that mustache? +Delighted to see you," cried the large unknown, grasping me by the +hands, and shaking them with a cordiality I had not known for many a +year. + +"Really, sir," said I, "I am but too happy to be recognized; but a most +unfortunate memory--" + +"Memory, lad! I never forgot anything in life. I remember the doctor +shaking the snow off his boots the night I was born; a devilish cold +December. We lived at Benhungeramud, in the Himalaya." + +"What!" cried I; "is this Captain Bubbleton, my old and kind friend?" + +"General, Tom,--Lieutenant-General Bubbleton, with your leave," said he, +correcting me. "How the boy has grown! I remember him when he was scarce +so high." + +"But, my dear captain--" + +"General, lieutenant-general--" + +"Well, Lieutenant-General,--to what happy chance do we owe the pleasure +of seeing you here?" + +"War, boy,--the old story. But we shall have time enough to talk over +these things; and I see we are detaining the countess." + +So saying, the general gave his arm to madame, and led the way +towards the dinner; whither we followed,--I in a state of surprise +and astonishment that left me unable to collect my faculties for a +considerable time after. + +Although the party, with the exception of Bubbleton, were French, +he himself, as was his wont, supported nearly the whole of the +conversation; and if his French was none of the most accurate, he amply +made up in volubility for all accidents of grammar. It appeared that he +had been three years at Verdun, a prisoner; though how he came there, +whence, and at what exact period, there was no discovering. And now +his arrival at Paris was an event equally shrouded in mystery, for no +negotiations had been opened for his exchange whatsoever; but he had +had the eloquence to persuade the prefet that the omission was a mere +accident,--some blunder of the War-Office people, which he would rectify +on his arrival at Paris. And there he was, though with what prospect +of reaching England none but one of his inventive genius could possibly +guess. He was brimful of politics, ministerial secrets, state news, and +Government intentions, not only as regarded England, but Austria and +Russia: and communicated in deep confidence a grand scheme by which the +Fox ministry were to immortalize themselves,--which was by giving up +Malta to the Bourbons, Louis the Eighteenth to be king, Goza to be a +kind of dependency to be governed by a lieutenant-general whom "he would +not name;" finishing his glass with an ominous look as he spoke. +Thence he wandered on to his repugnance to state, and dislike to any +government, function,--illustrating his quiet tastes and simple habits +by recounting a career of Oriental luxury in which he described himself +as living for years past; every word he spoke, whatever the impression +on others, bringing me back most forcibly to my boyish days in the old +barrack, where first I met him. Years had but cultivated his talents; +his visions were bolder and more daring than ever; while he had +chastened down his hurried and excited tone of narrative to a quiet flow +of unexaggerated description, which, taking his age and appearance into +account, it was difficult to discredit. + +Whether the Frenchmen really gave credit to his revelations, or only +from politeness affected to do it at first, I cannot say, but assuredly +he put all their courtesy to a rude test by a little anecdote before he +left the dinner-room. + +While speaking of the memorable siege of Valenciennes in '93, at which +one of the French officers was present and in a high command, Bubbleton +at once launched forth into some very singular anecdotes of the +campaign, where, as he alleged, he also had served. + +"We took an officer of one of your infantry regiments prisoner in a +sortie one evening," said the Frenchman. "I commanded the party, and +shall never forget the daring intrepidity of his escape. He leaped from +the wall into the fosse, a height of thirty feet and upwards. _Parbleu!_ +we had not the heart to fire after him, though we saw that after the +shock he crawled out upon his hands and feet, and soon afterwards gained +strength enough to run. He gave me his pocket-book with his name; I +shall not forget it readily,--it was Stopford." + +"Ah, poor Billy! He was my junior lieutenant," said Bubbleton; "an +active fellow, but he never could jump with me. Confound him! he has +left me a souvenir also, though a very different kind from yours,--a +cramp in the stomach I shall never get rid of." + +As this seemed a somewhat curious legacy from one brother officer to +another, we could not help calling on the general for an explanation,--a +demand Bubbleton never refused to gratify. + +"It happened in this wise," said he, pushing back his chair as he spoke, +and seating himself with the easy attitude of your true story-teller. +"The night before the assault--the 24th of July, if my memory serves +me right--the sappers were pushing forward the mines with all despatch. +Three immense globes were in readiness beneath the walls, and some minor +details were only necessary to complete the preparations. The stormers +consisted of four British and three German regiments,--my own, the Welsh +Fusiliers, being one of the former. We occupied the lines stretching +from L'Herault to Damies." + +The French officer nodded assent, and Bubbleton resumed. + +"The Fusiliers were on the right, and divided into two parties,--an +assaulting column and a supporting one; the advanced companies at half +cannon-shot from the walls, the others a little farther off. Thus we +were, when, about half-past ten, or it might be even eleven o'clock (we +were drinking some mulled claret in my quarters), a low, swooping +kind of a noise came stealing along the ground. We listened,--it grew +stronger and stronger; and then we could hear musket-shot and shouting, +and the tramp of men as if running. Out we went; and, by Jove! there +we saw the first battalion in full retreat towards the camp. It was a +sortie in force from the garrison, which drove in our advanced posts, +and took several prisoners. The drums now soon beat to quarters; the +men fell in rapidly, and we advanced to meet them,--no pleasant affair, +either, let me remark, for the night was pitch dark, and we could not +even guess the strength of your force. It was just then that I was +running with all my speed to come up with the flank companies, that my +cover-sergeant, a cool, old Scotch fellow, shouted out,-- + +"'Take care, sir! Stoop there, sir! stoop there!' + +"But the advice came too late. I could just discern through the gloom +something black, hopping and bounding along towards me; now striking the +ground, and then rebounding again several feet in the air. + +"'Stoop, sir! down!' cried he. + +"But before I could throw myself flat, plump it took me here. Over I +went, breathless, and deeming all was finished; but, miraculous to say, +in a few minutes after I found myself coming to, and except the shock, +nothing the worse for the injury. + +"'Was that a shell, Sergeant?' said I; 'a spent shell?' + +"'Na, sir,' said he, in his own broad way, 'it was naething o' the kind; +it was only Lieutenant Stopford's head that was snapped aff up there.'" + +"His head!" exclaimed we all of a breath,--"his head!" + +"Yes, poor fellow, so it was; a damned hard kind of a bullet-head, too! +The blow has left a weakness of the stomach I suppose I shall never +recover from; and the occurrence being so singular, I have actually +never asked for a pension,--there are people, by Jove! would throw +discredit on it." + +This latter observation seemed so perfectly to sum up our own thoughts +on the matter that we really had nothing to remark on it; and after a +silence of a few seconds, politely relieved by the countess hinting at +coffee in the drawing-room, we arose and followed her. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. THE RUE DES CAPUCINES + +Before I parted with Bubbleton that evening be promised to breakfast +with me on the following morning; and true to his word, entered my +quarters soon after ten o'clock. I longed to have an opportunity of +talking to him alone, and learning some intelligence of that country, +which, young as I had left it, was still hallowed in memory as my own. + +"Eh, by Jupiter! this is something like a quarter,--gilded mouldings, +frescos, silk hangings, and Persian rugs. I say, Tom, are you sure you +haven't made a mistake, my boy, and just imagined that you were somebody +else,--Murat or Bernadotte, for example? The thing is far easier than +you may think; it happened to me before now." + +"Be tranquil on that score," said I, "we are both at home; though +these quarters are, as you remark, far beyond the mark of a captain of +hussars." + +"A captain! Why, hang it, you're not captain already?" + +"Yes, to be sure. What signifies it? Only think of your own rapid rise +since we parted; you were but a captain then, and to be now a +lieutenant-general!" + +"Ah, true, very true," said he, hurriedly, while he bustled about the +room, examining the furniture, and inspecting the decorations most +narrowly. "Capital service this must be," muttered he, between his +teeth; "not much pay, I fancy, but a deal of plunder and private +robbery." + +"I cannot say much on that head," said I, laughing outright at what +he intended for a soliloquy; "but I must confess I have no reason to +complain of my lot." + +"Egad! I should think not," rejoined he; "better than Old George's +Street. Well, well, I wish I were but back there,--that's all." + +"Come, sit down to your breakfast; and perhaps when we talk it over some +plan may present itself for your exchange." + +How thoroughly had I forgotten my friend when I uttered the sentiment; +for scarcely was he seated at table, when he launched out, as of old, +into one of his visionary harangues,--throwing forth dark hints of his +own political importance, and the keen watch the Emperor had set upon +his movements. + +"No, my friend, the thing is impossible," said he, ominously. "Nap. +knows me; he knows my influence with the Tories. To let me escape would +be to blow all his schemes to the winds. I am destined for the 'Temple,' +if not for the guillotine." + +The solemnity of his voice and manner at this moment was too much for +me, and I laughed outright. + +"Ay, you may laugh; so does Anna Maria." + +"And is Miss Bubbleton here, too?" + +"Yes; we are both here," ejaculated he, with a deep sigh. "Rue Neuve +des Capucines, No. 46, four flights above the entresol! Ay, and in +that entresol they have two spies of Fouche's police; I know them well, +though they pretend to be hairdressers. I'm too much for old Fouche yet; +depend upon it, Tom." + +It was in vain I endeavored to ascertain what circumstances led him +to believe himself suspected by the Government; neither was I more +fortunate in discovering how he first became a _detenu_. The mist of +imaginary events, places, and people which he had conjured up around +him, prevented his ever being able to see his way, or know clearly any +one fact connected with his present position. Dark hints about spies, +suspicious innuendoes of concealed enemies, plotting prefets and opened +letters, had actually filled his brain to the exclusion of everything +rational and reasonable, and I began seriously to fear for my poor +friend's intellect. + +Hoping by a change of topic to induce a more equable tone of thinking, I +asked about Ireland. + +"All right there! they've hanged 'em all," said he. Then, as if suddenly +remembering himself, he added, with a slight confusion, "You were well +out of that scrape, Tom. Your old friend Barton had a warrant for you +the morning you left, and there was a reward of five hundred pounds for +your apprehension; and something, too, for a confounded old piper,--old +Blast-the-Bellows, I think they called him." + +"Darby! What of him, Bubbleton? they did not take him, I trust?" + +"No, by Jove! They hanged two fellows, each of whom they believed to +be him, and he was in the crowd looking on, they say. But he's at large +still; and the report goes, Barton does not stir out at night for fear +of meeting him, as the fellow has an old score to settle with him." + +"And so, all hopes of liberty would seem extinguished now," said I, +gloomily. + +"That is as you may take it, Tom. I'm a bad judge of these things; but I +fancy that a man who can live here might contrive to eke out life under +a British Government; though he might yearn now and then for a secret +police, a cabinet noir, or perhaps a tight cravat in the Temple." + +"Hush! my friend." + +"Ay, there it is! Now, if we were in Dame Street, we might abuse the +ministers and the army and the Lord-Lieutenant to our heart's content; +and if Jemmy O'Brien was n't one of the company, I 'd not mind a hit at +Barton himself." + +"But does England still maintain her proud tone of ascendency towards +Ireland? Is the Saxon the hereditary lord, and the Celt the slave, +still?" + +"There again you puzzle me; for I never saw much of this same +ascendency, or slavery either. Loyal people, some way or other, were +usually in favor with the Government, and had what many thought a most +unjust proportion of the good things to their share. But even the +others got off in most cases easily too; a devilish deal better than you +treated those luckless Austrians the other day. You killed some thirty +thousand, and made bankrupts of the rest of the nation. But then, to be +sure, it was the cause of liberty you were fighting for. And as for the +Italians--" + +"Yes! but you forget these were wars not of our seeking; the treachery +of false-hearted allies led to these sad results." + +"I suppose so. But certain it is, nations, like individuals, that have a +taste for fighting, usually have the good luck to find an adversary; and +as your Emperor here seems to have learned the Donnybrook Fair trick of +trailing his coat after him, it would be strange enough if nobody would +gratify him by standing on it." + +Without being able to say why, I felt piqued and annoyed at the tone of +Bubbleton's remarks, which, coming from one of his narrow intelligence +on ordinary topics, worried me only the more. I had long since seen that +the liberty with which in boyhood I was infatuated had no existence save +in the dreams of ardent patriotism; that the great and the mighty felt +ambition a goal, and power a birthright; that the watchwords of freedom +were inscribed on banners when the sentiments had died out of men's +hearts, while as a passion the more dazzling one of glory made every +other pale before it; and that the calm head and moderate judgment could +scarce survive contact with the intoxicating triumphs of a nation's +successes. + +Such was, indeed, the real change Napoleon had wrought in France. Their +enthusiasm could not rest content with national liberty; glory alone +could satisfy a nation drunk with victory. Against the stern followers +of the Republican era--the soldiers of the Sambre and Meuse, the men +of Jemmappes--he had arrayed the ardent, high-spirited youth of the +Consulate and the Empire, the heroes of Areola, of Rivoli, of Cairo, and +Austerlitz. How vain to discuss questions of social order or national +freedom with the cordoned and glittering bands who saw monarchy and +kingdoms among the prizes of their ambition! And even I, who had few +ambitious hopes, how the ardor that once stimulated me and led me to the +soldier's life,--how had it given way to the mere conventional aspirings +of a class! The grade of colonel was far oftener in my thoughts than the +cause of freedom; the cross of the Legion would have reconciled me to +much that in my calmer judgment I might deem harsh and tyrannical. + +"Believe me, Tom," said Bubbleton, who saw in my silence that his +observations had their weight with me, "believe me, my philosophy is the +true one,--never to meddle where you cannot serve yourself or some +of your friends. The world will always consist of two parties,--one +governing, the other governed. We belong to the latter category, and +shall only get into a scrape by poking our heads where they have no +business to be." + +"Why, a few moments since you were full of state secrets, and plots, and +secret treaties, and Heaven knows what besides!" + +"To be sure I was. And for whose interest, man,--for whose sake? George +Frederick Augustus Bubbleton's. Ay, no doubt of it. Here am I, a +_detenu_,--and have been these two years and a half--wasting away +existence at Verdun, while my property is going to the devil from sheer +neglect. My West India estates, who can say how I shall find them? my +Calcutta property, the same; then there's that fee-simple thing in +Norfolk. But I can't even think of it. Well, I verily believe no single +step has been taken for my release or exchange. The Whigs, you know, +will do nothing for me. I may tell you in confidence,"--here he dropped +his voice to a low whisper,--"I may tell you, Charles Fox hates me. But +more of this another time. What was I to do in all this mess of trouble +and misfortune? Stand still and bear it? No, faith; that's not Bubbleton +policy. You 'd never guess what I did." + +"I fear not." + +"Well, it chanced that some little literary labors of mine--you know I +dally sometimes with the muse--became known to the prefet at Verdun. +I saw that they watched me; and consequently I made great efforts at +secrecy, concealing my papers in the chimney, under the floor, sewing +them in the linings of my coat, and so on. The bait took: they made +a regular search, seizing my manuscripts, put great seals on all +the packages, and sent them up to Paris. The day after, I made +submission,--offered to reveal all to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. +And accordingly they sent me up here with an escort. What would have +come next I cannot tell you, if Anna Maria had not found out Lord +Lauderdale, and trumped up some story to him, so that he interfered. And +we are now living at the Rue Neuve des Capucines; but how long we shall +be there, and where they may send us next, I wish I could only guess." + +A few minutes' consideration satisfied me that the police were concerned +in Bubbleton's movements, and, knowing at once that no danger was to +be apprehended from such a source, were merely holding him up for some +occasion when they could make use of him to found some charge against +the British Government,--a manoeuvre constantly employed, and always +successful with the Parisians, wherever an explanation became necessary +in the public papers. + +It would have served no purpose to impart these suspicions of mine to +Bubbleton himself; on the contrary, he would inevitably have destroyed +all clew to their confirmation by some false move, had I done so. With +this impression, then, I resolved to wait patiently, watch events, and +when the time came, see what best could be done towards effecting his +liberation. + +As I was disposed to place more reliance on Miss Bubbleton's statements +than those of her imaginative brother, I agreed to his proposal to pay +her a visit; and accordingly we set out together for the Rue Neuve des +Capucines. + +Lieutenant-General Bubbleton's quarters were by no means of that +imposing character which befitted his rank in the British army. +Traversing a dirty courtyard strewed with firewood, we entered a little +gloomy passage, from which a still gloomier stair ascended to the +topmost regions of the house, where, unlocking a door, he pushed me +before him into a small, meanly-furnished apartment, the centre of which +was occupied by a little iron stove, whose funnel pierced the ceiling +above, and gave the chamber somewhat the air of a ship's cabin. +Bubbleton, however, either did not or would not perceive any want of +comfort or propriety in the whole; on the contrary, he strode the floor +with the step of an emperor, and placed the chair for me to sit on as +though he were about to seat me on a throne. While exchanging his coat +for a most ragged dressing-gown, he threw himself on an old sofa with +such energy of ease that the venerable article of furniture creaked and +groaned in every joint. + +"She's out," said he, with a toss of his thumb to a half-open door; +"gone to take a stroll in the Tuileries for half an hour, so that we +shall have a little chat before she comes. And now, what will ye take? A +little sherry and water? a glass of maraschino, eh? or what say you to a +nip of real Nantz?" + +"Nothing, my dear friend; you forget the hour, not to speak of my French +education." + +"Oh, very true," said he. "When I was in the Forty-fifth--" When he had +uttered these words, he stopped suddenly, hesitated, and stammered, +and at last, fairly overcome with confusion, he unfolded a huge +pocket-handkerchief, and blew his nose with the sound of a cavalry +trumpet, while he resumed: "We had a habit in the old Forty-fifth--a +deuced bad one, I confess--of a mess breakfast, that began after parade +and always ran into luncheon--But hush! here she comes," cried he, +in evident delight at the interruption so opportunely arriving. Then, +springing up, he threw open the door, and called out, "I say, Anna +Maria, you 'll not guess who's here?" + +Either the ascent of the steep stair called for all the lady's spare +lungs, or the question had little interest for her, as she certainly +made no reply whatever, but continued to mount, step by step, with +that plodding, monosyllabic pace one falls into at the highest of six +flights. + +"No," cried he aloud, "no, you're wrong; it is not Lauderdale." Then, +turning towards me, with a finger to his nose, he added, with pantomimic +action, "She thinks you are Yarmouth. Wrong again, by Jove! What do you +say to Tom Burke,--Burke of 'Ours.' as I used to call him long ago?" + +By this time Miss Bubbleton had reached the door, and was holding the +handle to recover her breath after the fatigue of the ascent. Even in +that momentary glance, however, I recognized her. Nothing altered +by time, she was the same crabbed, crossgrained-looking personage I +remembered years before. She carried a little basket on her arm, of +which her brother hastened to relieve her, and showed no little concern +to remove out of sight. Being divested of this, she held out her hand, +and saluted me with more cordiality than I looked for. + +Scarcely had our greetings been exchanged, when Bubbleton broke in, "I +'ve told him everything, Anna Maria. He knows the whole affair; no use +in boring him with any more. I say, isn't he grown prodigiously? And a +captain already,--just think of that." + +"And so, sir, you've heard of the sad predicament his folly has brought +us into?" + +"Hush, hush, Anna Maria!" cried Bubbleton; "no nonsense, old girl. Burke +will put all to rights; he's aide-de-camp to Murat, and dines with him +every day,--eh, Tom?" + +"What if he be?" interrupted the lady, without permitting me time to +disclaim the honor. "How can he ever--" + +"I tell you, it's all arranged between us; and don't make a fuss about +nothing. You 'll only make bad worse, as you always do. Come, Tom; the +secret is, I shall be ruined if I don't get back to England soon. Heaven +knows who receives my dividends all this time. Then that confounded +tin mine! they 've mismanaged the thing so much I haven't received five +hundred pounds from Cornwall since this time twelve months." + +"That you haven't," said the lady, as with clasped hands and eyes fixed +she sat staring at the little stove with the stern stoicism of a martyr. + +"She knows that," said Bubbleton, with a nod, as if grateful for even so +much testimony in his favor. "And as for that scoundrel, Thistlethwait, +the West India agent, I've a notion he's broke; not a shilling from him +either." + +"Not sixpence," echoed the lady. + +"You hear that," cried he, overjoyed at the concurrence. "And the fact +is,--you will smile when I tell you, but upon my honor it's true,--I am +actually hard up for cash." + +The idea tickled him so much, and seemed so ludicrous withal, that he +fell back on the sofa, and laughed till the tears ran down his face. Not +so Miss Bubbleton: her grim face grew more fixed, every feature hardened +as if becoming stone, while gradually a sneer curled her thin lip; but +she never spoke a word. + +"I'll not speak of the annoyance of being out of England, nor the loss +of influence a man sustains after a long absence," said Bubbleton, as he +paced the room with his hands deep thrust in his dressing-gown pockets. +"These are things one can feel; and as for me, they weigh more on my +mind than mere money considerations." + +"But, General," said I-- + +"General!" echoed the lady with a start round, and holding up both her +hands,--"General! You have n't been such a fool,--it's not possible you +could be such a fool--" + +"Will you please to be quiet, old damsel?" said Bubbleton, with more of +harshness than he had yet used in his manner. "Can you persuade yourself +to mind your own household concerns, and leave George Frederick Augustus +Bubbleton to manage his own matters as he deems best?" + +Here he turned short round towards me, and throwing up his eyebrows to +their full height, he touched his forehead knowingly with the tip of his +forefinger, and uttered the words,-- + +"You understand! Poor thing!" concluding the pantomime with a deep sigh +from the bottom of his chest, while he added something in a low whisper +about "a fall from an elephant when she was a child!" + +"Mr. Burke, will you listen to me?" said the lady, with an energy +of voice and manner there was no gainsaying--"listen to me for five +minutes; and probably, short as the time is, I may be able to put you in +possession of a few plain facts concerning our position, and if you have +the inclination and the power to serve us, you may then know how best it +can be done." + +Bubbleton made me a sign to gratify her desire of loquaciousness, while +with a most expressive shrug he intimated that I should probably hear a +very incoherent statement. This done, he lighted his meerschaum, wrapped +his ragged _robe de chambre_ around him, and lay down full length on +the sofa, with the air of a man who had fortified himself to undergo any +sacrifices that might be demanded at his hands; taking care the while to +assume his position in such a manner that he could exchange glances with +me without his being observed by his sister. + +"We came over, Mr. Burke, only a few months before the war broke out, +and like the rest of our countrymen and women were made _detenus_. This +was bad enough; but my wise brother made it far worse, for instead of +giving his name, with his real rank and position, he would call himself +a lieutenant-general, affect to have immense wealth and great political +influence. The consequence was, when others were exchanged and sent +home, his name not being discoverable in any English list, was passed +over; while his assumed fortune involved us in every expense and +extravagance, and his mock importance made us the object of the secret +police, who never ceased to watch and spy after us." + +"Capital! excellent! by Jove!" cried Bubbleton, as he rolled forth a +long curl of blue smoke from the angle of his mouth; "she 's admirable!" + +"I ought to have told you before," said the lady, not paying the least +attention to his interruption, "that he was obliged to sell out of +the Forty-fifth; a certain Mr. Montague Crofts, whom you may remember, +having won every shilling he possessed, even to the sale of his +commission. This was the cause of our coming abroad; so that at the very +moment that he was giving himself these airs of pretended greatness, we +were ruined." + +"Upon my life, she believes all that," whispered Bubbleton, with a wink +at me. "Poor old thing! I must get Larrey to look at her." + +"Happily, or unhappily--who shall say which?--there was a greater fool +even than himself in the village; and he was the _maire_. This +wise functionary became alarmed at the piles of papers and rolls of +manuscripts that were seen about our rooms, and equally suspicious about +the dark hints and mysterious innuendoes he threw out from time to time. +The prefet was informed of it; and the result was, an order for our +removal to Paris. Here, then, we are; with what destiny before us who +shall tell? For, as he still persists in his atrocious nonsense, and +calls himself major-general--" + +"Lieutenant-general, my dear," said Bubbleton, mildly; "I never was +major-general." + +"Is it not too bad?" said she. "Could any patience endure this?" + +"Don't be violent; take care, Anna Maria," said he, rebukingly. "Potts +said I should use restraint again, if you showed any return of the +paroxysm. That's the way she takes it," said he in a low whisper, +"with a blinking about the eyes and a pattering of the feet. Bathe your +temples, dear, and you'll be better presently." + +Anna Maria sat still, not uttering a word, and actually fearing by a +gesture to encourage a commentary on her manner. + +"Sometimes she 'll mope for hours," muttered he in my ear; "at others, +she's furious,--there's no saying how it will turn. You wouldn't like a +pipe? I forgot to ask you." + +"And worse than all, sir," said the lady, as if no longer able to +restrain her temper, "he is supposed to be a spy of the police. I heard +it myself this morning." + +"Eh, what!" exclaimed Bubbleton, jumping up in an ecstasy of delight. "A +spy! By Jove! I knew it. Lord! what fellows they are, these French! not +two days here yet, and they discovered I was no common man,--eh, +Burke? Maybe I haven't frightened them, my boy. It's not every one would +create such a sensation, let me tell you; I knew I'd do it." + +Miss Bubbleton looked at him for an instant with a sneer of the most +withering contempt, and then rising abruptly, left the room. But the +general little cared for such evidences of her censure; he danced about +the room, snapping his fingers, and chuckling with self-satisfaction, +the thought of being believed to be a police spy giving him the most +intense and heartfelt pleasure. + +"She has moments, Tom, when she's downright clear; you 'd not think it, +but sometimes she's actually shrewd. You saw how she hit upon that." + +"Would that her brother was favored with some of these lucid intervals!" +was the thought that ran through my head at the moment; for I knew +better than he did how needful a clearer brain and sharper faculties +than his would be to escape the snares his folly and vanity were +spreading around him. + +"Shall we make a morning call at our friend the countess's, +Tom?" said Bubbleton. "She told me she received every day about this +hour." + +I felt nowise disposed for the visit; and so, having engaged my friend +to dine with me at the Luxembourg the next day, we parted. + +As I sauntered homewards, I was surprised how difficult I found it to +disabuse my mind of the absurd insinuations Bubbleton had thrown out +against his sister's sanity; for, though well knowing his fondness for +romance, and his taste for embellishment on every occasion, I. yet could +not get rid of the impression that her oddity of manner might only be +another feature of eccentricity, just as extravagant, but differing in +its tendencies, as his own. + +To assist him whose kindness to myself of old I never ceased to remember +with gratitude, was my firm resolve; but to ascertain his exact position +was all-essential for this purpose, and I could not help saying, half +aloud, "If I had but Duchesne here now!" + +"Speak of the devil, _mon ami!_" said he, drawing his arm within mine, +while I was scarcely able to avoid a cry of astonishment. "Where do you +dine to-day, Burke?" said he, in his quiet, easy tone. + +"But where did you come from, Duchesne? Are you long here?" + +"Answer my question first. Can you dine with me?" + +"To be sure; with pleasure." + +"Then meet me at the corner of the Rue des Trois Tetes, at six o'clock, +and I 'll be your guide afterwards. This is _my_ way now. _Au revoir_." + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. THE MOISSON d'OR + +When I arrived at the rendezvous, I found Duchesne already awaiting me +with a carriage, into which we stepped, and drove rapidly away. + +"A man of your word, Burke; and, what is scarcely less valuable in the +times we live in, a man of prudence too." + +"As how the latter, may I ask?" + +"You have not come in uniform, which is all the better where we are +going; besides, it gives me the hope of presenting you to my respected +aunt, the Duchesse de Montserrat, who will take your black coat as a +compliment to the whole Bourbon dynasty. You must come with me there, if +it only be for half an hour. And now tell me, have you ever dined at the +'Moisson d'Or'?" + +"Never; not even heard of the house." + +"Well, then, you shall to-day. And meanwhile I may tell you, that +although in a remote and little-visited quarter of Paris, it stands +unrivalled for the excellence of its fare and the rare delicacy of its +wines,--a reputation not of yesterday, but of some years' standing. +Nor is that the only thing remarkable about it, as I shall explain +hereafter. But come! How are your friends at the Hotel Clichy? and how +fares your suit with mademoiselle?" + +"My suit? It never was such. You know, to the full as well as I do, my +pretensions aspired not half so high." + +"So much the better, and so much the worse. I mean the former for me, +as I hate to have a friend for a rival; the latter for you, who ought to +have learned by this time that a handsome girl and a million of +francs are more easily won than a cross of the Legion or a colonel's +epaulette." + +"And are you serious, Duchesne? Have you really intentions in that +quarter?" + +"_Morbleu!_ to be sure I have. It is for that I am here in Paris in +the dog days; travelled one hundred and twenty leagues; ay, and +more, too,--have brought with me my most aristocratic aunt, who never +remembers in her life to have seen full-grown leaves in the Tuileries +gardens. I knew what an ally she would be in the negotiation; and so I +managed, through some friends in the bureau of the minister, to give her +a rare fright about an estate of hers, which by some accident escaped +confiscation in the Revolution, and which nothing but the greatest +efforts on her part could now rescue from the fangs of the crown. You +may be sure she is not particularly in love with the present Government +on this score; but the trick secures her speaking more guardedly than +she has the habit of doing, besides inducing her to make acquaintances +nothing but such a threat would accomplish." + +"You intend, then, she should know Madame de Lacostellerie?" + +"Of course. I have already persuaded her that the Hotel Clichy is the +pivot of all Paris, and that nothing but consummate tact and management +on her part will succeed there." + +"But I scarcely thought you cared for mademoiselle; and never dreamed of +your proposing to marry her." + +"Nor I, till about a week ago. However, my plans require money, and +would not be encumbered by my having a wife. I see nothing better at +the moment, and so my mind is soon made up. But here we are; this is our +resting-place." + +The "Moisson d'Or," although not known to me, was then the most +celebrated place for dining in Paris. The habits of the house--for there +was no _table d'hote_--required that everything should be ordered +beforehand, and the parties all dined separately. The expensive habits +and extravagant prices secured its frequenters from meeting the class +who usually dined at restaurants; and this gave it a vogue among the +wealthy and titled, whose equipages now thronged the street, and filled +the _porte cochere_. I had but time to recognize the face of one of the +marshals and a minister of state, as we pushed our way through the +court, and entered a small pavilion beyond it. + +"I'll join you in an instant," said Duchesne, as he left the room +hastily after the waiter. In a couple of minutes he was back again. +"Come along; it's all right," said he. "I wish to show you a corner of +the old house that only the privileged ever see, and we are fortunate in +finding it unoccupied." + +We recrossed the court, and mounted a large oak stair to a corridor, +which conducted us, by three sides of a quadrangle, to a smaller stair, +nearly perpendicular. At the top of this, a strong door, barred and +padlocked, stood, which, being opened, led into a large and lofty +_salon_, opening by three spacious windows on a terrace that formed +the roof of the building. Some citron and orange trees were disposed +tastefully along this, and filled the room with their fragrance. + +"Here, Antoine; let us be served here," said Duchesne to the waiter; +"I have already given orders about the dinner. And now, Burke, come out +here. What think you of that view?" + +Scarcely had I set foot on the terrace, when I started back in mingled +admiration and amazement. Beneath us lay the great city, in the mellow +light of an evening in September. Close--so close as actually to +startle--was the large dome of the Invalides shining like a ball of +molten gold, the great courtyard in front dotted with figures; beyond, +again, was the Seine, the surface flashing and flickering in the +sunlight,--I traced it along to the Pont Neuf; and then my eye rested on +Notre-Dame, whose tall, dark towers stood out against the pinkish sky, +while the deep-toned bell boomed through the still air. I turned towards +the Tuileries, and could see the guard of honor in waiting for +the Emperor's appearing. In the gardens, hundreds were passing and +repassing, or standing around the band which played in front of the +pavilion. A tide of population poured across the bridges and down the +streets, along which equipages and horsemen dashed impetuously onward. +There was all the life and stir of a mighty city, its sounds dulled +by distance, but blended into one hoarse din, like the far-off sea at +night. + +"You don't know, Burke, that this was a favorite resort of the courtiers +of the last reign. The gay young Gardes du Corps, the gallant youths of +the royal household, constantly dined here. The terrace we now stand on +once held a party who came at the invitation of no less a personage than +him whom men call Louis the Eighteenth. It was a freak of the time to +pronounce the Court dinners execrable: and they even go so far as to +say that Marie Antoinette herself once planned a party here; but this I +cannot vouch for." + +At this moment Duchesne was interrupted by the entrance of the waiters +who came to serve the dinner. I had not a moment left to admire the +beauty and richness of the antique silver dishes which covered the +table, when a gentle tap at the door attracted my attention. + +"Ha! Jacotot himself!" said Duchesne, as, rising hastily, he advanced +to meet the new arrival. He was a tall, thin old man, much stooped by +years, but with an air and carriage distinctly well bred; his white +hair, brushed rigidly back, fastened into a queue behind, and his lace +"jabot" and ruffles, bespoke him as the remnant of a date long past. His +coat was blue, of a shade somewhat lighter than is usually worn. He also +wore large buckles in his shoes, whose brilliancy left no doubt of their +real value. Bowing with great ceremony, he advanced slowly into the +room. + +"You are come to dine with us,--is it not so, Jacotot?" said Duchesne, +as he still held his hand. + +"Excuse me, my dear chevalier; the Comte de Chambord and Edouard de +Courcelles are below,--I have promised to join them." + +"And is Courcelles here?" + +"Yes," said the old man, with a timid glance towards where I sat, and a +look as if imploring caution and reserve. + +"Oh, fear nothing. And that reminds me I have not presented my friend +and brother officer: Captain Burke,--Monsieur Jacotot. You may feel +assured, Jacotot, I make no mistake in the friends I introduce here." + +The old man gave a smile of pleasure; while, turning to me, he said,-- + +"He is discretion itself; and I am but too happy to make your +acquaintance. And now, Chevalier, one word with you." + +He retreated towards the door, holding Duchesne's arm, and whispering as +he went. Duchesne's face, however, expressed his impatience as he spoke; +and at last he said,-- + +"As you please, my worthy friend; I always submit to your wiser +counsels. So farewell for the present." + +He looked after the old man as he slowly descended the stairs, and then +closing the door and locking it, he exclaimed,-- + +"_Parbleu!_I found it very hard to listen to his prosing with even a +show of patience, and was half tempted to tell him that the Bourbons +could wait, though the soup could not." + +"Then Monsieur Jacotot is a Royalist, I presume?" + +"Ay, that he is; and so are all they who frequent this house. Don't +start; the police know it well, and no one is more amused at their +absurd plottings and conspirings than Fouche himself. Now and then, to +be sure, some fool, more rash and brainless than the others, will come +up from La Vendee and try to knock his head against the walls of the +Temple,--like De Courcelles there, who has no other business in Paris +except to be guillotined, if it were worth the trouble. Then the +minister affects to stir himself and be on the alert, just to terrify +them; but he well knows that danger lurks not in this quarter. Believe +me, Burke, the present rulers of France have no greater security than +in the contemptible character of all their opponents. There is no course +for a man of energy and courage to adopt. But I ask your pardon, my dear +friend, for this treasonable talk. What think you of the dinner? The +Royalists would never have fallen if they had understood government as +well as cuisine. Taste that _supreme_, and say if you don't regret the +Capets,--a feeling you can indulge the more freely because you never +knew them." + +"I cannot comprehend, Duchesne, what are the grievances you charge +against the present Government of France. Had you been an old courtier +of the last reign,--a hanger-on of Versailles or the Tuileries,--the +thing were intelligible; but you, a soldier, a man of daring and +enterprise--" + +"Let me interrupt you. I am so only because it is the taste of the day; +but I despise the parade of military glory we have got into the habit +of. I prefer the period when a _mot_ did as much and more than a +discharge of _mitraille_, and men's _esprit_ and talent succeeded better +than a strong sword-arm or a seat on horseback. There were gentlemen +in France once, my dear Burke. Ay, _parbleu!_ and ladies too,--not +marchionesses of the drum-head nor countesses of the bivouac, but women +in whom birth heightened beauty, whose loveliness had the added charm of +high descent beaming from their bright eyes and sitting throned on their +lofty brows; before whom our mustached marshals had stood trembling and +ashamed,--these men who lounge so much at ease in the _salons_ of the +Tuileries! Let me help you to this _salmi_; it is _a la Louis Quinze_, +and worthy of the Regency itself. Well, then, a glass of Burgundy." + +"Your friend Monsieur Jacotot seems somewhat of an original," said I, +half desirous to change a topic which I always felt an unpleasant one. + +"You are not wrong; he is so. Jacotot is a thorough Frenchman; at +least, he has had the fortune to mix up in his destiny those extremes of +elevated sentiment and absurdity which go very far to compose the life +of my good countrymen. I must tell you a short anecdote--But +shall we adjourn to the terrace? for, to prevent the interruption of +servants, I have ordered our dessert there." + +This was a most agreeable proposal; and so, having seated ourselves in +a little arbor of orange-shrubs, with a view of the river and the Palace +gardens beneath us, Duchesne thus began:-- + +"I am going somewhat far back in history; but have no fears on that +head, Burke,--my story is a very brief one. There was, once upon a time, +in France, a monarch of some repute, called Louis the Fourteenth; a man, +if fame be not unjust, who possessed the most kingly qualities of which +we have any record in books. He was brave, munificent, high-minded, +ardent, selfish, cruel, and ungrateful, beyond any other man in his own +dominions; and, like people with such gifts, he had the good fortune to +attach men to him just as firmly and devotedly as though he was not in +his heart devoid of every principle of friendship and affection. I need +not tell you what the ladies of his reign thought of him; my present +business is with the ruder sex. + +"Among the courtiers of the day was a certain Vicomte Arnoud de Gency, +a young man who, at the age of eighteen, won his grade of colonel at the +siege of Besancon by an act of coolness and courage worthy recording. He +deliberately advanced into one of the breaches, and made a sketch of the +interior works of the fortification while the enemy's shot was tearing +up the ground around him. When the deed was reported to the king, he +interrupted the relation, saying, 'Don't tell me who did this, for I +have made De Gency a colonel for it;' so rapidly did Louis guess the +author of so daring a feat. + +"From that hour, the young colonel's fortune was made. He was appointed +one of the gentlemen of the chamber to his Majesty, and distinguished by +almost daily marks of royal intimacy. His qualities eminently fitted him +for the tone of the society he lived in; he was a most witty converser, +a good musician, and had, moreover, a very handsome person,--gifts not +undervalued at Saint-Germain. + +"Such were his social qualities; and so thoroughly did he understand +the king's humor, that even La Valliere herself saw the necessity of +retaining him at the Court, and, in fact, made a confidant of him +on several occasions of difficulty. Still, with all these favors +of fortune, when the object of envy to almost all the rest of the +household, Arnoud de Gency was suffering in his heart one of the most +trying afflictions that can befall a proud man so placed; he was in +actual poverty,--in want so pressing that all the efforts he could +make, all the contrivances he could practise, were barely sufficient +to prevent his misery being public. The taste for splendor in dress and +equipage which characterized the period had greatly injured his private +fortune, while the habit of high play, which Louis encouraged and liked +to see about him, completed his ruin. The salary of his appointments was +merely enough to maintain his daily expenditure; and thus was he, with +a breaking heart, obliged not only to mix in all the reckless gayety and +frivolity of that voluptuous Court, but, still more, tax his talents and +his energies for new themes of pleasure, fresh sources of amusement. + +"Worn out at length by the long struggle between his secret sorrow and +his pride, he resolved to appeal to the king, and in a few words +tell his Majesty the straits to which he was reduced, and implore his +protection. To this he was impelled not solely on his own account, but +on that also of his only child, a boy of eight or nine years old, whose +mother died in giving him birth. + +"An occasion soon presented itself. The king had given orders for a +hunting-party at St. Cloud; and at an early hour of the morning De Gency +in his hunting-dress took up his position in one of the ante-chambers +through which the king must pass: not alone, however; at his side there +stood a lovely boy, also dressed in the costume of the chase. He wore +a velvet doublet of green, slashed with gold, and ornamented by a +broad belt, from which hung his _couteau de chasse_; even to the falcon +feather in his cap, nothing was forgotten. + +"He had not waited long when the folding-doors were thrown wide, and +a moment after Louis appeared, accompanied by a single attendant, +the Marquis de Verneuil, unhappily one of the very few enemies Arnoud +possessed in the world. + +"'Ah, De Gency! you here?' said the king, gayly. 'They told me "brelan" +had been unfavorable lately, and that we should not see you.' + +"'It is true, Sire,' said he, with a sad effort at a smile; 'it is only +on your Majesty fortune always smiles.' + +"'_Pardieu!_ you must not say so; I lost a rouleau last night. But whom +have we here?' + +"'My son; so please you, Sire, my only son, who desires, at an earlier +age than even his father did, to serve your Majesty.' + +[Illustration: 230] + +"'How like his mother!' said the king, pushing back the fair ringlets +from the boy's forehead, and gazing almost fondly on his handsome +features,--'how like her! She was a Courcelles?' + +"'She was, Sire,' said Arnoud, as the tears fell on his cheek and +coursed slowly along his face. + +"'And you want something for him?' said the king, resuming his wonted +tone, while he busied himself with his sword-knot; 'is it not so?' + +"'If I might dare to ask--' + +"'Assuredly you may. The thing is, what can we do? Eh, Verneuil, what +say you? He is but an infant.' + +"'True, Sire,' replied the marquis, with a look of respect, in which +the most subtle could not discover a trait of his sarcastic nature; 'but +there is a place vacant.' + +"'Ah, indeed,' said the king, quickly. 'What is it? He shall have it.' + +"'Monsieur Jacotot, your Majesty's head cook, stands in need of a +turnspit,' said he, in a low whisper, only audible to the king. + +"'A turnspit!' said the king. And scarcely was the word uttered when, +as if the irony was his own, he burst into a most immoderate fit of +laughter,--an emotion that seemed to increase as he endeavored to +repress it; when at the instant the _cor de chasse_, then heard +without, gave a new turn to his thoughts, and he hurried forward with +De Yerneuil, leaving De Gency and his son rooted to the spot,--indignant +passion in that heart which despair and sorrow had almost rendered +callous. + +"His Majesty was still laughing as he mounted his barb in the courtyard; +and the courtiers, like well-bred gentlemen, laughed as became them, +with that low, quiet laugh which is the meet chorus of a sovereign's +mirth, when suddenly two loud reports, so rapidly following on each +other as almost to seem one, startled the glittering cortege, and even +made the Arab courser of the king plunge madly in the air. + +"'_Par Saint Denis!_Messieurs,' said Louis, passionately, 'this +pleasantry of yours is ill thought of. Who has dared to do this?' + +"But none spoke. A terrified look around the circle was the only reply +to the king's question, when a page rushed forward, his dress spotted +and blood-stained, his face pale with horror,-- + +"'Your Majesty,--ah, Sire!' said he, kneeling. But sobs choked him, and +he could not utter more. + +"'What is this? Will no one tell?' cried the king, as a frown of dark +omen shadowed his angry features. + +"'Your Majesty has lost a brave, an honest, and a faithful follower, +Sire,' said Monsieur de Coulanges. 'Arnoud de Gency is no more.' + +"'Why, I saw him this instant,' said the king. 'He asked me some favor +for his boy.' + +"'True, Sire,' replied De Coulanges, mournfully. But he checked himself +in time, for already the well-known and dreaded expression of passion +had mounted to the king's face. + +"'Dismiss the _chasse_, gentlemen,' said he, in a low thick voice. 'And +do you, Monsieur de Verneuil, attend me.' + +"The cortege was soon scattered; and the Marquis de Verneuil followed +the king with an expression where fear and dread were not to be +mistaken. + +"Monsieur de Verneuil did indeed seem an altered man when he appeared +among his friends that evening. Whatever the king had said to him +assuredly had worked its due effect; for all his raillery was gone, and +even the veriest trifler of the party might have dared an encounter with +wits which then were subdued and broken. + +"Next morning, however, the sun shone out brilliantly. The king was +in high spirits; the game abounded; and his Majesty with his own hand +brought down eight pheasants. The Marquis de Verneuil could hit nothing; +for although the best marksman of the day, his hand shook and his sight +failed him, and the king won fifty louis from him before they reached +Saint-Germain. + +"Never was there a happier day nor followed by a pleasanter evening. +The king supped in Madame de la Valliere's apartment; the private band +played the most delicious airs during the repast; and when at length the +party retired to rest, not one bright dream was clouded by the memory of +Arnoud de Gency. + +"Here, now, were I merely recounting an anecdote, I should stop," +said the chevalier; "but must continue a little longer, though all the +romance of my story is over. The Marquis de Verneuil was a good hater: +even poor De Gency's fate did not move him, and he actually did do what +he had only threatened in mockery,--he sent the orphan child to be a +turnspit in the royal kitchen. Of course he changed his name,--the title +of an old and honored family would soon have betrayed the foul +deed,--and the boy was called Jacotot, after the _chef_ himself. The +king inquired no further on the subject; Arnoud's name recalled too +unpleasant a topic for the lips of a courtier ever to mention; and the +whole circumstance was soon entirely forgotten. + +"This same Jacotot was the grandfather of my old friend, whom you saw a +few minutes since. Fate, that seems to jest with men's destinies, made +them as successful at the fire of the kitchen as ever their ancestors +were at that of a battery; and Monsieur Jacotot, our present host, has +not his equal in Paris. Here for years the younger members of the royal +family used to sup; this room was their favorite apartment; and one +evening, when at a later sitting than usual the ruler of the feast was +carried beyond himself in the praise of an admirable plat, he sent for +Jacotot, and told him, whatever favor he should ask, he himself would +seek for him at the hands of the king. + +"This was the long-wished-for moment of the poor fellow's life. He drew +from his bosom the title-deeds of his ancient name and fortune, and +placed them in the prince's hand without uttering a word. + +"'What! and are you a De Gency?' said the prince. + +"'Alas! I shame to say it, I am.' + +"'Come, gentlemen,' said the gay young prince, 'a bumper to our worthy +friend, whom, with God's blessing, I shall see restored right soon to +his fitting rank and station. Yes, De Gency! my word upon it, the next +evening I sup here I shall bring with me his Majesty's own signature to +these title-deeds. Make place, gentlemen, and let him sit down!' + +"But poor Jacotot was too much excited by his feelings of joy and +gratitude, and he rushed from the room in a torrent of tears. + +"The evening the prince spoke of never came. Soon after that commenced +the troubles to the royal family; the dreadful events of Versailles; the +flight to Varennes; the 10th August,--a horrible catalogue I cannot bear +to trace. There, yonder, where now the groups are loitering, or sitting +around in happy knots, there died Louis the Sixteenth. The prince I +spoke of is an exile: they call him Louis the Eighteenth; but he is a +king without a kingdom. + +"But Jacotot lives on in hope. He has waded through all the terrors of +the Revolution; he has seen the guillotine erected almost before his +door and beheld his former friends led one by one to the slaughter. +Twice was he himself brought forth, and twice was his life spared by +some admirer of his cuisine. But perhaps all his trials were inferior +to the heart-burning with which he saw the places once occupied by the +blood of Saint Louis now occupied by the _canaille_ of the Revolution. +Marat and Robespierre frequented his house; and Barras seldom passed +a week without dining there. This, I verily believe, was a heavier +affliction than any of his personal sufferings; and I have often heard +him recount, with no feigned horror, the scenes which took place among +the _incroyables_, as they called themselves, whose orgies he contrasted +so unfavorably with the more polished excesses of his regal visitors. +Through all the anarchy of that fearful period; through the scarce less +sanguinary time of the Directory; through the long, dreary oppression of +the consulate; and now, in the more grinding tyranny of the Empire, he +hopes, ay, still hopes on, that the day will come when from the hands of +the king himself he shall receive his long-buried rank, and stand forth +a De Gency. Poor fellow! there is something noble and manly in the long +struggle with fortune,--in that long-sustained contest in which he would +never admit defeat. + +"Such are the followers of the Bourbons: their best traits, their +highest daring, their most long-suffering endurance, only elicited in +the pursuit of some paltry object of personal ambition. They have tasted +the cup of adversity, ay, drained it to the very dregs; they have seen +carnage and bloodshed such as no war ever surpassed: and all they +have learned by experience is, to wish for the long past days of +royal tyranny and frivolity back again; to see a glittering swarm +of debauchees fluttering around a sensualist king; and to watch the +famished faces of the multitude, without a thought that the tiger is +only waiting for his spring. As to a thought of true liberty, one single +high and noble aspiration after freedom, they never dreamed of it. + +"You see, my friend, I have no desire to win you over to the Bourbon +cause; neither, if I could, would I make you a Jacobin. But how is +this? Can it really be so late? Come, we have no time to lose: it is not +accounted good breeding to be late in a visit at the Faubourg." + + + +CHAPTER XIX. THE TWO SOIREES + +Duchesne's story had unfortunately driven all memory of Bubbleton out of +my head; and it was only as we entered the street where the Duchesse de +Montserrat lived that I remembered my friend, and thought of asking the +chevalier's advice about him. + +In a few words I explained so much of his character and situation as was +necessary, and was going on to express my fears lest a temperament so +unstable and uncertain should involve its possessor in much trouble, +when Duchesne interrupted me by saying,-- + +"Be of courage on that head. Your friend, if the man you describe him, +is the very person to baffle the police. They can see to any depth, if +the water be only clear; muddy it, and it matters little how shallow it +be. This Bubbleton might be of the greatest service just now; you must +present me to him, Burke." + +"Most willingly. But first promise that you will not involve my poor +friend in the snares of any plot. Heaven knows, his own faculties are +quite sufficient for his mystification." + +"Plot! snares!--why, what are you thinking of? But come, this is our +halting-place; and here we are, without my even having a moment to give +you any account of my good aunt." + +As he spoke he turned the handle of a large door, which led into a +gloomy _porte cochere_, dimly illuminated by a single old-fashioned +lantern. A fat, unwieldy-looking porter peeped at us from his den in the +conciergerie; and then, having announced our approach by ringing a bell, +he closed the shutter, and left us to find the way ourselves. + +Ascending the great spacious stair, the wall alongside which was covered +with family portraits,--grim-looking heroes in mail, or prim dames with +bouquets in their jewelled hands,--we reached a species of gallery, from +which several doors led off. Here a servant, dressed in deep black, was +standing to announce the visitors. + +As the servant preceded us along the corridor, I could not help feeling +the contrast of this gloomy mansion, where every footstep had its own +sad echo, with the gorgeous splendor of the Hotel Clichy. Here, all was +dark, cold, and dreary; there, everything was lightsome, cheerful, and +elegant. What an emblem, to my thinking, were they both of the dynasties +they represented! But the reflection was only made as one half of the +folding-door was thrown open,--the double-door was the prerogative of +the blood-royal,--and we were announced. + +The apartment--a large, sombre-looking one--was empty, however, and we +traversed this, and a second similar to it, our names being repeated as +before; when at length the low tones of voices indicated our approach to +the _salon_ where the visitors were assembled. + +Dimly lighted by a few lamps, far apart from each other, the apartment +as we entered seemed even larger than it really was. At one end, around +a huge antique fireplace, sat a group of ladies, whom in a glance I +recognized as of the class so distinctively called dowager. They were +seated in deep-cushioned fauteuils, and were mostly employed in some +embroidery work, which they laid down each time they spoke; and resumed, +less to prosecute the labor, than, as it were, from mere habit. + +With all the insinuating gracefulness of a well-bred Frenchman, Duchesne +approached the seat next the chimney, and respectfully kissed the hand +extended towards him. + +"Permit me, my dear aunt, to present a very intimate friend,--Captain +Burke," said he, as he led me forward. + +At the mention of the word "captain," I could perceive that every hand +dropped its embroidery-frame, while the group stared at me with no +feigned astonishment. But already the duchess had vouchsafed a very +polite speech, and motioned me to a seat beside her; while the chevalier +insinuated himself among the rest, evidently bent on relieving the stiff +and constrained reserve which pervaded the party. Not even his tact and +worldly cleverness was equal to the task. The conversation, if such +it could be called, was conducted almost in monosyllables,--some stray +question for an absent "marquise," or a muttered reply concerning a late +"countess," was the burden; not an allusion even being made to any topic +of the day, nor any phrase dropped which could show that the speakers +were aware of the year or the nation in which they lived and breathed. + +It was an inexpressible relief to me when gradually some three or four +other persons dropped in, some of them men, who, by their manner, seemed +favorites of the party. And soon after the entrance of the servant +with refreshments permitted a movement in the group, when I took the +opportunity to stand up and approach Duchesne, as he bent over a table, +listlessly turning over the leaves of a volume. + +"Just think of the contradictions of human nature, Burke," said he, in a +low whisper. "These are the receptions for which the new noblesse +would give half their wealth. These melancholy visits of worn-out +acquaintances, these sapless twigs of humanity, are the envy of +such houses as the Hotel Clichy; and to be admitted to these gloomy, +moth-eaten _salons_, is a greater honor than an invitation to the +Tuileries. So long as this exists, depend upon it, there is rottenness +in the core of society. But come, let us take our leave; I see you +are well wearied of all this. And now for an hour at Madame de +Lacostellerie's,--_en revanche_." + +As we came forward to make our adieux to the duchess, she rose from her +seat, and in so doing her sleeve brushed against a small marble statue +of Louis the Sixteenth, which, had I not opportunely caught it, would +have fallen to the ground. + +"Thank you, sir," said she, graciously. "You have prevented what I +should have deemed a sad accident." + +"Nay, more, Aunt," said Duchesne, smiling; "he has shown his readiness +to restore the Bourbon." + +This speech, evidently spoken in jest, was repeated from lip to lip in +the circle; and certainly I never felt my awkwardness more oppressive +than when bowing to the party, whose elated looks and pleased +countenances now were turned towards me. + +"My poor, bashful friend," said Duchesne, as we descended the stair; +"get rid of the habit of blushing with all convenient despatch. It has +marred more fortunes than pharo or bouillotte." + +"This, assuredly, is well done!" said the chevalier, as he looked +around him, while we slowly ascended the stairs of the Hotel Glichy: +the brilliant light, almost rivalling day; the servants in gorgeous +liveries; the air of wealth around on every side, so different from +the sad-colored mansion of the Faubourg; while, as the opening doors +permitted it to be heard, the sound of delicious music came wafted to +the ear. + +"I say, Burke," said he, stopping suddenly, and laying his hand on my +arm, "this might content a man who has seen as much as I have. And the +game is well worth the playing; so here goes!" + +The first person I saw as we entered the ante-chamber was Bubbleton. He +was the centre of a knot of foreigners, who, whatever the topic, seemed +highly amused at his discourse. + +"That is your friend, yonder," said Duchesne. "He has the true type of +John Bull about him; introduce me at once." + +Duchesne scarcely permitted me to finish the introduction, when he +extended his hand, and saluted Bubbleton with great cordiality; while +the "general" did not suffer the ceremony to interrupt the flow of +his eloquence, but continued to explain, in the most minute and +circumstantial manner, the conditions of the new peace secretly +concluded between France and England. The incredulity of the listeners +was, I could perceive, considerably lessened by observing the +deferential attention with which Duchesne listened, only interrupting +the speaker by an occasional assent, or a passing question as to the +political relations of some of the great Powers. + +"As to Prussia," said Bubbleton, pompously--"as to Prussia--" + +"Well, what of Prussia, General?" + +"We have our doubts on that subject," replied he, looking thoughtfully +around him on the group, who, completely deceived by Duchesne's manner, +now paid him marked attention. + +"You'll not deprive her of Genoa, I trust," said the chevalier, with a +gravity almost inconceivable. + +"That is done already," said Bubbleton. "For my own part, I told +Lauderdale we were nothing without the Bosphorus,--'the key of our +house, as your Emperor called it." + +"He spoke of Russia, if I don't err," said Duchesne, with an insinuating +air of correction. + +"Pardon me, you are wrong. I know Russia well. I travelled through the +steppes of Metchezaromizce with Prince Drudeszitsch. We journeyed three +hundred versts over his own estates, drawn on sledges by his serfs. You +are aware they are always harnessed by the beard, which they wear long +and plaited on purpose." + +"That is towards the Crimea," interrupted the chevalier. + +"Precisely. I remember a curious incident which occurred one night as +we approached Chitepsk. (You know Chitepsk? It is where they confine the +state prisoners,--a miserable, dreary tract, where the snow never melts, +and the frost is so intense you often see a drove of wolves glued fast +to the snow by the feet, and howling fearfully: a strange sight, to +be sure!) Well, the night was falling, and a thin, cutting snowdrift +beginning to drop, when Dru (I always call him so,--short) said to me,-- + +"'Bub' (he did the same to me) 'Bub,' said he, 'do you remark that +off-side leader?' + +"'I see him,' said I. + +"'I have been watching the fellow since the last stage, and confound me +if he has ever tightened a trace; and you see he is a right active one, +notwithstanding. He capers along gayly enough. I 'll touch him up a +bit.' And with that he gave a flourish of his knouted whip, and came +down on him with a smarting cut. Lord, how he jumped! Five feet off the +ground at one spring! And, hang me, if he didn't tear off his beard! +There it was, hanging to the pole! A very shocking sight, I must +confess; though Dru did n't seem to mind it. However, we were obliged to +pull up, and get out the team. Well, you would not believe what we saw +when we got down. You 'd never guess who was the off-leader. It was the +Princess Odoznovskoi! Poor thing! the last time I saw her, before that, +she was dancing in the Amber Palace with Prince Alexander. She and her +husband had been banished to Chitepsk, and as he was ill, she had put on +a false beard and was taking a short stage in his place." + +I did not venture to wait for more; but, leaving Duchesne to make the +most of the general, passed onwards towards the _salon_, which already +was rapidly filling with visitors. + +The countess received me with more than wonted kindness of manner, and +mademoiselle assumed a tone of actual cordiality I had never perceived +before; while, as she exchanged greetings with me, she said, in a low +voice,-- + +"Let me speak with you, in the picture-gallery, in half an hour." + +Before I could utter my assent she had passed on, and was speaking to +another. + +Somewhat curious to conceive what Mademoiselle de Lacostellerie might +mean by her appointment in the gallery, I avoided the groups where I +perceived my acquaintances were, and strolled negligently on towards the +place of meeting. The gallery was but half lighted, as was customary on +mere nights of visiting, and I found it quite deserted. I was sauntering +slowly along, musing on the strange effects of the half-seen pictures, +where all, save the most forcible and striking tints, were sombred down +to blackness, when I heard a step behind me. I turned my head, and saw +mademoiselle herself. She was alone, and, though she evidently had seen +me, continued to walk onward, without speaking, towards a small boudoir, +which occupied one angle of the gallery. I followed, and we entered it +together. + +There was something in the secret interview which, while it excited my +curiosity, served at once to convince me that had I indulged in any hope +of succeeding to her affections, nothing could be less promising,--this +very proof of her confidence was the strongest earnest of her +indifference. But, indeed, I had never any such expectation. My pride +might have been flattered by such a supposition; my heart could never +have sympathized in the emotion. + +"We are alone here," said she, hurriedly, "and we may be missed; so let +me be brief. It will seem strange that I should ask you to meet me here, +but I could not help it. You alone, of all who frequent this, have never +paid me the least attention, nor seemed disposed to flatter me; this +leads me to trust you. I have no other reason but that, and because I am +friendless." There was a tremulous sadness in the last word which +went to my heart, and I could mark that her breathing was hurried +and irregular for some few seconds after. "Will you promise me your +friendship in what I ask? or, if that be too much, will you pledge +yourself at least to secrecy? Enough, I am quite satisfied. Now, tell +me, who is this Chevalier Duchesne?--what is he?" + +I ran over in a few words all I knew of him, dwelling on whatever might +most redound to his credit; his distinguished military career, his +undoubted talent, and, lastly, alluding to his family, to which I +conceived the question might most probably apply. + +"Oh, it is not that," said she, vehemently, "I wish to know. I care not +for his bravery, nor his birth either. Tell me, what are the sources of +his power? How is he admitted everywhere, intimate with every one, with +influence over all? Why does Fouche fear, and Talleyrand admit him? I +know they do this; and can you give me no clew, however faint, to +guide me? The Comte de Lacostellerie was refused the Spanish contract; +Duchesne interferes, and it is given him. There is a difficulty about a +card for a private concert at St. Cloud; Duchesne sends it. Nor does it +end here. _You_ know"--here her voice assumed a forced distinctness, +as though it cost her an effort to speak calmly--"of his duel with the +Prince Dobretski; but perhaps you may not know how he has obtained an +imperial order for his recall to St. Petersburg?" + +"Of that I never heard. Can it be possible?" + +"Have you, then, never tasted of his arbitrary power," said she, smiling +half superciliously, "that these things seem strange to you? or does +he work so secretly that even those most intimate with him are in +ignorance? But this must be so." She paused for a second or two, and +then went on: "And now, brief as our acquaintance with him has been, see +what influence he already possesses over my mother! Even to her I dare +not whisper my suspicions; while to you, a stranger," added she, with +emotion, "I must speak my fears." + +"But are they not groundless?" said I, endeavoring to calm the agitation +she suffered from. "In all that you have mentioned, I can but trace the +devotion of one seeking to serve, not injure; to be loved, not dreaded." + +Scarce had I said these words, when I heard a noise behind me, and +before I could turn round, Duchesne stood beside us. + +"I implore your pardon, Mademoiselle," said he, in a voice of +well-affected timidity, "nor should I venture to interrupt so +interesting a conference, but that the Comtesse de Lacostellerie had +sent me to look for you." + +"You could scarcely have come more apropos, sir. The conversation was +entirely of yourself," said she, haughtily, as if in defiance of him. + +"How could I possibly have merited so great an honor, Mademoiselle?" +replied he, bowing with the deepest respect; "or is it to the kindness +of a _friend_ I am indebted for such interest?" + +There was an evident sneer in the way he uttered the word "friend," +while a sidelong glance he gave beneath his deep eyelashes was still +more decisive of his feeling. + +"Few probably owe more to their friends than the Chevalier Duchesne," +said mademoiselle, tauntingly, as she took my arm to return to the +_salon_. + +"True, most true!" replied he, with a low and deferential bow; "and I +hope I am not the man to forget my debts to either friends or enemies." + +I turned round rapidly as he said this. Our eyes met, and we exchanged a +short, brief glance of open defiance. His, however, as quickly changed; +and an easy smile of careless indifference succeeded, as he lounged +after us towards the _salon_, where now a considerable number of +persons were assembled, and a more than usual excitement prevailed. Some +generals of the imperial staff were also there; and the rumor ran that +the negotiations with England had been suddenly interrupted, and that +the negotiators had demanded their passports. + +"That is not all, Madame," said an old officer to the countess. "The +accounts from Mayence are threatening. Large bodies of Prussian troops +are reported on the march from the eastward. The telegraph has been +actively at work since noon, and several couriers have been sent off +from the War Office." + +"What is to come next?" said the countess, sighing, as she thought +of Paris once more deserted by its gay Court and brilliant crowd of +officers, the only society of the period. + +"What next, Madame?" said Duchesne, taking up the word. "_Parbleu!_ the +thing is easily told. A conscription, a march, a bivouac, and a battle +will form act the first. Then a victory; and a bulletin and an imperial +edict, showing that Prussia, both by her language and geographical +position, was intended by Providence to belong to France; that Prussians +have no dearer wish than to be thrashed and taxed,--the honor of +becoming a portion of the Grande Nation being an ample recompense for +any misfortune." + +"And so it is, Monsieur," broke in a bluff, hard-featured veteran, whose +coarse and weather-beaten traits bespoke one risen from the ranks; "he +is no Frenchman who says otherwise." + +"To your good health, Colonel," said Duchesne, as he lifted a glass +of champagne to his lips. "Such patriotism is really refreshing in our +degenerate days. I wish you every success in your campaign; though what +is to reward your valor in that miserable land of beer and Protestantism +I cannot possibly conceive." + +"To-morrow; let me see you to-morrow, in the afternoon." said +mademoiselle, in a whisper, as she passed close to me. + +As I nodded in acknowledgment, Duchesne turned slightly around, and I +saw in his eyes he had overheard the words, though uttered in a mere +whisper. Still he went on,-- + +"As for us who remain ingloriously behind you, we have nothing to do but +to read your exploits in the 'Moniteur.' And would to Heaven the worthy +editor would print his battles in better fashion! The whole page usually +looks more like a beaten than a conquering army; wounded vowels and +broken consonants at every step, and the capital letters awkward, +hard-featured fellows, as though risen from the ranks." + +"_Tonnerre de Dieu_, sir! do you mean an insult to me?" said the old +colonel, in a voice which, though intended for a whisper, was heard over +the whole circle. + +"An insult, my dear colonel? nothing within a thousand leagues of +such. I was only speaking of the 'type' of our army, which may be very +efficient, but is scarcely too good-looking." + +No words can convey the sarcastic tone in which the speech was +delivered, nor the mortification of the indignant colonel, who felt, but +knew not how to reply to, such a taunt. Happily Madame de Lacostellerie +interposed, and by skilfully changing the topic of conversation, averted +further unpleasantness. + +My desire to learn something accurately as to the state of events made +me anxious to reach my quarters, and I took the first opportunity of +quitting the _salon_. As I passed through the outer room, Duchesne +was standing against a sideboard, holding a glass in his hand. It was +necessary that I should pass him closely, and I was preparing to salute +him with the distant courtesy of our present acquaintance, when he said, +in his former tone of easy raillery,-- + +"Going so early? Won't you have a glass of wine before you leave?" + +"No, I thank you," said I, coldly, and going on towards the door. + +"Nor wait for the concert; Grassini will be here in half an hour?" + +I shook my head in negation; and as I passed out I heard him humming, +with an emphasis which there was no mistaking, the couplet of a popular +song of the day which concluded thus,-- + +"To-day for me; To-morrow for thee,--But will that to-morrow ever be?" + +That Duchesne intended to challenge me seemed now almost certain; and I +ran over in my mind the few names of those I could ask to be my friends +on such an occasion, but without being able to satisfy myself on the +subject. A moment's recollection might have taught me that it was a +maxim with the chevalier never to send a message, but in every case +to make the adversary the aggressor; he had told me so over and over +himself. That, however, did not occur to me at the moment, and I walked +onward, thinking of our meeting. Could I have known what was passing in +_his_ mind, I should have spared many serious and some sad thoughts to +my own. + + + +CHAPTER XX. A SUDDEN DEPARTURE + +So firmly had I persuaded myself, on my way homeward, that Duchesne +intended a duel with me, that I dreamed of it all night, and awoke in +the morning perfectly convinced that the event was prearranged between +us. Now, although the habits of the service I lived in had, in a great +measure, blunted the feelings I once entertained towards duelling, still +enough of detestation of the practice remained to make my anticipations +far from satisfactory; besides, I knew that Duchesne had in reality no +cause of quarrel with me, but from misapprehension alone could demand +a meeting, which our military code of honor always decided should be +accepted first, and inquired into afterwards. I regretted also, and +deeply too, that I should appear to his eyes in an unworthy part, as +though betraying the interests he had confided to me. + +There were, as I have said, many things I liked not in the chevalier: +the insatiable desire he felt for revenge where he had once been +injured; the spirit of intrigue he cherished; and, perhaps more than +either, I shunned the scoffing habit he had of depreciating what every +one around him loved or respected,--of stripping off every illusion +which made life valuable, and reducing to the miserable standard of +mere selfish gratification all that was great, or noble, or venerable. +Already had his evil influence done me injury in this way. Even now I +felt, that of the few daydreams I once indulged in he had robbed me +of the best, and reduced me to the sad reflection which haunted me +throughout my whole career, and imbittered every passing enjoyment of my +life: I mean, the sorrowful thought of being an alien, of having but the +hireling's part in that career of glory which others followed; that +I alone could have no thrill of patriotism, when all around me were +exulting in its display; that I had neither home nor country! Oh! if +they who feel, or fancy that they feel, the wrongs and oppressions of +misgovernment at home,--who, with high aspirations after liberty and +holy thoughts for the happiness of their fellow-men, war against the +despotism which would repress the one or the cruelty which would despise +the other; if they could only foresee, that in changing allegiance +they did but shift the burden, not rid themselves of the load; that the +service of a foreign land is no requital for the loss of every feeling +which ties a man to kindred and to friends,--which links his manhood +with his youth, his age with both,--which gives him, in the language of +his forefathers, a sympathy with the land that bore them; if they could +know and feel these things; if they could learn how, in surrendering +them, they have made themselves such mere waifs and strays upon life's +ocean that objects of purely selfish and personal advancement must be +to them for evermore in place of the higher and more ennobling thoughts +which mix with other men's ambitions: they might hesitate ere they left +home and country to fight for the cause of the stranger. + +If such thoughts found entrance into _my_ heart, how must they have +dwelt in many another's? I, who had neither family nor kindred,--who +from earliest childhood had never tasted the sweets of affection nor +known the blessings of a father's love; and yet scarce a day crept by +without some thought of the far-away land of my birth,--some memory of +its hills and valleys, of its green banks and changeful skies: and in +my dreams, some long-forgotten air would bring me back in memory to the +cottier's fireside, where around the red blazing turf were seated the +poor but happy peasantry, beguiling the time with song or story,--now +telling of the ancient greatness of their country, now breathing a hope +of its one day prosperity. + +"Captain Burke's quarters?" said a voice without. At the same instant, +the jingling of spurs and the clank of a sabre bespoke the questioner as +a soldier. My door opened, and an officer in the full dress of the staff +entered. As I requested him to be seated, I already anticipated +the object of his visit, which he seemed determined to open in most +diplomatic fashion; for, the first salutations over, he began coolly to +ransack his sabretasche, and search among a heap of papers which crowded +it. + +"Ah! here it is," said he at length. "I ask your pardon for all this +delay. But, of course, you guess the reason of my being here?" + +"I must confess I suspect it," said I, with a smile. + +"Oh, that I am certain of. These things never are secrets very long; +nor, for my part, do I think there is any need they should be. I +conclude you are quite prepared?" + +"You shall find me so." + +"So the minister said," replied he; while, once more, his eyes were +buried in the recesses of the sabretasche, leaving me in the most +intense astonishment at the last few words. That the minister, whoever +he might be, should know of, and, as it seemed, acquiesce in my fighting +a duel, was a puzzle I could make nothing of. + +"Here is the note I looked for," said he as he took forth a small slip +of paper, written on both sides. "May I beg you will take down the +details; they are brief, but important." + +"You may trust my memory with them," said I, rather surprised at the +circumstantial style of his conduct. + +"As you please; so pay attention for one moment, while I read: 'Captain +Burke of the Eighth, will proceed by extra post to Mayence, visiting +the following garrisons _en route_'(here come the names, which you can +copy), where his attention will be specially directed to the points +marked A. B. and--'" + +"Forgive my interrupting you; but really I am unaware of what you are +alluding to. You are not here on the part of the Chevalier Duchesne?" + +"The Chevalier Duchesne? Duchesne? No; this is a war despatch from the +minister. You must set out in two hours. I thought you said you were +prepared." + +"Hem! there has been a mistake here," said I, endeavoring to remember +how far I might have committed myself by any unguarded expression. + +"All my fault, Captain Burke," said he, frankly. "I should have been +more explicit at first. But I really thought from something--I forget +precisely what now--that you knew of the movement on the frontier, and +were, in fact, prepared for your orders. Heaven knows how far our +mystification might have gone on; for when you spoke of Duchesne--the +ex-captain of the Imperial Guard, I suppose-- + +"Yes! what of him?" + +"Why, it so chanced that he was closeted with the minister this morning, +and only left five minutes before your orders were made out. But come, +neither of us can well spare more time. This is your despatch for the +commandant of the troops at Mayence, to whom you will report verbally on +the equipment of the smaller bodies of men visited _en route_. I shall +give you my note, which, though hurriedly written, will assist your +memory. Above all things, get speedily on the road, and reach Mayence +by Wednesday. Half an hour's speed in times like these is worth a whole +year in one's way to promotion. And so, now, good-by!" + +I stood for several minutes after he left the room so confused and +astonished, that had not the huge envelope, with its great seal of +office, confirmed the fact, I could have believed the whole a mere trick +of my imagination. + +The jingle of the postilion's equipment in the court beneath now +informed me that a Government _caleche_ stood awaiting me, and I +speedily began my preparations for the road. + +One thought filled my mind to the exclusion of all others. It was +Duchesne's influence on which my fortune now rested. The last few words +he uttered as I left the _salon_ were ringing in my ears, and here was +their explanation. This rapid journey was planned by him to remove me +from Paris, where possibly he supposed my knowledge of him might be +inconvenient, and where in my absence his designs might be prosecuted +with more success. Happy as I felt to think that a personal _rencontre_ +was not to occur between us, my self-love was deeply wounded at the +thought of how much I was in this man's power, and how arbitrarily he +decided on the whole question of my destiny. If my pride were gratified +on the one hand by my having excited the chevalier's vengeance, it was +offended on the other by feeling how feeble would my efforts prove to +oppose the will of an antagonist who worked with such secret and such +powerful means. The same philosophy which so often stood my part in life +here came to my aid,--to act well my own part, and leave the result to +time. And so, with this patient resolve, I mentally bade defiance to my +adversary, and set out from Paris. + +The ardent feeling which filled my heart on the approach of my first +campaign was now changed into a soldierly sense of duty, which, if less +enthusiastic, was a steadier and more sustaining motive. I felt whatever +distinctions it should be my lot to win must be gained in the camp, not +in the Court-, that my place was rather where squadrons were charging +and squares were kneeling, than among the intrigues of the capital, its +wiles and its plottings. In the one, I might win an honorable name; in +the other, I should be but the dupe of more designing heads and less +scrupulous hearts than my own. + +Early on the third morning from the time of my leaving Paris, I reached +Mayence. The garrisons which I visited on the road seldom detained me +above half an hour. The few questions which I had to ask respecting the +troops were soon and easily answered; and in most instances the officers +in command had been apprised that their reports would be required, and +came ready at once to afford the information. + +The disposable force at that time was not above eighty thousand new +levies,--the conscripts of the past year,--who, although well drilled +and equipped, had never undergone the fatigues of a campaign nor met an +enemy in the field. But beyond the frontier were the veteran legions of +the Austrian campaign, who, while advancing on their return to France, +were suddenly halted, and now only awaited the Emperor's orders whither +they should carry their victorious standards. + +As at the outbreak of all Napoleon's wars, the greatest uncertainty +prevailed regarding the direction of the army, and in what place and +against what enemy the first blow was to be struck. The Russian army, +defeated and routed at Austerlitz, was said to be once more in the +field, reorganized and strengthened; Austria, it was rumored, was +faltering in her fealty; but the military preparations of Prussia were +no longer a secret, and to many it seemed as if, as in the days of the +Republic, France was about to contend single-handed against the whole of +Europe. + +In Prussia the warlike enthusiasm of the people was carried to the +very highest pitch. The Court, the aristocracy, but more powerful than +either, the press, stimulated national courage by recalling to their +minds the famous deeds of the Great Frederick, and bidding them remember +that Rossbach was won against an army of Frenchmen. The students--a +powerful and an organized class--stood foremost in this patriotic +movement. Their excited imaginations warmed by the spirit-stirring songs +of Kerner and Uhland, and glowing with the instincts of that chivalry +which is a German's birthright, they spread over the country, calling +upon their fellow-subjects to arise and defend the "Vaterland" against +the aggression of the tyrant. So unequivocally was this feeling +expressed, that even before the negotiations had lost their pacific +character, the youthful aristocracy of Berlin used to go and sharpen +their swords at the door-sill of the French ambassador at Berlin. + +To the exalted tone of patriotic enthusiasm the beautiful Queen of +Prussia most powerfully contributed. The crooked and tortuous windings +of diplomatic intrigue found no sympathy in her frank and generous +nature. Belying on the native energy of German character, she bade an +open and a bold defiance to her country's enemy, and was content to +stake all on the chances of a battle. The colder and less confident mind +of the king was rather impelled by the current of popular opinion than +induced by conviction to the adoption of this daring policy. But once +engaged in it, he exhibited the rarest fortitude and the most unyielding +courage. + +Such, in brief, was the condition of that people, such the warlike +spirit they breathed, when in the autumn of 1806 the cry of war +resounded from the shores of the Baltic to the frontiers of Bohemia. +Never was the effective strength of the Prussian army more conspicuous. +Their cavalry, in number and equipment, was confessedly among the first, +if not the very first, in Europe; while the artillery maintained a +reputation which, since the days of Frederick, had proclaimed it the +most perfect arm of the service. + +The Emperor knew these things well, and did not undervalue them; and +it was with a very different impression of his present enemy from that +which filled his mind in the Austrian campaign, that he remarked to +Soult, "We shall want the mattock in this war,"--thereby implying that, +against such an adversary, fieldworks and intrenchments would be needed, +as well as the dense array of squadrons and the bristling walls of +infantry. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. THE SUMMIT OF THE LANDGRAFENBERG + +After a brief delay at Mayence, it was with sincere pleasure I received +my orders to push forward to the advanced posts at Wetzlar, where +General d'Auvergne was with his division. Already the battalions were +crossing the Rhine, and directing their steps to different rendezvous +along the Prussian frontier; some pressing on eastwards, where the Saxon +territory joins the Prussian; others directly to the north, and taking +up positions distant by a short day's march from each other. The same +urgent haste which characterized the opening of the Austrian campaign +a year before, was here conspicuous; many of the corps being obliged to +march seven and eight leagues in the day, and frequently whole companies +being forwarded in wagons drawn by six or eight horses, in order to +come up with the main body of their regiments. Every road eastward was +covered with some fragment of the army. Now an infantry corps of young +conscripts, glowing with enthusiasm and eager for the fray, would +cheer the _caleche_ in which I travelled, and which, as indicating a +staff-officer, was surmounted by a small flag with an eagle. Now it was +the hoarse challenge of an outpost, some veteran of Bernadotte's army, +which occupied the whole line of country from Dusseldorf to Nuremberg. +Pickets of dragoons, with troops of led horses for remounts, hurried on, +and long lines of wagons crammed the road. + +At last I joined General d'Auvergne, who, with all the ardor of the +youngest soldier, was preparing for the march. The hardy veteran, +disdaining the use of a carriage, rode each day at the head of his +column, and went through the most minute detail of regimental duty with +the colonels under his command. From whatever cause proceeding I knew +not, but it struck me as strange that he never alluded to my visit to +Paris, nor once spoke to me of the countess; and while this reserve on +his part slightly wounded me, I felt relieved from the embarrassment +the mere mention of her name would cause me, and was glad when our +conversation turned on the events of the war. Nor was he, save in this +respect, less cordial than ever, manifesting the greatest pleasure at +the prospect the war would open to my advancement, and kindly presaging +for me a success I scarcely dared to hope for. + +"Nor is the hour distant," said he to me one morning in the latter end +of September, as we rode side by side; "the grand movement is begun." + +Augereau, with his powerful _corps d'armee_ of twenty thousand, pressed +on from Frankfort and Mayence; Bernadotte moved up on his flank from +Nuremberg and Bamberg; Davoust hastened by forced marches from the +Danube; while Soult and Ney with a strong force remained in the south, +and in observation on the Austrian frontier. Farther to the north, +again, were the new levies and the whole Imperial Guard, strengthened +by four thousand additional men, which, together with Murat's cavalry, +formed a vast line embracing the Prussian frontier on the west and +south, and converging with giant strides towards the very heart of the +kingdom. Still, mid all the thunders of marching squadrons and the +din of advancing legions, diplomatists interchanged their respective +assurances of a peaceful issue to their differences, and politely +conveyed the most satisfactory sentiments of mutual esteem. + +On the 1st of September the Emperor left Paris; but, even then, covering +his designs by an affected hope of peace, he was accompanied by the +Empress and her suite to Mayence, where all the splendor of a Court was +suddenly displayed amid the pomp and preparation of war. On the 6th he +started by daybreak; relays of horses were in waiting along the road +to Wetzlar, and with all speed he hastened forward to Bamberg, where he +issued his grand proclamation to the army. + +With all his accustomed eloquence he represented to the army the +insulting demands of Prussia, and called on them, as at Austerlitz, to +reply to such a menace by one tremendous blow of victory, which should +close the campaign. "Soldiers!" said he, "you were about to return to +France to enjoy the well-won repose after all your victories. But an +enemy is in the field; the road to Paris is no longer open to you: +neither you nor I can tread it save under an arch of triumph." + +The day which succeeded the issue of this proclamation, a cavalry affair +occurred at the advanced posts, in which the Prussians were somewhat the +victors. Two days later, a courier arrived at the imperial headquarters +with the account of another and more important action, between the +grenadiers of Lannes and a part of Suchet's corps, against the advanced +guard of Prince Hohenlohe, commanded by the most daring general in the +Prussian service,--Prince Louis. A cavalry combat, which lasted for near +an hour, closed this brief but bloody encounter with the death of the +brave prince, who, refusing to surrender, was run through the body by +the sabre of a quartermaster of the Tenth Hussars. + +General d'Auvergne's brigade had no share in this memorable action, for +on the 9th we were marched to Rudolstadt, some miles to the left of the +scene of the encounter; but having made a demonstration in that quarter, +were speedily recalled, and ordered with all haste to cross the Saale, +and move on to the eastward. + +It was now that Napoleon's manoeuvres became apparent. The same intrigue +which succeeded at Ulm was again to be employed here: the enemy's flank +was to be turned, the communication with his reinforcements cut off, and +a battle engaged, in which defeat must prove annihilation. Such, then, +was the complete success of the Emperor's movements, that on the 12th +the French army was posted with the rear upon the Elbe, while the +Prussians occupied a line between them and the Rhine. This masterly +movement at once compelled the enemy to fall back and concentrate +his troops around Jena and Weimar, which, from that instant, Napoleon +pronounced must be the scene of a great battle. + +All this detail I have been obliged to force on my reader, and now again +return to my story. + +On the morning of the 13th, Murat appeared for the first time at our +headquarters, below Jena; and after a short consultation with the staff, +our squadrons were formed and ordered to push on with haste towards +Jena. + +Everything now showed that the decisive hour could not be distant: +couriers passed and repassed; messengers and orderlies met us at every +step; while, as is ever the case, the most contradictory rumors were +circulated about the number and position of the enemy. As we neared +Lausnitz, however, we learned that the whole Prussian army occupied the +plateau of Jena, save a corps of twenty thousand men which were +stationed at Auerstadt. From the elevated spot we occupied, the columns +of Marshal Berna-dotte's division could be seen marching to the +eastward. A halt was now commanded, and the troops prepared their +bivouacs; when, as night was falling, a staff-officer rode up, with +orders from the Emperor himself to push on without delay for Jena. + +The road was much cut up by the passage of cavalry and wagons, and as +the night was dark, our pace was occasionally impeded. I was riding with +one of the leading squadrons, when General d'Auvergne directed me to +take an orderly with me, and proceed in advance to make arrangements for +the quarters of the men at Jena. Selecting a German soldier as my guide, +I dashed forwards, and soon left the squadron out of hearing. We had not +gone far, when I remarked, from the tramp of the horses, that we were +upon an earthen road, and not on the pavement. I questioned my orderly, +but he was positive there had been no turning since we started. I paid +no more attention to the circumstance, but rode on, hard as ever. At +last the clay became deeper and heavier, the sides of the way closer, +and all the appearance, as well as the gloom would allow us to guess, +rather those of a byroad than the regular _chaussee_. To return would +have been hopeless; the darkness gave no prospect of detecting at what +precise spot we had left the main road, and so I determined to make my +way straight onwards at all hazards. + +After about an hour's fast trotting, the orderly, who rode some paces +in advance, called out, "A light!" and then, the moment after, he cried, +"There are several lights yonder!" + +I reined in my horse at once, for the thought struck me that we had +come down upon the Prussian lines. Giving my horse to the soldier, with +orders to follow me noiselessly at a little distance, I walked on for +above a mile, my eyes steadily fixed upon the lights, which moved from +place to place, and showed, by their taper glare, that they were not +watchfires. At length I gained a little ridge of the ground, and +could distinctly see that it was a line of guns and artillery wagons, +endeavoring to force their way through a narrow ravine; a few minutes +after, I heard the sounds of French, and relieved of all apprehensions, +I mounted my horse and soon came up with them. + +They were four troops of Lannes's artillery, which, by a mistake similar +to my own, had left the highroad and entered one of the field-tracks, +which thus led them astray; and here they were, jammed up in a narrow +gorge, unable to get back or forward. The officer in command was a +young colonel, who was completely overwhelmed by his misfortune; for he +informed me that the whole artillery of the division was following him, +and would inevitably be involved in the same mishap. The poor fellow, +who doubtless would have faced the enemy without a particle of fear, was +now so horrified by the event, that he ran wildly from place to place, +ordering and counter-ordering every instant, and actually increasing +the confusion by his own excitement. Some of the leading trains were +unharnessed, and efforts made to withdraw the guns from their position; +but the axles were, on both sides, embedded in the rock, and seemed to +defy every effort to disengage them. + +At this moment, when the confusion had reached its height, and the +horses were unharnessed from the guns, the men standing in groups around +or shouting wildly to one another, a sullen silence spread itself over +the whole, and a loud, stern voice called out,-- + +"Who commands this division?" + +"General Latour," was the answer. + +"Where is he?" said the first speaker, so close to my ear that I started +round, and saw the short square figure of a man in a great coat, holding +a heavy whip in his hand. + +"With the main body at the rear." + +"Cannoneers, dismount!" said the other. "Bring the torches to the +front." + +Scarcely was the order obeyed, when the light of the firewood fell upon +his features, and I saw it was the Emperor himself. In an instant the +whole scene was changed. The park tools were taken out, working parties +formed, and the ravine began to echo to the strong blows of the brawny +arms; while Napoleon, with a blazing torch in his hand, stood by to +light their labors. Giving directions to the under-officers and the men, +he never deigned a word to the officers, who now stood trembling around +him, and were gradually joined by several more, who came up with the +remainder of the train. + +I think still I can see that pale, unmoved face, which, as the light +flickered upon it, gazed steadily at the working party. Not a syllable +escaped him, save once, when he muttered half to himself, "And this was +the first battery to open its fire to-morrow!" + +General Savary stood at his side, but never dared to address him. Too +well he knew that his deepest anger showed itself by silence. By degrees +the granite wall gave way, the axles once more became free, and the +horses were again harnessed; the gun-carriages moved slowly through the +ravine. Nor did the Emperor quit the spot before the greater part of +the train passed; then mounting his horse, he turned towards Jena, and +notwithstanding the utter darkness of the night he rode at full speed. +Following the clatter of the horse's hoofs, I rode on, and in less than +an hour reached a small cluster of houses, where a cavalry picket was +placed, and several large fires were lighted, beside which, at small +tables, sat above a dozen staff-officers busily writing despatches. The +Emperor halted but for a second or two, and then dashed forward again; +and I soon perceived we were ascending a steep hill, covered with ferns +and brushwood. We had not gone far, when a single aide-de-camp who +accompanied him turned his horse's head and rode rapidly down the +mountain again. + +Napoleon was now alone, some fifty paces in front. I could see the faint +outline through the darkness, my sight guided by my hearing to the spot. +His pace, wherever the ground permitted, was rapid; but constantly he +was obliged to hold in, and pick his steps among the stones and dwarf +wood that covered the mountain. Never shall I cease to remember the +strange sensations I felt as I followed him up that steep ascent. +There was he, the greatest monarch of the universe, alone, wending his +solitary way in darkness, his thoughts bent on the great event before +him,--the tremendous conflict in which thousands must fall. There was a +sense of awe in the thought of being so near to one on whose slightest +word the destiny of nations seemed to hang; and I could not look on the +dark object before me without a superstitious feeling, deeper than fear +itself, for that mightiest of men. + +My thoughts permitted my taking no note of time, and I know not how long +it was before we reached the crest of the hill, over whose bleak surface +a cold, cutting wind was blowing. It seemed as if a great tableland +extended now for some distance on every side, over which the Emperor +took his way, as though accustomed to the ground. While I was wondering +at the certainty with which he appeared to determine on his road, I +remarked the feeble flickering of a light far away towards the horizon, +and by which it was evident he guided his steps. As we rode on, several +watchfires could be seen towards the northwest, stretching away to a +great distance, and throwing a yellowish glare in the dark sky above +them. Suddenly I perceived the Emperor halt and dismount, and as +speedily again he was in the saddle; but now his path took a different +direction, and diverged considerably to the southward. Curious to learn +what might have caused his change of direction, I rode up to the +spot, and got off. It was the embers of a watchfire; they were almost +extinguished, but still, as the horse's hoof struck the wood, a few +sparks were emitted. It was this, then, which altered his course; and +once more he pressed his horse to speed. + +A steep ascent of some hundred yards lay before us now. But on gaining +the top, a brilliant spectacle of a thousand watchfires met the eye: so +close did they seem, it looked like one great volcanic crater blazing +on the mountain top; while above, the lurid glow reddened the black sky, +and melted away into the darkness in clouds of faint yellowish hue. Far, +very far away, and to the north, stretched another much longer line of +fires, but at great intervals apart, and occupying, as well as I might +guess, about two leagues in extent. Several smaller fires dotted the +plain, marking the outpost positions; and it was not difficult to trace +the different lines of either army even by these indications. + +While I yet looked, the Emperor had gained a short distance in advance +of me; and suddenly I heard the hoarse challenge of a sentry, calling +out, "Qui vive?" Buried in his own thoughts,--perhaps far too deeply +lost in meditation to hear the cry,--Napoleon never replied nor +slackened his speed. "Qui vive?" shouted the voice again: and before +I could advance, the sharp bang of a musket-shot rang out; another and +another followed; and then a roll of fire swept along the plain, happily +not in the direction of the Emperor. But already he had thrown himself +from his horse, and lay flat upon the ground. + +[Illustration: 264] + +Not a moment was now to be lost. I dashed my spurs into my jaded horse, +and rode forwards, calling aloud, at the top of my voice, "The Emperor! +the Emperor!" Still, the panic overbore my words, and another discharge +was given: with one bullet I was struck in the shoulder, another killed +my horse; but springing to my legs in an instant, I rushed on, repeating +my cry. Before I could do more than point to the spot, Napoleon +came forward, leading his horse by the bridle. His step was slow and +measured, and his face--for many a torchlight was now gathered to the +place--was calm and tranquil. + +"Ye are well upon the alert, _mes enfant!_" said he, with a smile; "see +that ye be as ready with your fire to-morrow!" A wild cheer answered +these words, while he continued: "These are the new levies, Lieutenant; +the Guards would have had more patience. Where is the officer who +followed me?" + +"Here, Sire," said I, endeavoring to conceal the appearance of being +wounded. + +"Mount, sir, and accompany me to headquarters." + +"My horse is killed, Sire." + +"Yes, _parbleu!_" said a young soldier, who had not learned much respect +before his superiors; "and he has a ball in his neck himself." + +"Are you wounded?" said the Emperor, with a quickness in his manner. + +"A mere flesh-wound in the arm,--of no consequence, Sire." + +"Let the surgeon of the detachment see to this at once, Lieutenant," +said he to the officer of the party; "and do you come to headquarters +when you are able." + +With this, the Emperor mounted again, and in a few seconds more was lost +to our sight. + +"_Ventrebleu!_" said the old lieutenant, who had served without +promotion from the first battles of the Republic, "you'll be a colonel +for that scratch on your epaulette, if we only beat the Prussians +to-morrow; and here am I, with eight wounds from lead and steel, and +the Petit Caporal never bade me visit him at his bivouac. Come, come! I +don't wish to be unfriendly; it's not _your_ fault, it's only _my_ bad +fortune. And here comes the surgeon." + +The lieutenant was right,--the epaulette had the worst of the adventure; +and, in half an hour I proceeded on my way to headquarters. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. L'HOMME ROUGE + +On my way to the imperial quarters, I fell in with some squadrons of our +dragoons, from whom I learned that General d'Auvergne had just received +orders to repair to the Emperor's bivouac, to which several officers in +command were also summoned. As I saw, therefore, that I could have no +prospect of meeting the Emperor, I resolved merely to hold myself in +readiness, should he, which seemed little likely, think of me; and +accordingly I took up my post with some young under-officers of +our brigade, at a huge fire, where a species of canteen had been +established, and coffee and corn-brandy were served out to all comers. + +The recent escape of Napoleon at the outposts was already known far and +near, and formed the great topic of conversation, in which, I felt hurt +to remark, no mention of the part I took was ever made, although there +were at least a dozen different versions of the accident. In one, his +Majesty was represented to have rode down upon and sabred the advanced +picket; in another, it was the Prussians who fired, he having penetrated +within their lines to reconnoitre,--each agreeing in the one great fact, +that the feat was something which no one save himself could have done +or thought of. As for me, I felt it was not my part to speak of the +incident at all until his Majesty should first do so. I listened, +therefore, with due patience and some amusement to the various +narratives about me; which served to show me, by one slight instance, +the measure of that exaggeration with which the Emperor's name was ever +treated, and convinced me that it required not time nor distance to +color every incident of his life with the strongest hues of romance. The +topic was a fruitful and favorite one; and certainly few subjects could +with more propriety season the hours around a bivouac fire than the +exploits of the Emperor Napoleon. + +Among those whose reminiscences went farthest back was an old +sergeant-major of infantry,--a seared and seamed and weather-beaten +little fellow, who, from fatigues and privations, was dried up to a mass +of tendons and fibres. This little man presented one of those strange +mixtures with which the army abounded,--the shrewdest common sense on +all ordinary topics, with a most credulous faith in any story where +Napoleon's name occurred. It seemed, indeed, as though that one element, +occurring in any tale, dispensed at once with the rules which govern +belief in common cases. + +The invulnerability of the Emperor was with him a fruitful theme; and he +teemed with anecdotes of the Egyptian and Italian campaigns, in which it +was incontestably shown that neither shot nor shell had any effect +upon him. But of all the superstitions regarding Napoleon, none had such +complete hold on his imagination, nor was more implicitly believed by +him, than the story of that little "Red Man," who, it was asserted, +visited the Emperor the night before each great battle, and arranged +with him the manoeuvres of the succeeding day. + +"L'Homme Bouge," as he was called, was an article of faith in the French +army that few of the soldiers ever thought of disputing. Some from +pure credulity, some from the force of example, and some again from +indolence, believed in this famed personage; but even the veriest +scoffer on more solemn subjects would have hesitated ere he ventured +to assail the almost universal belief in this supernatural agency. +The Emperor's well-known habit of going out alone to visit pickets and +outposts on the eve of a battle was a circumstance too favorable to this +superstition not to be employed in its defence. Besides, it was well +known that he spent hours by himself, when none even of the marshals had +access to him; and on these occasions it was said "L'Homme Bouge" was +with him. Sentinels had been heard to declare that they could overhear +angry words passing between the Emperor and his guest; that threats had +been interchanged between them; and on one occasion it was said that the +"Red Man" went so 'far as to declare, that if his advice were neglected +Napoleon should lose the battle, see his artillery fall into the hands +of the enemy, and behold the Guard capitulate. + +"_Mille tonnerres!_ what are you saying?" broke in the little man, +to the grim old soldier who was relating this. "You know nothing of +'L'Homme Rouge,'--not a word; how should you? But I served in the +Twenty-second of the Line, old Mongoton's corps; the 'Faubourg Devils,' +as they were called. _He_ knew him well; it was 'L'Homme Rouge' had +him shot for treason at Cairo. I was one of the company drawn for his +execution; and when he knelt down on the grass, he held up his hand this +way, and cried out,-- + +"'Voltigeurs of the Line, hear me! You have all known me many years; you +have seen whether I could face the enemy like a man; and you can tell +whether I cared for the heaviest charge that ever shook a square. You +know, also, whether I was true to our general. Well, it is "L'Homme +Rouge" who has brought me to this. And now: Carry arms!--all together! +Come, _mes enfants!_ try it again: Carry arms! (ay, that's better) +present arms! fire!' + +"_Morbleu!_ the word was not well out when he was dead; and there, +through the smoke, as plain as I see you now, I saw the figure of a +little fellow, dressed in scarlet,--feather and boots all the same! He +was standing over the corpse, and threatening it with his hands. And +that," said he, in a solemn voice, "that was 'L'Homme Rouge!'" + +This anecdote was conclusive. There was no gainsaying the assertions +of a man who had, with his own eyes, seen the celebrated "Red Man;" +and from that instant he enjoyed a decided monopoly of everything that +concerned his private history. + +According to the sergeant-major's version,--and who could venture to +contradict him?--"L'Homme Rouge" was not the confidential adviser and +friendly counsellor of the Emperor; but, on the contrary, his evil +genius, perpetually employed in thwarting his plans and opposing his +views. Each seemed to have his hour of triumph alternately. Now it was +the Bed Man, now Napoleon, who stood in the ascendant. Fortune for a +long period had been constant to the Emperor, and victory crowned every +battle. This had, it seemed, greatly chagrined "L'Homme Bouge," who for +years past had not been seen nor heard of. The last tradition of him was +a story told by one of the sentinels on guard at the general's quarters +at Mont Tabor. + +It was midnight: all was still and silent in the camp. The soldiers +slept as men sleep before a battle, when the old grenadier who walked +his short post before General Bonaparte's tent heard a quick tread +approaching him. "Qui vive?" cried he; but there was no reply. "Qui +vive?" called the sentry once more; but as he did so he leaped backwards +and brought his musket to the charge, for just then something brushed +close by him and entered the tent. + +For a moment or two he doubted what should be done. Should he turn out +the guard? It was only to be laughed at; that would never do. But what +if it really were somebody who had penetrated to the general's quarters? +As this thought struck him, he crept up close to the tent; and there, +true enough, he heard the voices of two persons speaking. + +"Ah! thou here?" said Bonaparte. "I scarce expected to see thee so far +from France!" + +"Alas!" said the other, with a deep sigh, "what land is now open to me, +or whither shall I fly to? I took refuge in Brussels; well, what should +I see one morning, but the tall shakos of your grenadiers coming up the +steep street. I fled to Holland; you were there the day after. 'Come,' +thought I, 'he's moving northwards; I'll try the other extreme.' So I +started for the Swiss. _Sacrebleu_! the roll of your confounded drums +resounded through every valley. I reached the banks of the Po; your +troops were there the same evening. I pushed for Rome; they were +preparing your quarters, which you occupied that night. Away, then, I +start once more; I cross mountains and rivers and seas, and gain the +desert at last. I thank my fortune that there are a thousand leagues +between us; and here you are now. For pity's sake, show me, on that map +of the world, one little spot you don't want to conquer, and let me live +there in peace, and be sure never to meet you more." + +Bonaparte did not speak for some minutes, and it seemed as though he +were intently considering the request of "L'Homme Rouge." + +"There," said he at length, "there! You see that island in the great +sea, with nothing near it; thou mayest go there." + +"How is it called?" said "L'Homme Rouge." + +"St. Helena," said the general. "It is not very large; but I promise +thee to be undisturbed there." + +"You 'll never come there, then? Is that a pledge?" + +"Never; I promise it. At least, if I do, thou shalt be the master, and I +the slave." + +"Enough! I go now. Adieu!" said the little man. And the same instant the +sentinel felt his arm brushed by some one passing close beside him; and +then all was silent in the tent once more. + +"Thus, you see," said the sergeant-major, "from that hour it was agreed +on the Emperor should conquer the whole world, and leave that one little +spot for 'L'Homme Rouge.' _Parbleu!_ he might well spare him that much." + +"How big might it be, that island?" said an old grenadier, who listened +with the deepest attention to the tale. + +"Nothing to speak of; about the size of one battalion drawn up in +square." + +"_Pardieu!_ a small kingdom too!" + +"Ah! it would not do for the Emperor," said the sergeant-major, +laughing,--an emotion the others joined in at once; and many a jest went +round at the absurdity of such a thought. + +I sat beside the watchfire, listening to the old campaigning stories, +till one by one the speakers dropped off to sleep. The bronzed veteran +and the boy conscript, the old soldier of the Sambre and the beardless +youth, lay side by side: to some of these it was the last time they +should slumber on earth. As the night wore on, the sounds became hushed +in the camp, and through the thin frosty air I could hear from a long +distance off the tramp of the patrols and the challenge of the reliefs +as the outposts were visited. The Prussian sentries were quite close to +our advanced posts, and when the wind came from that quarter, I often +heard the voices as they exchanged their signals. + +Through the entire night, officers came and went to and from the tent of +the Emperor. To him, at least, it seemed no season of repose. At length, +when nigh morning, wearied with watching and tired out with expectancy, +I leaned my head on my knees, and dropped into a half-sleep. Some vague +sense of disappointment at being forgotten by the Emperor, was the +last thought I had as I fell off, and in its sadness it colored all +my dreams. I remembered, with all the freshness of a recent event, the +curse of the old hag on the morning I had quitted my home forever,--her +prayer that bad luck should track me every step through life; and in the +shadowy uncertainty of my sleeping thoughts I believed I was predestined +to misfortune. + +Almost every man has experienced the fact, that there are times in life +when impressions, the slightest in their origin, will have an undue +weight on the mind; when, as it were, the clay of our natures become +softened, and we take the impress of passing events more easily. Some +vague and shadowy conception--a doubt, a dream--is enough at moments +like these to attain the whole force of a conviction; and it is +wonderful with what ingenuity we wind to our purpose every circumstance +around us, and what pains we take to increase the toils of our +self-deception. It would be a curious thing to trace out how much of our +good or evil fortune in life had its source in these superstitions; how +far the frame of mind fashioned the events before it; and to what extent +our hopes and fears were but the forerunners of destiny. + +My sleeping thoughts were of the saddest; and when I awoke, I could not +shake them off. A heavy, dense fog clothed every object around, through +which only the watchfires were visible, as they flared with a yellow, +hazy light of unnatural size. The position of these signals was only +to mark the inequality of the ground: and I now could perceive that we +occupied the crest of a long and steep hill, down the sides and at the +bottom of which fires were also burning; while in front another mountain +arose, whose summit for a great distance was marked out by watchfires. +This I conjectured, from its extent and position, to be the Prussian +line. + +At the front of the Emperor's quarters several led horses were standing, +whose caparison bespoke them as belonging to the staff; and although not +yet five o'clock, there was an appearance of movement which indicated +preparation. The troops, however, were motionless; the dense columns +covered the ground like a garment, and stirred not. As I stood, +uncertain what course to take, I heard the noise of voices and the heavy +tramp of many feet near, and on turning perceived it was the Emperor, +who came forth from his tent, followed by several of his staff. A large +fire blazed in front of his bivouac, which threw its long light on the +group; where, even in a fleeting glance, I recognized General Gazan, and +Nansouty, the commander of the Cuirassiers of the Guard. + +"What hour is it?" said the Emperor to Duroc, who stood near him. + +"Almost five o'clock, Sire." + +"It is darker than it was an hour ago. Maison, where is Bernadotte by +this?--at Domberg, think you?" + +"Not yet, Sire; he is no laggard if he reach it in three hours hence." + +"Ney would have been there now," was the quick reply of Napoleon. "Come, +gentlemen, into the saddle, and let us move towards the front. Gazan, +put your division under arms." + +The general waited not a second bidding, but wheeled his horse suddenly +round, and followed by his aide-decamp, rode at full speed down the +mountain. + +"There is the first streak of day," said the Emperor, pointing to a +faint gray light above the distant forest; "it breaks like Austerlitz." + +"May it set as gloriously!" said old Nansouty, in his deep low voice. + +"And it will," said Napoleon. "What sayest thou, _grognard?_" continued +he, turning with an affected severity of manner to the grenadier who +stood sentinel on the spot, and who, with a French soldier's easy +indifference, leaned on the cross of his musket to listen to the +conversation; "what sayest thou? Art eager to be made corporal?" + +"_Parbleu!_" growled out the rough soldier, "the grade is little to +boast of; were I even a general of division, there might be something to +hope for." + +"What then?" said Napoleon, sharply, "what then?" + +"King of Prussia, to be sure; thou 'lt give away the title before this +hour to-morrow." + +The Emperor laughed aloud at the conceit. Its flattery had a charm for +him no courtier's well-turned compliment could vie with; and I could +hear him still continuing to enjoy it as he rode slowly forward and +disappeared in the gloom. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. JENA AND AUERSTAeDT. + +"He has forgotten me!" said I, half aloud, as I watched the retiring +figures of the Emperor and his staff till they were concealed by the +mist; "he has forgotten me! Now to find out my brigade. A great battle +is before us, and there may still be a way to refresh his memory." With +such thoughts I set forward in the direction of the picket-fires, full +sure that I should meet some skirmishers of our cavalry there. + +As I went, the drums were beating towards the distant left, and +gradually the sounds crept nearer and nearer, as the infantry battalions +began to form and collect their stragglers. A dense fog seemed to shut +out the dawn, and with a thin and misty rain, the heavy vapor settled +down upon the earth, wrapping all things in a darkness deep as night +itself. From none could I learn any intelligence of the cavalry quarter, +nor had any of those I questioned seen horsemen pass near them. + +"The voltigeurs in the valley yonder may perhaps tell you something," +said an officer to me, pointing to some fires in a deep glen beneath us. +And thither I now bent my steps. + +The dull rolling of the drums gradually swelled into one continued roar, +through which the clank of steel and the tremulous tramp of marching +columns could be heard. Spirit-stirring echoes were they, these +awakening sounds of coming conflict! and how they nerved my heart, and +set it bounding again with a soldier's ardor! As I descended the hill, +the noise became gradually fainter, till at length I found myself in a +narrow ravine, still and silent as the grave itself. The transition was +so sudden and unexpected, that for a moment I felt a sense of loneliness +and depression; and the thought struck me, "What if I have pushed on too +far? Can it be that I have passed our lines? But the officer spoke of +the voltigeurs in front; I had seen the fires myself; there could be no +doubt about it." I now increased my speed, and in less than half an hour +gained a spot where the ground became more open and extended in front, +and not more than a few hundred paces in advance were the watchfires; +and as I looked I heard the swell of a number of voices singing in +chorus on different sides of me. The effect was most singular, for the +sounds came from various quarters at the same instant, and, as they +all chanted the same air, the refrain rang out and filled the valley; +beating time with their feet, they stepped to the tune, and formed +themselves to the melody, as though it were the band of the regiment. I +had often heard that this was a voltigeur habit, but never was witness +to it before. The air was one well known in that suburb of Paris whence +the wildest and most reckless of our soldiers came, and which they all +joined in celebrating in this rude verse:-- + + "Picardy first, and then Champagne,-- + France to the battle! on boys, on! + Anjou, Brittany, and Maine,-- + Hurrah for the Faubourg of St. Antoine I + + "How pleasant the life of a voltigeur! + In the van of the fight he must ever be; + Of roughing and rations he 's always sure,-- + With a comrade's share he may well make free. + + "Picardy first, and then Champagne,-- + France to the battle I on boys, on! + Anjou, Brittany, and Maine,-- + Hurrah for the Faubourg of St. Antoine! + + "The great guns thunder on yonder hill,-- + Closer than that they durst not go; + But the voltigeur comes nearer still,-- + With his bayonet fixed he meets the foe. + + "The hussar's coat is slashed with gold; + He rides an Arab courser fleet: + But is the voltigeur less bold + Who meets his enemy on his feet? + + "The cuirassier is clad in steel; + His massive sword is straight and strong: + But the voltigeur can charge and wheel + With a step,--his bayonet is just as long. + + "The artillery-driver must halt his team + If the current be fast or the water deep: + But the voltigeur can swim the stream, + And climb the bank, be it e'er so steep. + + "The voltigeur needs no trumpet sound,-- + No bugle has he to cheer him on: + Where the fire is hottest, that 's his ground,-- + Hurrah for the Faubourg of St. Antoine!" + + +As they came to the conclusion of this song, they kept up the air +without words, imitating by their voices the roll of the drum in +marching time. Joining the first party I came up with, I asked the +officer in what direction of the field I should find the cuirassier +brigade. + +"That I can't tell you, Comrade," said he. "No cavalry have appeared in +our neighborhood, nor are they likely; for all the ground is cut up and +intersected so much they could not act. But our maitre d'armes is the +fellow to tell you. Halloo, Francois! come up here for a moment." + +Before I could ask whether this was not my old antagonist at Elchingen, +the individual himself appeared. + +"Eh, what?" cried he, as he lifted a piece of firewood from the ground, +and stared me in the face by its light. "Not my friend Burke, eh? By +Jove! so it is." + +Our cordial greetings being over, I asked Maitre Francois if he could +give me any intelligence of D'Auvergne's division, or put me in the way +to reach them. + +"They're some miles off by this time," said he, coolly. "When I was +below the Plateau de Jena last night, that brigade you speak of +got their orders to push forward to Auerstadt, to support Davoust's +infantry. I mind it well, for they were sorely tired, and had just +picketed their horses, when the orderly came down with the despatch." + +"And where does Auerstadt lie?" + +"About four leagues to the other side of that tall mountain yonder." + +"What, then, shall I do? I am dismounted, to begin with." + +"And if you were not, if you had the best horse in the whole brigade, +what would it serve you now, except to pass the day riding between two +battle-fields, and see nothing of either? for we shall have hot work +here, depend upon it. No, no; stay with us. Be a voltigeur for to-day, +and we 'll show you something you 'll not see from your bearskin +saddle." + +"But I shall be in a sad scrape on account of my absence." + +"Never mind that; the man that takes his turn with the voltigeurs of the +Twenty-second won't be suspected of skulking. And here comes the major; +report yourself to him at once." + +Without waiting for any reply, Maitre Francois accosted the officer in +question, and in a very few words explained my position. + +"Nothing could come better timed," said the major. "One of ours has been +sent with despatches to the rear, and we may not see him for some hours. +Again, a light cavalryman must know how to skirmish, and we 'll try your +skill that way. Come along with me." + +"To our next meeting, then," cried Francois, as I hurried on after the +major; whilst once more the voltigeur ranks burst forth in full chorus, +and the merry sounds filled the valley. + +I followed the major down a somewhat steep and rugged path, at the foot +of which, and concealed by a low copse-wood, was a party consisting of +two companies of the regiment, who formed the most advanced pickets, and +were destined to exchange the first shots with the enemy. + +Before us lay a defile, partly overgrown with trees on either side, +which ascended by a gradual slope to the foot of the hill on which the +Prussian infantry was stationed, and whose lines were tracked out by a +long train of watch-fires. A farmhouse and its out-buildings occupied +the side of the hill about half-way up; and this was garrisoned by the +enemy, and defended by two guns in position in the defile. To surprise +the post and hold it until the main columns came up, was the object +of the voltigeur attack; and for this purpose small bodies of men were +assembling secretly and stealthily under cover of the brushwood, to +burst forth on the word being given. + +There was something which surprised me not a little in the way all these +movements were effected. Officers and men were mixed up, as it seemed, +in perfect confusion; not approaching in regular order, or taking up +a position like disciplined troops, they came in twos and threes, +crouching and creeping, and suddenly concealing themselves at every +opportunity of cover the ground afforded. + +Their noiseless and cautious gestures brought to my mind all that I +had ever read of Indian warfare; and in their eager faces, and quick, +piercing looks, I thought I could recognize the very traits of the red +men. The commands were given by signals; and so rapidly interchanged +were they from party to party, that the different groups seemed to move +forward by one impulse, though the officer who led them was full a mile +distant from where we were. + +"Can you use a firelock, comrade?" said the major, as he placed in my +hand a short musket, such as the voltigeurs carried. "Sling it at your +back; you may find it useful up yonder. And now I must leave you; keep +to this party. But what is this? You mustn't wear that shako; you'd soon +be picked off with that tower of black fur on your head. Corporal, +have you no spare foraging-cap in your kit? Ah! that's something +more becoming a tirailleur; and, by Jove! I think it improves you +wonderfully." + +The circumstance of becomingness was not exactly uppermost in my mind +at the moment; but certainly I felt no small gratification at being +provided with the equipment both of cap and firearms which placed me on +an equality with those about me. + +Scarcely had the major left us, when the corporal crept closely to +my side, and with that mingled respect and familiarity a French +sous-officier assumes so naturally, said,-- + +"You wished to see something of a skirmish, Captain, I suppose? Well, +you're like enough to be gratified; we're closing up rapidly now." + +"What may be the strength of your battalion, Corporal?" + +"Twelve hundred men, sir; and they're every one at this instant in the +valley, though I'll wager you don't see a bough move nor a leaf stirring +to show where they lie hid. You see that low copse yonder; well, there's +a company of ours beneath its shelter. But there goes the word to move +on." + +A motion with his sword, the only command he gave, communicated the +order; and the men, creeping stealthily on, obeyed the mandate, till at +another signal they were halted. + +From the little copse of brushwood where we now lay, to the farmhouse, +the ground was completely open,--not a shrub nor a bush grew; a slight +ascent of the road led up to the gate, which could not be more than +three hundred paces in front of us. We were stationed at some distance +to the right of the road, but the field presented no obstacle or +impediment to our attack; and thither now were our looks turned,--the +short road which would lead to victory or the grave. + +From my ambush I could see the two fieldpieces which commanded the road, +and beside which the artillerymen stood in patient attention. With what +a strange thrill I watched one of the party, as from time to time +he stooped down to blow the fuse beside the gun, and then seemed +endeavoring to peer into the valley, where all was still and noiseless! +As well as I could judge, our little party was nearest to the front; and +although a small clump to the left of the road offered a safe shelter +still nearer the enemy, I could not ascertain if it were occupied. + +Not a word was now spoken. All save the corporal looked eagerly towards +the enemy; he was watching for the signal, and knelt down with his drawn +sword at his side. The deathlike stillness of the moment, so unlike the +prelude to every movement in cavalry combat; the painful expectation +which made minutes like years themselves; the small number of the party, +so dissimilar to the closely crowded squadrons I was used to; but, +more than all, the want of a horse,--that most stirring of all the +excitements to heroism and daring,--unnerved me; and if my heart were +to have been interrogated, I sadly fear it would have brought little +corroboration to the song of the voltigeurs, which attributed so many +features of superiority to their arm of the service above the rest of +the army. + +A thousand and thousand times did I wish to be at the head of a cavalry +charge up that narrow road in face of those guns; ay, though the +mitraille should sweep the earth, there was that in the onward torrent +of the horseman's course that left no room for fear. But this cold and +stealthy approach, this weary watching, I could not bear. + +"See, see," whispered the corporal, as he pointed with his finger +towards the clump to the left of the road, "how beautifully done! there +goes another." + +As he spoke, I could perceive the dark shadow of something moving close +to the ground, and finally concealing itself in the brushwood, beneath +which now above twenty men lay hid. At the same instant a deep rolling +sound like far-off thunder was heard; and then louder still, but less +deep in volume, the rattling crash of musketry. At first the discharges +were more prolonged, and succeeded one another more rapidly; but +gradually the firing became less regular; then after an interval swelled +more fully again, and once more relaxed. + +"Listen!" said the corporal; "can't you hear the cheering? There again; +the skirmishers are falling back,--the fire is too heavy for them." + +"Which, the Prussians?" + +"To be sure, the Prussians. Hark! there was a volley; that was no +tirailleur discharge; the columns are advancing. Down, men, down!" +whispered he, as, excited by the sounds of musketry, some three or four +popped up their heads to listen. At the same instant a noise in front +drew our attention to that quarter; and we now saw that a party of horse +artillerymen were descending the road with a light eight-pounder gun, +which they were proceeding to place in position on a small knoll of +ground about eighty yards from the coppice I have mentioned. + +"How I could pick off that fellow on the gray horse," whispered a +soldier beside me to his comrade. + +"And bring the whole fire on us afterwards," said the other. + +"What can we be waiting for?" said the corporal, impatiently. "They are +making that place as strong as a fortress; and there, see if that is not +a reinforcement!" + +While he spoke, the heavy tramp of men marching announced the approach +of fresh troops; and by the bustle and noise within the farmhouse it was +clear the preparations for its defence were making with all the activity +the exigency demanded. + +It was past seven o'clock; but as the day broke more out, the heavy +fog increased, and soon grew so dense as to shut out from our view +the Prussian picket and the guns upon the road. Meanwhile the firing +continued at a distance, but, as it seemed, fainter than before. + +"Ha! there it comes now," said the corporal, as a shrill whistle was +heard to our left. "Look to your pieces, men! steady." There was a +pause; every ear was bent to listen, every breath drawn short, when +again he spoke. "That 's it. _En avant_, lads! _en avant!_" + +With the word he sprang forward, but still crouching, he went as if the +thick mist were not enough to conceal him. The men followed their leader +with cautious steps, their carbines in hand and bayonets fixed. For some +minutes we ascended the hill, gradually nearing the road, along which a +low bank offered a slight protection against fire. + +The corporal halted here for a second or two, when another whistle, so +faint as to be scarcely audible, was borne on the air. With a motion of +his hand forwards he gave the order to advance, and led the way along +the roadside. + +As we followed in single file, I found myself next the corporal, whose +every motion I watched with an intensity of interest I cannot convey. At +last he stopped and wheeled round; then, kneeling down, he levelled his +piece upon the low bank,--a movement quickly followed by all the rest +who in silence obeyed his signal. + +Directly in front of us now, and as it seemed not above a dozen yards +distant, the yellow glare of the artillery fuse could be dimly discerned +through the mist; thither every eye was bent and every musket pointed. +Thus we knelt with beating hearts, when suddenly several shots rang out +from the valley and the opposite side of the road; as quickly replied to +by the enemy, and a smart but irregular clattering of musketry followed. + +"Now," cried the corporal, aloud, "now, and all together!" + +And then with one long, stunning report, every gun was discharged, and a +wild cry of the wounded blended with the sounds as we cleared the fence +and dashed at the guns. + +"Down, men, down!" called our leader, as we jumped into the road. The +word was scarce uttered when a bright flash gleamed forth, a loud bang +succeeded, and we heard the grapeshot crushing down the valley and +tearing its way through the leaves and branches of the brushwood. + +"_En avant_, lads! now's your time!" cried the corporal, as he sprang to +his feet and led towards the gun. + +With one vigorous dash we pushed up the height, just as the cannoneers +were preparing to load. The gunners fell back, and a party of infantry +as quickly presented themselves. + +The mist happily concealed the smallness of our force, otherwise the +Prussians might have crushed us at once. For a second there was a pause; +then both sides fired, an irregular volley was discharged, and the +muskets were lowered to the charge. What must have been the fate of our +little party now there could be no doubt; when suddenly, through the +blue smoke which yet lingered near the guns, the bright gleaming of +bayonets was seen to flash, while the loud _vivas_ of our own soldiers +rent the air. + +So rapid was the rush, and so thronging did they come, it seemed as if +the very ground had given them up. With a cry of "Forward!" on we went; +the enemy retired and fell back behind the cover of the road, where they +kept up a tremendous fire upon the gun, to which now all our efforts +were directed, to turn against the walls of the farmhouse. + +The mist by this was cleared away, and we were exposed to the shattering +fire which was maintained not only along the road, but from every window +and crevice in the walls of the farmhouse. Our men fell fast,--several +badly wounded; for the distance was less than half musket-range, even to +the farthest. + +"The bayonet, men! the bayonet! Leave the gun, and sweep the road of +those fellows yonder!" said the major, as, vaulting over the fence, he +led the way himself. + +We were now reinforced, and numbered fully four companies; so that our +attack soon drove in the enemy, who retreated, still firing, within the +courtyard around the farmhouse. + +"Bring up the gun, lads, and we 'll soon breach them," said the major. +But, unhappily, the party to whom it was committed, being annoyed at the +service which kept them back when their companions were advancing, had +hurled the piece off its carriage, and rolled it down the mountain. + +With a muttered _sacre_ on their stupidity, the officer cried out to +scale the walls. If honor and rank and wealth had lain on the opposite +side, and not death and agony, they could not have obeyed with more +alacrity. Raised on one another's shoulders, the brave fellows mounted +the wall; but it was only to fall back again into their comrades' arms, +dead or mortally wounded. Still they pressed on: a reckless defiance of +danger had shut out every other thought; and their cheers grew wilder +and fiercer as the fire told upon them, while the shouts of triumph from +those within stimulated them to the verge of madness. + +"Stand back, men! stand back!" called the major; "down! I say." + +As he spoke, a dead silence followed; the men retreated behind the cover +of the fence, and lay down flat with their faces to the ground. A low, +hissing noise was then heard; and then, with a clap like thunder, the +strong gate was rent into fragments and scattered in blazing pieces +about the field. The crash of the petard was answered by a cheer wild as +a war-whoop, and onward the infuriated soldiers poured through the +still burning timbers. And now began a scene of carnage which only a +hand-to-hand encounter can ever produce. From every door and window the +Prussians maintained a deadly fire: but the onward tide of victory was +with us, and we poured down upon them with the bayonet; and as none +gave, none asked for, quarter, the work of death was speedy. To the +wild shouts of battle, the crash, the din, the tumult of the fight, a +dropping irregular fire succeeded; and then came the low, wailing cries +of the wounded, the groans of the dying, and all was over! We were the +victors; but what a victory! The garden was strewn with our dead; +the hall, the stairs, every room was covered with bodies of our brave +fellows, their rugged faces even sterner than in life. + +For some minutes it seemed as though our emotions had unnerved us all, +as we stood speechless, gazing on the fearful scene of bloodshed; when +the low rolling of drums, heard from the mountain side, startled every +listener. + +"The Prussians! the Prussians!" called out three or four voices +together. + +"No, no!" shouted Francois; "I was too long a tambour not to know that +beat; they 're our fellows." + +The drums rolled fuller and louder; and soon the head of a column +appeared peering over the ascent of the road. The sun shone brightly on +their gay uniforms and glancing arms, and the tall and showily-dressed +tambour-major stepped in advance with the proud bearing of a conqueror. + +"Form, men, and to the front!" said the major of the voltigeurs, who +knew that his place was in the advance, and felt a noble pride that he +had won it bravely. + +As the column came up the road, the voltigeurs, scattered along the road +on either side, advanced at a run. But no longer was there any obstacle +to their course; no enemy presented themselves in sight, and we mounted +the ascent without a single shot being fired. + +As I stopped for time to recover breath, I could not help turning to +behold the valley, which, now filled with armed men, was a grand and +a gorgeous sight. In long columns of attack they came, the artillery +filling the interspaces between them. A brilliant sunlight shone out; +and I could distinguish the different brigades, with whose colors I was +now familiar. Still my eye ranged over the field in search of cavalry, +the arm I loved above all others,--that which, more than all the rest, +revived the heroic spirit of the chivalrous ages, and made the horseman +feel the ancient ardor of the belted knight. But none were within sight. +Indeed, the very nature of the ground offered an obstacle to their +movement, and I saw that here, as at Austerlitz, the day was for the +infantry. + +Meanwhile we toiled up the height, and at length reached the crest of +the ridge. And then burst forth a sight such as all the grandeur I +had ever beheld of war had never presented the equal to. On a vast +tableland, slightly undulating on the surface, was drawn up the whole +Prussian army in battle array,--a splendid force of nigh thirty thousand +infantry, flanked by ten thousand sabres, the finest cavalry in Europe. +By some inconceivable error of tactics, they had offered no other +resistance to the French ascent of the mountain than the skirmishing +troops, which fell back as we came on; and even now they seemed to wait +patiently for the enemy to form before the conflict should begin. As our +columns crowned the hill they instantly deployed, to cover the advance +of those who followed: but the precaution seemed needless; for, except +at the extreme left, where we heard the firing before, the Prussian army +never moved a man, nor showed any disposition to attack. + +It was now nine o'clock; the sky clear and cloudless, and a bright +autumnal day permitted the eye to range for miles on every side. The +Prussian army, but forty thousand strong, was drawn up in the form of +an arch, presenting the convexity to our front; while our troops, ninety +thousand in number, overlapped them on either flank, and extended far +beyond them. + +The battle began by the advance of the French columns and the retreat +of the enemy,--both movements being accomplished without a shot being +fired, and the whole seeming the manoeuvres of a field-day. + +At length, as the Prussians took up the position they intended to +hold, their guns were seen moving to the front; squadrons of cavalry +disengaged themselves from behind the infantry masses; and then a +tremendous tire opened from the whole line. Our troops advanced _en +tirailleurs_,--that is, whole regiments thrown out in skirmishing +order,--which, when pressed, fell back, and permitted the columns to +appear. + +The division to which I found myself attached received orders to move +obliquely across the plain, in the direction of some cottages, which I +soon heard was the village of Vierzehn Heiligen, and the centre of the +Prussian position. A galling fire of artillery played upon the column +as it went; and before we accomplished half the distance, our loss was +considerable. More than once, too, the cry of "cavalry!" was heard; and +quick as the warning itself, we were thrown into square, to receive the +impetuous horsemen, who came madly on to the charge. Ney himself stood +in the squares, animating the men by his presence, and cheering them at +every volley they poured in. + +"Yonder, men! yonder is the centre of their position," said he, pointing +to the village, which now bristled with armed men, several guns upon +a height beyond it commanding the approach, and a cloud of cavalry +hovering near, to pounce down upon those who might be daring enough to +assail it. A wild cheer answered his words: both general and soldiers +understood each other well. + +In two columns of attack the division was formed; and then the word +"Forward!" was given. "Orderly time, men!" said General Dorsenne, who +commanded that with which I was; and, obedient to the order, the ranks +moved as if on parade. + +And now let me mention a circumstance, which, though trivial in +itself, presents a feature of the peculiar character of courage which +distinguished the French officer in battle. As the line advanced, the +fire of the Prussian battery, which by this had found out our range most +accurately, opened severely on us, but more particularly on the left; +and as the men fell fast, and the grapeshot tore through the ranks, a +wavering of the line took place, and in several places a broken front +was presented. Dorsenne saw it at once, and placing himself in front of +the advance, with his back towards the enemy, he called out, as if on +parade, "Close order--close order! Move up there--left, right--left, +right!" And so did he retire step by step, marking the time with +his sword, while the shot flew past and about him, and the earth was +scattered by the torrent of the grapeshot. Courage like this would seem +to give a charmed life, for while death was dealing fast around him, he +never received a wound. + +The village was attacked at the bayonet point, and at the charge the +enemy received us. So long as their artillery could continue its fire, +our loss was fearful; but once within shelter of the walls and close in +with the Prussian ranks, the firing ceased, and the struggle was hand to +hand. Twice did we win our way up the ascent; twice were we beaten back. +Strong reinforcements were coming up to the enemy's aid; when a +loud rolling of the drums and a hoarse cheer from behind revived our +spirits,--it was Lannes's division advancing at a run. They opened to +permit our retiring masses to re-form behind them, and then rushed on. A +crash of musketry rang out, and through the smoke the glancing bayonets +flashed and the red flame danced wildly. + +"En avant! en avant!" burst from every man, as, maddened with +excitement, we plunged into the fray. Like a vast torrent tumbling +from some mountain gorge, the column poured on, overwhelming all before +it,--now struggling for a moment, as some obstacle delayed, but could +not arrest, its march; now rushing headlong, it swept along. The village +was won; the Prussians fell back. Their guns opened fiercely on us, and +cavalry tore past, sabring all who sought not shelter within the walls: +but the post was ours, the key of their position was in our hands; and +Ney sent three messengers one after the other to the Emperor to let him +know the result, and enable him to push forward and attack the Prussian +centre. + +Suddenly a wild cry was heard from the little street of the village: the +houses were in flames. The Prussians had thrown in heated shells, and +the wooden roofs of the cottages caught up the fire. For an instant all +became, as it were, panic-struck, and a confused movement of retreat was +begun: but the next moment order was restored; the sappers scaled the +walls of the burning houses, and with their axes severed the timbers, +and suffered the blazing mass to fall within the buildings. + +But by this time the Prussians had re-formed their columns, and once +more advanced to the attack. The moment was in their favor: the disorder +of our ranks, and the sudden fear inspired by an unlooked-for danger +still continued, when they came on. Then, indeed, began a scene of +bloodshed the most horrible to witness: through the narrow streets, +within the gardens, the houses themselves, the combatants fought hand +to hand; neither would give way; neither knew on which side lay their +supporting columns. It was the terrible carnage of deadly animosity on +both sides. + +Meanwhile the flames burst forth anew, and amid the crackling of the +burning timbers and the dense smoke of the lighted thatch, the fight +went on. + +"Vandamme! Vandamme!" cried several voices, in ecstasy; "here come the +grenadiers!" And, true enough, the tall shakos peered through the blue +cloud. + +"Hurrah for the Faubourg!" shouted a wild voltigeur, as he waved his cap +and sprang forward. "Let us not lose the glory now, boys!" + +The appeal was not made in vain. From every window and doorway the men +leaped down into the street, and rushed at the Prussian column, which +was advancing at the charge. Suddenly the column opened, a rushing +sound was heard, and down with the speed of lightning rode a squadron +of cuirassiers. Over us they tore, sabring as they went, nor halted till +the head of Vandamme's column poured in a volley. Then wheeling, they +galloped back, trampling on our wounded, and dealing death with their +broadswords. + +As for me, a sabre-cut in the head had stunned me; and while I leaned +for support against the wall of a house, a horseman tore past, and with +one vigorous cut he cleft open my shoulder. I staggered back and fell, +covered with bloody upon the door-sill. I saw our column pass on, +cheering, and heard the wild cry, "En avant I en avant!" swelling from +a thousand voices; and then, faint and exhausted, my senses reeled, and +the rest was like an indistinct dream. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. A FRAGMENT OF A MAITRE d'ARMES EXPERIENCES + +Stunned, and like one but half awake, I followed the tide of marching +men which swept past like a mighty river, the roar of the artillery and +the crash of battle increasing the confusion of my brain. All distinct +memory of the remainder of the day is lost to me. I can recollect +the explosion of several wagons of the ammunition train, and how the +splinters wounded several of those around me; I also have a vague, +dreamy sense of being hurried along at intervals, and then seeing masses +of cavalry dash past. But the great prevailing thought above all others +is, of leaning over the edge of a charrette, where I lay with some +wounded soldiers, to watch the retreat of the Prussians, as they were +pursued by Murat's cavalry. Francois was at my side, and described to +me the great events of the battle; but though I seemed to listen, the +sounds fell unregarded on my ear. Even now, it seems to me like a dream; +and the only palpable idea before me is the heated air, the dark and +lowering sky, And the deafening thunder of the guns. + +It is well known how the victory of Jena was crowned by the glorious +issue of the battle of Auerstadt, where the main body of the Prussians, +under the command of the king himself, was completely beaten by Davoust +with a force not half their number. The two routed armies crossed in +their flight, while the headlong fury of the French cavalry pressed down +on them; nor did the terrible slaughter cease till night gave respite to +the beaten. + +The victors and the vanquished entered Weimar together, a distance of +full six leagues from the field of battle. All struggle had long ceased. +An unresisting massacre it was; and such was the disappointment and +anger of the people of the country, that the Prussian officers were +frequently attacked and slain by the peasantry, whose passionate +indignation made them suspect treachery in the result of the battle. + +All whose wounds were but slight, and whose health promised speedy +restoration, were mounted into wagons taken from the enemy, and sent +forward with the army. Among this number I found myself, and that same +night slept soundly and peacefully in the straw of the charrette in +which I travelled from Jena. + +The Emperor's headquarters were established at Weimar, and thither all +the ambulances were conveyed; while the marshals, with their several +divisions, were sent in pursuit of the enemy. As for myself, before the +week elapsed, I was sufficiently recovered to move about; for happily +the stunning effects which immediately followed the injury were its +worst consequences, and my wound in the shoulder proved but trifling. + +"And so you are determined to join the cavalry again?" said Francois, +as he sat by my side under a tree, where a cheerful fire of blazing +wood had drawn several to enjoy its comfort. "That is what I cannot +comprehend by any stretch of ingenuity,--how a man who has once seen +something of voltigeur life can go back to the dull routine of dragoon +service." + +"Perhaps I have had enough of skirmishing, Francois," said I, smiling. + +"Is it of that knock on the pate you speak?" said he, contemptuously. +"Bah! the heavy shako you wear would give a worse headache. Come, come; +think better on 't. I can tell you"--here he lowered his voice to a +whisper--"I can tell you, Burke, the major noticed the manner you +held your ground in the old farmhouse. I heard him refuse to send a +reinforcement when the Prussians made their second attack. 'No, no,' +said he; 'that hussar fellow yonder does his work so well, he wants no +help from us.' When he said that, my friend, be assured your promotion +is safe enough. You were made for a voltigeur." + +"Come, Francois, it's no use; all your flattery won't make me desert. +I 'll try and join my brigade to-morrow; that is, if I can find them." + +"You never told me in what way you first became separated from your +corps. How was it?" + +"There's something of a secret there, Francois; you mustn't ask me." + +"Ah, I understand," said he, with a knowing look, and a gesture of his +hand, as if making a pass with his sword. "Did you kill him?" + +"No, not exactly," said I, laughing. + +"Merely gave him that pretty lunge _en tierce_ you favored me with," +said he, putting his hand on his side. + +"Nor even that." + +"_Diable!_ then how was it?" + +"I have told you it was a secret." + +"Secret! Confound it, man, there are no secrets in a campaign, except +when the military chest is empty or the commissary falls short of grub; +these are the only things one ever thinks of hushing up. Come, out with +it!" + +"Well, if it must be, I may as well have the benefit of your advice. So +draw closer, for I don't wish the rest to hear it." + +In as few words as I was able, I explained to Francois the circumstances +of the night march, and the manner of my meeting with the Emperor at the +ravine, where the artillery train was stopped. But when I came to the +incident of the picket, and mentioned how, in rescuing the Emperor, my +horse had been killed under me, he could no longer restrain himself, but +turned to the rest, who, to the number of fifteen or sixteen, sat around +the fire, and burst forth,-- + +"_Mille tonnerres!_ but the boy is a fool!" And then, before I could +interpose a word, blurted out the whole adventure to the company. + +There was no use now to attempt any concealment at all; neither was +there to feel anger at his conduct. One would have been as absurd as +the other; and so I had to endure, as best I could, the various comments +that were passed on my behavior, on the prudence of which certainly no +second opinion existed. + +"You must be right certain of promotion, Captain," said an old sergeant, +with a gray beard and mustache, "or you wouldn't refuse such a chance as +that." + +"_Diable!_" cried Francois; "don't you see he wouldn't accept of it. +He is too proud to wait on the Petit Caporal, though he asked him to do +so." + +"He 'd have given you the cross of the Legion anyhow," said another. + +"Ay, by Jove!" exclaimed the riding-master of a dragoon regiment, "and +sent him a remount from his own stud." + +"And you think that modesty!" said Francois, whose indignation at my +folly knew no bounds. "_Par Saint Joseph!_ if I'd been as modest, it's +not maitre d'armes of a voltigeur battalion I 'd be to-day; though I may +say, without boasting, I'm not afraid to cross a rapier with any man in +the army. No, no; that's not the way I managed." + +"How was that, Maitre Francois?" said a young officer, who felt curious +to learn the circumstance to which he seemed to attach a story. + +"If the honorable society cares to hear it," said Francois, uncovering, +and bowing courteously to all around, "I shall have great pleasure in +recounting a little incident of my life." + +A general cry of acclamation and "bravo" met the polite proposal; while +Francois, accepting a _goutte_ from a canteen presented to him, began +thus:-- + +"I began my soldier's life at the first step of the ladder. I was a +drummer-boy at Jemappes; and, when I grew old enough to exchange the +drumstick for the sword, I was attached to the _chasseurs a cheval_, and +went with them to Egypt. I could tell you some strange stories of +our doings there,--I don't mean with the Turks, mark you, but amongst +ourselves,--for we had little affairs with the sword almost every +day; and I soon showed them I was their master. But that is not to the +purpose; what I am about to speak of happened in this wise. + +"At break of day, one morning, the picket to which I was joined received +orders to mount, and accompany the general along the bank of the Nile +to the village of Chebrheis, where we heard that a Mameluke force were +assembling, whose strength and equipment it was important to ascertain. +Our horses were far from fresh when we started; the day previous had +been spent in a fatiguing march from Rhemanieh, crossing a dreary +desert, with hot sands and no water. But General Bonaparte always +expected us to turn out, as if we had got a general remount; and so we +made the best of it, and set out in as good style as we could. We had +not gone above a league and a half, however, when we found that the +slapping pace of the general had left the greater part of the escort out +of sight; and of a score of four squadrons, not above twenty horsemen +were present. + +"The Emperor--you know he was only general then, but it 's all the +same--laughed heartily when he found he had outridden the rest; indeed, +for that matter, he laughed at our poor blown beasts, that shook on +every limb, and seemed like to push their spare, gaunt bones through the +trappings with which, for shame's sake, we endeavored to cover them. But +his joke was but shortlived; for just then, from behind the wall of an +old ruined temple--whiz!--there came a shattering volley of musketry in +the midst of us; the only miracle is how one escaped. The next moment +there was a wild hurrah, and we beheld some fifty Mameluke fellows, +all glittering with gold, coming down full speed on us, on their Arab +chargers. _Mille cadavres!_ what was to be done? Nothing, you'd say, but +run for it. And so we should have done, if the beasts were able: but not +a bit of it; they couldn't have raised a gallop if Mourad Bey had been +there with his whole army. And so we put a good face on it, and drew up +across the way, and looked as if going to charge. Egad! the Turks were +amazed. They halted up short, and stared about them to see what infantry +or artillery there might be coming up to our assistance, so boldly did +we hold our ground. + +"'We'll keep them in check, General,' said the officer of the picket. +'Lose no time now, but make a dash for it, and you'll get away.' And so, +without more ado, Bonaparte turned his horse's head round, and, driving +his spurs into him, set out at top speed. + +"This was the signal for the Mameluke charge; and down they came. +_Sacristi!_ how the infidels rode us down! Over and over our fellows +rolled, men and horses together, while they slashed with their keen +cimeters on every side; few needed a second cut, I warrant you. + +[Illustration: 296] + +"By some good fortune, my beast kept his legs in the _melee_, and, with +even better luck, got so frightened that he started off, and struck out +in full gallop after the general, who, about two hundred paces in front +of me, was dashing along, pursued by a Mameluke, with a cimeter held +over his head. The Turk's horse, however, was wounded, and could not +gain even on the tired animal before him, while mine was at every stride +overtaking him. + +"The Mameluke, hearing the clatter behind, turned his head. I seized the +moment, and discharged my only remaining pistol at him,--alas! without +effect. With a wild war-cry the fellow swerved round and came down upon +me, intending to take my horse in flank, and hurl me over. But the good +beast plunged forward, and my enemy passed behind, and only grazed the +haunches as he went; the moment after he was at my side. _Parbleu!_ I +did n't like the companionship. I knew every turn of a broadsword or a +rapier well; but a curved cimeter, keen as a razor, of Damascus steel, +glittering and glistening over my head, was a different thing: the great +dark eyes of the fellow, too, glared like balls of fire, and his white +teeth were clenched. With a swing of his blade over his head, so loosely +done I thought he had almost flung the weapon from his hand, he aimed +a cut at my neck; but, quick as lightning, I dropped upon the mane, +and the sharp blade shaved the red feather from my shako, and sent it +floating in the air, while, with a straight point, I ran him through +the body, and heard his death-shout as he fell bathed in blood upon the +sands. The general saw him fall, and cried out something; but I could +not hear the words, nor, to say truth, did I care much at the time: my +happiest thought just then was to see the remainder of the escort, which +we had left behind, coming up at a smart canter. + +"The Turks no sooner perceived them than they wheeled and fled; and so we +returned to the camp, with a loss of some twenty brave fellows, and none +the wiser for all our trouble. + +"'What shall I do for you, friend?' said the general to me, as I stood +by his orders at the door of his tent, 'what shall I do for you?' + +"_Ma foi!_ said I, with a shrug of my shoulders, 'I can't well say at a +moment; perhaps the best thing would be to promise you 'd never take +me as one of your escort when you make such an expedition as this +morning's.' + +"'No, no, I 'll not say that. Who are you? What's your grade?' + +"'Francois, maitre d'armes of the Fourth Chasseurs of the Guard,' said +I, proudly. And, indeed, I thought he might have known me without the +question. + +"'Ah, indeed!' replied he, gravely. 'Promotion is then of no use here; +a maitre d'armes, like a general of division, is at the top of the tree. +Come, I have it; a fellow of your sort is never out of scrapes,--always +duelling and quarrelling, under arrest three days in every week; I know +you well. Now, Maitre Francois, I 'll forgive you the first time you ask +me for any offence within my power to pardon. Go; you are satisfied with +that promise,--is it not so?' + +"'Yes, General; and I'll soon jog your memory about it,' said I, +saluting and retiring from the tent. + +"I see some old 'braves' of the Pyramids about me now," continued +Francois, "and so I need not dwell on the events of the campaign. You +all know how General Bonaparte left the army to Kleber, and went back to +France; and somehow we never had much luck after that. But so it was, I +came back with the regiment, and was at the battle of Marengo when our +brigade captured four guns of Skal's battery, and carried off eleven of +their officers our prisoners. You'd wonder now, Comrades, how that piece +of good fortune should turn out so ill for me; but such was the case. +After the battle was gained, General Bonaparte retired to Gerofola with +his staff, and I was ordered to proceed after him, with the Hauptmann +Klingenswert of the Austrian army,--one of our prisoners who had served +on Melas's staff, and knew everything about the effective strength of +the army and all their plans. + +"We set off at daybreak. It was in June, and a lovely morning too; and +as my prisoner was an officer and a man of honor, I took no escort, but +rode along at his side. We halted at noon to dine in a little grove of +cedars, where I opened my canteen and spread the contents on the grass: +and after regaling ourselves pleasantly, we lighted our meerschaums +and chatted away like old comrades over the war and its chances. A more +agreeable fellow than the Austrian I never met. He told me his whole +history, and I told him mine; and we drank Bruederschaft together, and +swore I don't know how many eternal friendships. The devil was just +amusing himself with us all this time though, as you 'll see presently; +for we soon got into an argument about the charge in which our brigade +captured the guns. He said that if the ammunition had not failed we +never would have dared the attack; and I swore that the discharges were +pouring in while we rode down on the battery. + +"We grew warm with the dispute, and drank deeper to cool us; and, what +between the wine and our own passion, we became downright angry, and +went so far as to interchange something not like Bruederschaft. + +"'Ah, how unfortunate I always am!' said I, sighing. 'If I had only the +good luck to be the prisoner now, and you the escort--' + +"'What then?' said he. + +"'How easily, and how pleasantly too, could we settle this little +affair. The ground is smooth as velvet; there is no sun; all still, and +quiet, and peaceful.' + +"'No, no,' said the Austrian; 'I couldn't do what you propose,--I should +be dishonored forever if I took such an advantage of you. You must +know, Francois,' for he called me so, recurring at once to his tone of +kindliness, 'I am the first swordsman of my brigade.' + +"I could scarcely avoid throwing myself into his arms as he spoke; never +was there such a piece of fortune. 'And I,' cried I, in ecstasy, 'I the +first of the whole French army!' You know, Comrades, I only said that +_en gascon_, and to afford him the greater pleasure in our _rencontre_. + +"We soon measured our swords and threw off our jackets. 'Francois,' said +he, 'I ought to mention to you that my lunge _en tierce_ is my famous +stroke; I rarely miss running my adversary through the chest with it.' + +"'I know the trick well,' said I; 'take care of my "pass" outside the +guard.' + +"'Oh! if that's your game,' said he, laughing, 'I'll make short work of +it. Now, to begin.' + +"'All ready,' said I; 'en garde!' And we crossed our weapons. For +a German he was a capital swordsman, and had a very pretty trick of +putting in his point over the hilt, and wounding the sword-arm; but if +it had not been for all the wine I drank the affair would have been over +in a second or two. As it was, we both fenced loose, and without any +judgment whatever. + +"'Ah! you got that,' said I, 'at last!' as I pierced him in the back, +outside the guard. + +"'No, no!' cried he, passionately; for his temper was up, and he would +not confess a touch. + +"'Well, then, that's home!' said I, thrusting beneath his hilt, till the +blood spurted out along my blade and even in my eyes. + +"'Yes, that's home,' said he, staggering back, while one of his legs +crossed over the other, and he fell heavily on the grass. I stooped down +to feel his heart; and as I did so my senses failed, my limbs tottered, +and I rolled headlong over him. Truth was, I was badly wounded, though I +never knew when; for his sword had entered my chest, beneath a rib, and +cut some large vessels in the lungs. + +"The end of it all was, the Austrian was buried, and I was broke the +service without pay or pension, my wound being declared by the doctors +an incapacity to serve in future. + +"Comrades, we often hear men talk of the happy day before them when they +shall leave the army and throw off the knapsack, and give up the musket +for the mattock. Well, trust me, it's no such pleasure as they deem it, +after all. There was I, turned loose upon the world, with nothing but a +suit of ragged clothes my comrades made up amongst them, my old rapier, +and a bad asthma. Such was my stock-in-trade, to begin life anew, at the +age of forty-seven. And so, I set out on my weary way back to Paris." + +"Didn't you try your chance with the Petit Caporal first?" asked one of +the listeners. + +"To be sure I did. I sent him a long petition, setting forth the whole +circumstance, and detailing every minute particular of the duel; but I +received it back, unopened,--with Duroc's name, and the word 'Rejected,' +on the back. + +"It is strange-how unfit we old soldiers are for any occupation in a +civil way, when we 've spent half a lifetime campaigning. When I reached +Paris, I could almost have wedged myself into the scabbard of my +sword. Long marches and short rations had told heavily on me; and the +custom-house officer at the barrier told me to pass on, without ever +stopping to see that I carried no contraband goods about me. + +"I had a miserable time enough of it for twelve or fourteen months. +The only way of support I could find was teaching recruits the sword +exercise; and you know they could n't be very liberal in their rewards +for the service. But even this poor trade was soon interdicted, as the +police reported that I encouraged the young soldiers to fight duels,--a +great offence, truly! But you see everything went unluckily with me at +that time. + +"What was to become of me now I couldn't tell; when an old comrade, +pensioned off from Moreau's army, had interest to get me appointed +supernumerary, as they call it, in the Grand Opera, where I used to +perform as a Roman soldier, or a friar, or a peasant, or some such +thing, for five francs a week. Not a sou more had I, and the duty was +heavier than on active service. + +"After two years, the 'big drum' died of a rheumatic fever, from beating +a great solo in a new German Opera, and I was promoted to his place; +for by this time I was quite recovered from the effects of my wound, and +could use my arms as well as ever. + +"Some of the honorable company may remember the first night that +Napoleon visited the Grand Opera after he was named Emperor. It was a +glorious sight, and one can never forget it. The whole house was filled +with generals and field-marshals: it was a grand field-day, by the glare +of ten thousand wax-lights. And the Empress was there, and her whole +suite, and all the prettiest women in France. Little time had I to look +at them, though; for there was I, in the corner of the orchestra, with +my big drum before me, on which I was to play the confounded thing that +killed the other fellow. + +"It was a strange performance, sure enough: for in the midst of a great +din and crash, came a dead pause; and then I was to strike three solemn +bangs on the drum,--to be followed by a succession of blows, fast +as lightning, for five minutes. This was the composer's notion of a +battle,--distant firing! Heaven bless his heart! I was wishing he 'd +seen some of it. This was to come on in the second act, up to which time +I had nothing to do. + +"Why do I say nothing? I had to gaze at the Petit Caporal, who sat there +in the box over my head, looking as stern and as thoughtful as ever, and +not minding much what the Empress said, though she kept prattling into +his ear all the time, and trying to attract his attention. _Parbleu!_ he +was not thinking of all the nonsense before him,--his mind was on real +battles: he had seen real smoke,--that he had! He was fatter and paler +than he used to be; and I thought, too, his frown was darker than when +I saw him last: but, to be sure, that was at Marengo, and he ever looked +pleased on the field of battle. I could n't take my eyes from him: his +fine thoughtful face, so full of determination and energy, reminded me +of my old days of campaigning. I thought of Areola and Rivoli, of Cairo +and the Pyramids, and the great charge at Marengo when Desaix's division +came up,--and my heart was nigh bursting when I remembered that I wore +the epaulette no longer. I forgot, too, where I was; and expected every +instant to hear him call for one of the marshals, or see him stretch out +his hand to point to a distant part of the field. And so absorbed was I +in my reveries, that I had neither eyes nor ears for anything around +me; when suddenly all the din of the orchestra ceased,--not a sound was +heard; and a hand rudely shook me by the arm, while a voice whispered, +'Now! now!' + +[Illustration: 303] + +"Mechanically I seized the drumsticks. But my eyes still were riveted +in the Emperor,--my whole heart and soul were centred in him. Again +the voice called to me to begin; and a low murmur of angry meaning ran +through the orchestra. + +"I sprang to my legs, and in the excitement of the moment, losing all +memory of time and place, I rolled out the _pas de charge!_ + +"Scarce had the first _roulade_ of the well-known sounds reverberated +through the house, when one cry of 'Vive l'Empereur!' burst forth. It +was not a cheer; it was the heart-given outbreak of ten thousand devoted +followers. Marshals, generals, colonels, ambassadors, ministers, all +joined; and the vast assembly rocked to and fro like the sea in a +storm, while Napoleon himself, slowly rising, bent his proud head in +acknowledgment, and then sat down again amid the thundering shouts of +acclamation. It was full twenty minutes before the piece could proceed; +and even then momentary outbreaks of enthusiasm would occur to interrupt +it, and continued to burst forth till the curtain fell. + +"Just then an aide-de-camp appeared beside the orchestra, and ordered +me to the Emperor's box. _Satristi!_how I trembled! I did n't know what +might come of it. + +"'Ah, _coquin!_ said he, as I stood ready to drop with fear at the door +of the box, 'this has been one of thy doings, eh?' + +"'Yes, Sire,' muttered I in a half whisper. + +"'And how hast thou dared to spoil an opera in this fashion?' said he, +frowning fiercely. 'Answer me, sirrah!' + +"'It was your Majesty's fault,' said I, becoming reckless of all +consequences. 'You did n't seem to care much for all their scraping and +blowing, and so I thought the old _roulade_ might raise you a bit. You +used to like it once; and might still, if the times be not altered.' + +"'And they are not,' said he, sternly. 'Who art thou, that seem'st to +know me thus well?' + +"'Old Francois, that was maitre d'armes of the Fourth in Egypt, and who +saved you from the stroke of a Mameluke sabre at Chebrheis.' + +"'What! the fellow who killed an Austrian prisoner after Marengo? Why, I +thought thee dead.' + +"'Better for me I had been!' said I. 'You would n't read my petition. +('Yes, you may frown away, General,' said I to Duroc, who kept glowering +at me like a tiger.) I began life at the tambour; I have come down to it +again. You can't bring me lower, _parbleu!_ + +"The Emperor whispered something to the Empress, who turned round +towards me and laughed; and then he made a sign for me to withdraw. +Before I had got a dozen paces from the box, an aide-de-camp overtook +me. + +"'Francois,' said he, 'you are to appear before the medical commission +to-morrow; and if their report be favorable, you are to have your old +grade of maitre d'armes.' + +"And so it was. Not only was I restored, but they even placed me in the +same regiment I served in during the campaigns of Egypt and Italy. The +corps, however, was greatly changed since I knew it before; and so +I asked the Emperor to appoint me to a voltigeur battalion, where +discipline is not so rigid, and pleasant comrades are somewhat more +plentiful. I had my wish, gentlemen. And now, with your permission, +we'll drink the 'Faubourg St. Antoine,' the cradle of our arm of the +service." + +In repeating Maitre Francois's tale, I could only wish it might have +one half the success with my reader it met with from his comrades of the +bivouac. This, however, I cannot look for, and must leave it and him to +their fortunes, and now turn to follow the course of my own. + +Francois was not the only one who felt surprised at my being able to +resist the pleasures of a voltigeurs life; and my companion the corporal +looked upon my determination to join the hussar brigade as one of those +extraordinary instances of duty predominating over inclination. "Not," +said he, "but there may be brave fellows and good soldiers among the +dragoons; though having a horse to ride is a sore drawback on a man's +courage. And when one has felt the confidence of standing face to face, +and foot to foot, with the enemy, I cannot see how he can ever bring +himself to fight in any other fashion." + +"A man can accustom himself to anything, Corporal," said an old, +hardy-looking soldier, who sat smoking with the most profound air of +thoughtful reflection. "I remember being in the 'dromedary brigade' at +Cairo. Few of us could keep our seats at first; and when we fell off, +it was often hard enough to resist the Mamelukes and hold the beasts +besides; but even that we learned with time." + +This explanation, little flattering as it was to the cavalry, seemed to +convince the listeners that time, which smoothes so many difficulties, +will even make a man content to be a dragoon. + +"Well, since you will not be 'of ours,'" said Francois, "let us drink a +parting cup, and say good-by, for I hear the bugle sounding the call." + +"A health to the 'Faubourg St. Antoine,' boys!" cried I, and a hearty +cheer re-echoed the toast; and with many a shake-hands, and many a +promise of welcome whenever I saw the error of my ways sufficiently to +doff the dolman for the voltigeur's jacket, I took leave of the gallant +Twenty-second, and set out towards Weimar. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. BERLIN AFTER "JENA." + +As the battle of Austerlitz was the deathblow to the empire of Austria, +so with the defeat at Jena did Prussia fall, and that great kingdom +became a prey to the conquering Napoleon. Were this a fitting place, +it might be curious to inquire into the causes which involved a ruin so +sudden and so complete; and how a vast and highly organized army seemed +at one fell stroke annihilated and destroyed. + +The victories of Jena and Auerstadt, great and decisive as they were, +were nevertheless inadequate to such results; and if the genius of the +Emperor had not been as prompt to follow up as to gain a battle, they +never would have occurred. But scarcely had the terrible contest ceased, +when he sent for the Saxon officers who were taken prisoners, and +addressing them in a tone of kindness, declared at once that they were +at liberty and might return to their homes, first pledging their words +not to carry arms against France or her allies. One hundred and twenty +officers of different grades, from lieutenant-general downwards, gave +this promise and retired to their own country, extolling the generosity +of Napoleon. This first step was soon followed up by another and more +important one; negotiations were opened with the Elector of Saxony, +and the title of king offered to him on condition of his joining the +Confederacy of the Rhine; and thus once more the artful policy already +pursued with regard to Bavaria in the south, was here renewed in the +north of Germany, and with equal success. + +This deep-laid scheme deprived the Prussian army of eighteen thousand +men, and that on the very moment when defeat and disaster had spread +their demoralizing influences through the entire army. Several of their +greatest generals were killed, many more dreadfully or fatally wounded: +Prince Louis, Ruchel, Schmettau, among the former; the Duke of Brunswick +and Prince Henry both severely wounded. The Duke survived but a few +days, and these in the greatest suffering; Marshal Moellendorf, the +veteran of nigh eighty years, had his chest pierced by a lance. Here was +misfortune enough to cause dismay and despair; for unhappily the nation +itself was but an army in feeling and organization, and with defeat +every hope died out and every arm was paralyzed. The patriotism of the +people had taken its place beneath a standard, which when once lowered +before a conqueror, nothing more remained. Such is the destiny of a +military monarchy: its only vitality is victory; the hour of disaster is +its deathblow. + +The system of a whole corps capitulating, which the Prussians had not +scrupled to sneer at when occurring in Austria, now took place here with +even greater rapidity. Scarcely a day passed that some regiment did not +lay down their arms, and surrender _sur parole_. A panic spread through +the whole length and breadth of the land; places of undoubted strength +were surrendered as insecure and untenable. No rest nor respite was +allowed the vanquished: the gay plumes of the lancers fluttered over the +vast plains in pursuit; columns of infantry poured in every direction +through the kingdom; and the eagles glittered in every town and every +village of conquered Prussia. + +Never did the spirit of Napoleon display itself more pitiless than in +this campaign; for while in his every act he evinced a determination to +break down and destroy the nation, the "Moniteur" at Paris teemed with +articles in derision of the army whose bravery he should never have +questioned. Even the gallant leaders themselves--old and scarred +warriors--were contemptuously described as blind and infatuated +fanatics, undeserving of clemency or consideration. Not thus should he +have spoken of the noble Prince Louis and the brave Duke of Brunswick; +they fought in a good cause, and they met the death of gallant soldiers. +"I will make their nobles beg their bread upon the highways!" was +the dreadful sentence he uttered at Weimar. And the words were never +forgotten. + +The conduct and bearing of the Emperor was the more insulting from its +contrast with that of his marshals and generals, many of whom could not +help acknowledging in their acts the devotion and patriotism of their +vanquished foes. Murat lost no occasion to evince this feeling; and +sent eight colonels of his own division to carry the pall at General +Schmettau's funeral, who was interred with all the honors due to one who +had been the companion of the Great Frederick himself. + +Soult, Bernadotte, Augereau, Ney, and Davoust, with the several corps +under their command, pursued the routed forces with untiring hostility. +In vain did the King of Prussia address a supplicating letter asking for +a suspension of arms. Napoleon scarcely deigned a reply, and ordered the +advanced guard to march on Berlin. + +But a year before and he had issued his royal mandates from the palace +of the Caesars; and he burned now to date his bulletins from the palace +of the Great Frederick. And on the tenth day after the battle of Jena +the troops of Lannes's division bivouacked in the plain around Potsdam. +I had joined my brigade the day previous, and entered Berlin with them +on the morning of the 23d of October. + +The preparations for a triumphal entry were made on the day before; and +by noon the troops approached the capital in all the splendor of full +equipment. First came the grenadiers of Oudinot's brigade,--one of +the finest corps in the French army; their bright yellow facings +and shoulder-knots had given them the _sobriquet_ of the _Grenadiers +jaunes_: they formed part of Davonst's force at Auerstadt, and were +opposed to the Prussian guard in the greatest shock of the entire day. +After them came two battalions of the _Chasseurs a pied_,--a splendid +body of infantry, the remnant of four thousand who went into battle +on the morning of the 15th. Then followed a brigade of artillery, +each gun-carriage surmounted by a Prussian standard. These again were +succeeded by the red lancers of Berg, with Murat himself at their +head; for they were his own regiment, and he felt justly proud of such +followers: the grand duke was in all the splendor of his full dress, and +wore a Spanish hat, looped up, with an immense brilliant in front, and +a plume of ostrich feathers floated over his neck and shoulders. Two +hundred and forty chosen men of the Imperial Guard marched two and +two after these, each carrying a color taken from the enemy in battle. +Nansouty's cuirassiers came next; they had suffered severely at Jena, +and were obliged to muster several of their wounded men to fill up the +gaps in their squadrons. Then there were the horse artillery brigade, +whose uniforms and equipments, notwithstanding every effort to +conceal it, showed the terrible effects of the great battle. General +d'Auvergne's division, with the hussars and the light cavalry attached, +followed. These were succeeded by the voltigeurs, and eight battalions +of the Imperial Guard,--whose ranks were closed up with the _Grenadiers +a cheval_, and more artillery,--in all, a force of eighteen thousand, +the _elite_ of the French army. + +Advancing in orderly time, they came,--no sound heard save the dull +reverberation of the earth as it trembled beneath the columns, when +the hoarse challenge to "halt" was called from rank to rank as often as +those in the rear pressed on the leading files; but as they reached the +Brandenburg gate, the band of each regiment burst forth, and the wide +Platz resounded with the clang of martial music. + +In front of the palace stood the Emperor, surrounded by his staff, which +was joined in succession by each general of brigade as his corps moved +by. A simple acknowledgment of the military salute was all Napoleon gave +as each battalion passed,--until the small party of the Imperial Guard +appeared, bearing the captured colors. Then his proud features relaxed, +his eye flashed and sparkled, and he lifted his chapeau straight above +his head, and remained uncovered the whole time they were marching past. +This was the moment when enthusiasm could no longer be restrained, and a +cry of "Vive l'Empereur!" burst forth, that, caught up by those behind, +rose in ten thousand echoes along the distant suburbs of Berlin. + +To look upon that glorious and glittering band, bronzed with battle, +their proud faces lit up with all the pride of victory, was indeed a +triumph; and one instinctively turned to see the looks of wondering +and admiration such a sight must have inspired. But with what sense of +sadness came the sudden thought: this is the proud exultation of the +conqueror over the conquered; here come no happy faces and bright looks +to welcome those who have rescued them from slavery; here are no voices +calling welcome to the deliverer. No: it was a people crushed and +trodden down; their hard-won laurels tarnished and dishonored; their +country enslaved; their monarch a wanderer, no one knew where. Little +thought they who raised the statue of brass to the memory of the Great +Frederick, that the clank of French musketry would be heard around it. +Rossbach was, indeed, avenged,--and cruelly avenged. + +Never did a people behave with more dignity under misfortune than the +Prussians on the entrance of the French into their capital. The streets +were deserted; the houses closed; the city was in mourning; and +none stooped to the slavish adulation which might win favor with the +conqueror. It was a triumph; but there were none to witness it. Of the +nobles, scarce one remained in Berlin. They had fallen in battle, or +followed the fortunes of their beaten army, now scattered and dispersed +through the kingdom. Their wives and daughters, in deepest mourning, +bewailed their ruined country as they would the death of a dearest +friend. They cut off their blonde locks, and sorrowed like those without +a hope. Their great country was to be reduced to the rank of a mere +German province; their army disbanded; their king dethroned. Such +was the contrast to our hour of triumph; such the sad reverse to the +gorgeous display of our armed squadrons. + +Scarcely had the Emperor established his headquarters at Potsdam than +the whole administration of the kingdom was begun to be placed under +French rule. Prefects were appointed to different departments of the +kingdom; a heavy contribution was imposed upon the nation; and all the +offices of the state were subjected to the control of persons named by +the Emperor. + +Among these, the first in importance was the post-office; for, while +every precaution was taken that no interruption should occur in the +transmission of the mails as usual, a _cabinet noir_ was established +here, as at Paris, whose function it was to open the letters of +suspected persons, and make copies of them; the latter, indeed, were +often so skilfully executed as to be forwarded to the address, while the +originals were preserved as "proofs" against parties, if it were found +necessary to accuse them afterwards. (And here I might mention that the +art of depositing metals in a mould by galvanic process was known and +used in imitating and fabricating the seals of various writers, many +years before the discovery became generally known in Europe.) + +The invasion of private right involved in this breach of trust gave, as +might be supposed, the greatest offence throughout the kingdom. But the +severity with which every case of suspicious meaning was followed up and +punished converted the feelings of indignation and anger into those of +fear and trepidation. For this was ever part of Napoleon's policy: the +penalty of any offence was made to exclude the sense of ridicule its +own littleness might have created, and men felt indisposed to jest where +their mirth might end in melancholy. + +The most remarkable case, and that which more than any other impressed +the public mind of the period, was that of the Prince de Hatzfeld, whose +letter to the King of Prussia was opened at the post-office, and made +the subject of a capital charge against him. Its contents were, as +might be imagined from the channel of transmission, not such as could +substantiate any treasonable intention on his part. A respectful homage +to his dethroned sovereign; a detail of the mournful feeling experienced +throughout his capital; and some few particulars of the localities +occupied by the French troops, was the entire. And for this he was tried +and condemned to death,--a sentence which the Emperor commanded to be +executed before sunset that same day. Happily for the fate of the noble +prince, as for the fair fame of Napoleon, both Duroc and Rapp were +ardently attached to him, and at their earnest entreaties his life was +spared. But the impression which the circumstances made upon the minds +of the inhabitants was deep and lasting; and there was a day to come +when all these insults were to be remembered and avenged. If I advert +to the occurrence here, it is because I have but too good reason to bear +memory of it, influencing, as it did, my own future fortunes. + +It chanced that one evening, when sitting in a cafe with some of my +brother officers, the subject of the Prince de Hatzfeld's offence +was mooted; and in the unguarded freedom with which one talks to his +comrades, I expressed myself delighted at the clemency of the Emperor, +and conceived that he could have no part in the breach of confidence +which led to the accusation, nor countenance in any way his prosecution. +My companions, who had little sympathy for Prussians, and none for +aristocracy whatever, took a different view of the matter, and scrupled +not to regret that the sentence of the court-martial had not been +executed. The discussion grew warm between us; the more, as I was +alone in my opinion, and assailed by several who overbore me with loud +speaking. Once or twice, too, an obscure taunt was thrown out against +aliens and foreigners, who, it was alleged, never could at heart forgive +the ascendency of France and Frenchmen. + +To this I replied hotly, for while not taking to myself an insult which +my conduct in the service palpably refuted, I was hurt and offended. +Alas! I knew too well in my heart what sacrifices I had made in changing +my country; how I had bartered all the hopes which attach to one's +fatherland for a career of mere selfish ambition. Long since had I +seen that the cause I fought in was not that of liberty, but despotism. +Napoleon's glory was the dazzling light which blinded my true vision; +and my following had something of infatuation, against which reason was +powerless. I say that I answered these taunts with hasty temper; and +carried away by a momentary excitement, I told them, that they it was, +not I, who would detract from the fair renown of the Emperor. + +"The traits you would attribute to him," said I, "are not those of +strength, but weakness. Is it the conqueror of Egypt, of Austria, and +now of Prussia, who need stoop to this? We cannot be judges of his +policy, or the great events which agitate Europe. We would pronounce +most ignorantly on the greatness of his plans regarding the destinies of +nations; but, on a mere question of high and honorable feeling, of manly +honesty, why should we not speak? And here I say this act was never +his." + +A smile of sardonic meaning was the only reply this speech met with; and +one by one the officers rose and dropped off, leaving me to ponder over +the discussion, in which I now remembered I had been betrayed into a +warmth beyond discretion. + +This took place early in November; and as it was not referred to in any +way afterwards by my comrades, I soon forgot it. My duties occupied me +from morning till night; for General d'Auvergne, being in attendance on +the Emperor, had handed me over for the time to the department of the +adjutant-general of the army, where my knowledge of German was found +useful. + +On the 17th of the month a general order was issued, containing the +names of the various officers selected for promotion, as well as of +those on whom the cross of the "Legion" was to be conferred. Need I say +with what a thrill of exultation I read my own name among the latter, +nor my delight at finding it followed by the words, "By order of his +Majesty the Emperor, for a special service on the 13th October, 1806." +This was the night before the battle; and now I saw that I had not been +forgotten, as I feared,--here was proof of the Emperor's remembrance of +me. Perhaps the delay was intended to test my prudence as to secrecy; +and perhaps it was deemed fitting that my name should not appear except +in the general list: in any case, the long-wished reward was mine,--the +proud distinction I had desired for so many a day and night. + +The distribution of the "cordons" was always made the occasion of a +grand military spectacle, and the Emperor determined that the present +one should convey a powerful impression of the effective strength of his +army, as well as of its perfect equipment; and accordingly orders +were despatched to the different generals of division within twelve or +fifteen leagues of Berlin, to march their corps to the capital. The 28th +of November was the day fixed for this grand display, and all was bustle +and preparation for the event. + +On the morning of the 22d, I received an official note from the bureau +of the adjutant-general desiring me to wait on him before noon that same +day. Concluding it referred to my promised promotion to the "Legion," it +was with somewhat of a fluttered and excited feeling I found myself, at +some few minutes after eleven o'clock, in the antechamber, which already +was crowded with officers, some seeking, some summoned to an interview. + +In the midst of the buzz of conversation, which, despite the reserve +of the place, still prevailed, I heard my name called, and followed +an aide-de-camp along a passage into a large room, which opened into +a smaller apartment, where, standing with his back to the fire, I +perceived Marshal Berthier, his only companion being an officer in a +staff uniform, busily engaged writing at a table. + +"You are Captain Burke, of the Eighth Hussars, I believe, sir?" said the +marshal, reading slowly from a slip of paper he held twisted round one +finger. + +"Yes, sir." + +"By birth an Irishman," continued the marshal; "entered at the +Polytechnique in August, 1801. Am I correct?" I bowed. "Subsequently +accused of being concerned in the conspiracy of Georges and Pichegru," +resumed he, as he raised his eyes slightly from the paper, and fixed +them searchingly upon me. + +"Falsely so, sir," was my only reply. + +"You were acquitted,--that's enough: a reprimand for imprudence, and +a slight punishment of arrest, was all. Since that time, you have +conducted yourself, as the report of your commanding officer attests, +with zeal and steadiness." + +He paused here, and seemed as if he expected me to say something; but +as I thought the whole a most strange commencement to the ceremony of +investing me with a cross of the Legion, I remained silent. + +"At Paris, when attached to the _elite_, you appear to have visited the +Duchess of Montserrat, and frequented her soirees." + +"Once, sir; but once I was in the house of the duchess. My visit +could scarcely have occupied as many minutes as I have spent here this +morning." + +"Dined occasionally at the 'Moisson d'Or," continued the marshal, not +noticing in any way my reply. "Well, as I believe you are now aware that +there are no secrets with his Majesty's Government, perhaps you will +inform me what are your relations with the Chevalier Duchesne?" + +For some minutes previous my mind was dwelling on that personage; and +I answered the question in a few words, by stating the origin of our +acquaintance, and briefly adverting to its course. + +"You correspond with the chevalier?" said he, interrupting. + +"I have never done so; nor is it likely, from the manner in which we +parted last, that I ever shall." + +"This scarcely confirms that impression, sir," said the marshal, taking +an open letter from the table and holding it up before me. "You know his +handwriting; is that it?" + +"Yes; I have no doubt it is." + +"Well, sir, that letter belongs to you; you may take and read it. +There is enough there, sir, to make your conduct the matter of a +court-martial; but I am satisfied that a warning will be sufficient. +Let this be such then. Learn, sir, that the plottings of a poor and +mischievous party harmonize ill with the duties of a brave soldier; and +that a captain of the Guards might choose more suitable associates than +the dupes and double-dealers of the Faubourg St. Germain. There is your +brevet to the 'Legion,' signed by the Emperor. I shall return it to +his Majesty; mayhap at some future period your conduct may merit +differently. I need hardly say that a gentleman so very little +particular in the choice of his friends would be a most misplaced +subject for the honor of the 'Legion.'" + +He waved his hand in sign for me to withdraw, and overwhelmed with +confusion, I bowed and left the room. Nor was it till the door closed +behind me that I felt how cruelly and unjustly I had been treated; then +suddenly the blood rushed to my face and temples, my head seemed as +if it would burst at either side, and forgetting every circumstance of +place and condition, I seized the handle of the door and wrenched it +open. + +"Marshal," said I, with the fearlessness of one resolved at any risk to +vindicate his character, "I know nothing of this letter; I have not +read one line of it. I have no further intimacy with the writer than an +officer has with his comrade; but if I am to be the subject of espionage +to the police,--if my chance acquaintances in the world are to be matter +of charges against my fealty and honor,--if I, who have nothing but my +sword and my epaulette--" + +When I had got thus far I saw the marshal's face turn deadly pale, while +the officer at the table made a hurried sign to me with his finger to be +silent. The door closed nearly at the same instant, and I turned my head +round, and there stood the Emperor. The figure is still before me; +he was standing still, his hands behind his back, and his low chapeau +deeply pressed upon his brows. His gray frock was open, and looked as if +disordered from haste. + +"What is this?" said he, in that hissing tone he always assumed when in +moments of passion,--"what is this? Are we in the bureau of a minister? +or is it the _salle de police?_ Who are you, sir?" + +It was not until the question had been repeated that I found courage to +reply. But he waited not for my answer, as, snatching the open letter +from my fingers, he resumed,-- + +"It is not thus, sir, you should come here. Your petition or memorial-- +Ha! _parbleu!_ what is this?" + +At the instant his eyes fell upon the writing, and as suddenly his face +grew almost livid. With the rapidity of lightning he seemed to peruse +the lines. Then waving his hand, he motioned towards the door, and +muttered,--"Wait without!" + +Like one awaking from a dreadful dream, I stood, endeavoring to recall +my faculties, and assure myself how much there might be of reality in +my wandering fancies, when I perceived that a portion of the letter +remained between my fingers as the Emperor snatched it from my hand. + +A half-finished sentence was all I could make out; but its tone made me +tremble for what the rest of the epistle might contain:-- + +"Surpassed themselves, of course, my dear Burke; and so has the Emperor +too. It remained for the campaign in Prussia to prove that one hundred +and eighty-five thousand prisoners can be taken from an army numbering +one hundred and fifty-four thousand men. As to Davoust, who really had +all the fighting, though he wrote no bulletin, all Paris feels--" + +Such was the morsel I had saved; such a specimen of the insolence of the +entire. + +The dreadful fact then broke suddenly upon me that this letter had been +written by Duchesne to effect my ruin; and as I stood stupefied with +terror, the door was suddenly opened, and the Emperor passed, out. +His eyes were turned on me as he went, and I shrank back from their +expression of withering anger. + +"Captain Burke!" said a voice from within the room, for the door +continued open. + +I entered slowly, but with a firm step. My mind was made up; and in the +force of a resolute determination, I found strength for whatever might +happen. + +"It would appear, sir," said the marshal, addressing me with a stern and +severe expression of features, "it would appear that you permit yourself +the widest liberty in canvassing the acts of his Majesty the Emperor; +for I find you here mentioned "--he took a paper from the table as he +spoke--"as declaiming, in a public cafe, on the subject of the Prince de +Hatzfeld, and expressing, in no measured terms, your disapproval of his +imprisonment." + +"All that I said upon the subject, sir, so far as I can recollect, was +in praise of the Emperor for clemency so well bestowed." + +"There was no high-flown sentiment on the breach of honorable confidence +effected in opening private letters?" said the marshal, sarcastically. + +"Yes, sir; I do remember expressing myself strongly on that head." + +"I am not surprised, sir," interrupted he, "at your indignation; your +own conscience must have prompted you on the occasion. When a gentleman +has such correspondents as the Chevalier Duchesne, he may well feel on +a point like this. But enough of this. I have his Majesty's orders +regarding you, which are as follows--" + +"Forgive me, I beg you, sir, the liberty of interrupting you for one +moment. I am an alien, and therefore little versed in the habits and +usages of the land for whose service I have shed my blood; but I am sure +a marshal of France will not refuse a kindness to an officer of the +army, however humble his station. I merely ask the answer to one +question." + +"What is it?" said the marshal, quickly. + +"Am I, as an officer, at liberty to resign my grade, and quit the +service?" + +"Yes, _parbleu!_" said he, reddening, "yes, that you are." + +"Then here I do so," rejoined I, drawing my sword from its scabbard. +"The career I can no longer follow honorably and independently, I shall +follow no more." + +"Your corps, sir?" said the marshal. + +"The Eighth Hussars of the Guard." + +"Take a note of that, Gardanne. I shall spare you all unnecessary delay +in tendering a written resignation of your rank; I accept it now. You +leave Berlin in twenty-four hours." + +I bowed, and was silent. + +"Your passport shall be made out for Paris; you shall receive it +to-morrow morning." He motioned with his hand towards the door as he +concluded, and I left the room. + +The moment I felt myself alone, the courage which had sustained me +throughout at once gave way, and I leaned against the wall, and covered +my face with my hands. Yes, I knew it in my heart,--the whole dream of +life was over; the path of glory was closed to me forever; all the hopes +on which, in sanguine hours, I used to feed my heart, were scattered. +And to the miseries of my exiled lot were now added the sorrows of an +unfriended, companionless existence. The thought that no career was open +to me came last; for at first I only remembered all I was leaving, not +the dark future before me. Yet, when I called to mind the injustice with +which I had been treated,--the system of espionage to which, as an alien +more particularly, I was exposed,--I felt I had done right, and that +to have remained in the service at such a sacrifice of my personal +independence would have been base and unworthy. + +With a half-broken heart and faltering step I regained my quarters, +where again my grief burst forth with more violence than at first. +Every object about recalled to me the career I was leaving forever; and +wherever my eye rested, some emblem lay to open fresh stores of sorrow. +The pistols I carried at Elchingen, a gift from General d'Auvergne; +an Austrian sabre I had taken from its owner, still ornamented with a +little knot of ribbon Minette had fastened to the hilt,--hung above the +chimney; and I could scarce look on them without tears. On the table +still lay open the _ordre du jour_ which named me to the Legion of +Honor; and now the humblest soldier that carried his musket in the ranks +was my superior. Not all the principle on which I founded my resolve was +proof against this first outburst of my sorrow. + +The chivalrous ardor of a soldier's life had long supplied to me the +place of those appliances to happiness which other men possess. Each day +I followed it the path grew dearer to me. Every bold and daring feat, +every deed of enterprise or danger, seemed to bring me, in thought at +least, nearer to him whose greatness was my idolatry. And now, all this +was to be as a mere dream,--a thing which had been, and was to be no +more. + +While I revolved such sad reflections, a single knock came to my door. +I opened it, and saw a soldier of my own regiment. His dress was +travel-stained and splashed, and he looked like one off a long journey. +He knew me at once, and accosted me by name, as he presented a letter +from General d'Auvergne. + +"You've had a smart ride," said I, as I surveyed his flushed face and +disordered uniform. + +"Yes, Captain,--from the Oder. Our division is full twelve leagues from +this. I left on yesterday morning; for the general was particular that +the charger should not suffer on the way,--as if a beast like that would +mind double the distance." + +By this time I had opened the letter, which merely contained the +following few lines:-- + + Encampment on the Oder, Nov. 21, 1806. + + My dear Burke,--Every new arrival here has brought me some + fresh intelligence of you, and of your conduct at Jena; nor + can I say with what pride I have heard that the Emperor has + included you among the list of the _decores_. This is the + day I often prophesied for you, and the true and only + refutation against the calumnies of the false-hearted and + the envious. I send you a Polish charger for your gala + review. Accept him from me; and believe that you have no + warmer friend, nor more affectionate, than yours, + + D'Auvergne, Lieut-General. + + +Before I had finished reading the letter, my eyes grew so dimmed I +could scarcely trace the letters. Each word of kindness, every token of +praise, now cut me to the heart. How agonizing are the congratulations +of friends on those events in life where our own conscience bears +reproach against us! how poignant the self-accusation that is elicited +by undeserved eulogy! How would _he_ think of my conduct? By what means +should I convince _him_ that no alternative remained to me? I turned +away, lest the honest soldier should witness my trouble; and as I +approached the window, I beheld in the courtyard beneath the beautiful +charger which, with the full trappings of a hussar saddle, stood proudly +flapping his deep flanks with his long silken tail. With what a thrill +I surveyed him! How my heart leaped, as I fancied myself borne along on +the full tide of battle, each plunge he gave responsive to the stroke of +my sword-arm! For an instant I forgot all that had happened, and gazed +on his magnificent crest and splendid shape with an ecstasy of delight. + +"Ay," said the dragoon, whose eyes were riveted in the same quarter, +"there's not a marshal of France so well mounted; and he knows the +trumpet-call like the oldest soldier of the troop." + +"You will return to-morrow," said I, recovering myself suddenly, and +endeavoring to appear composed and at ease. "Well, then, to-night I +shall give you an answer for the general; be here at eight o'clock." + +I saw that my troubled air and broken voice had not escaped the +soldier's notice, and was glad when the door closed, and I was again +alone. + +My first care was to write to the general; nor was it till after many +efforts I succeeded to my satisfaction in conveying, in a few and simple +words, the reasons of that step which must imbitter my future life. I +explained how deeply continued mistrust had wounded me; how my spirit, +as a soldier and a gentleman, revolted at the espionage established over +my actions; that it was in weighing these insults against the wreck of +all my hopes, I had chosen that path which had neither fame nor rank nor +honor, but still left me an untrammelled spirit and a mind at peace with +itself. "I have now," said I, "to begin the world anew, without one clew +to guide me. Every illusion with which I had invested life has left me; +I must choose both a career and a country, and bear with me from this +nothing but the heartfelt gratitude I shall ever retain for one who +befriended me through weal and woe, and whose memory I shall bless while +I live." + +I felt relieved and more at ease when I finished this letter; the +endeavor to set my conduct in its true light to another had also its +effect upon my own convictions. I knew, besides, that I had sacrificed +to my determination all my worldly prospects, and believed that where +self-interest warred with principle, the right course could scarcely be +doubtful. + +All this time, not one thought ever occurred to me of how I was to meet +the future. It was strange; but so perfectly had the present crisis +filled my mind, there was not room for even a glance at what was to +come. + +My passport was made out for Paris, and thither I must go. So much was +decided for me without intervention on my part; and now it only remained +for me to dispose of the little trappings of my former estate, and take +the road. + +The Jews who always accompanied the army, offered a speedy resource in +this emergency. My anxiety to leave Berlin by daybreak, and thus avoid +a meeting of any acquaintances there, made me accept of the sums they +offered. To them such negotiations were of daily occurrence, and they +well knew how to profit by them. My whole worldly wealth consisted of +two hundred napoleons; and with this small pittance to begin life, I sat +myself down to think whither I should turn, or what course adopt. + +The night passed over thus, and when day dawned, I had not closed my +eyes. About four o'clock the diligence in which I had secured a place +for Weimar drew up at my door. I hurried down, and mounting to a seat +beside the _conducteur_, I buried my face in the folds of my cloak, nor +dared to look up until we had passed beyond the precincts of the city, +and were travelling along on the vast plain of sand which surrounds +Berlin. + +The _conducteur_ was a Prussian, and divining my military capacity in my +appearance, he maintained a cold and distant civility; never speaking, +except when spoken to, and even then in as few words as possible. This +was itself a relief to me; my heart was too full of its own sufferings +to find pleasure in conversation, and I dreamed away the hours till +nightfall. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. A FOREST PATH. + +When I reached Wiemar I quitted the diligence, resolved to make the +remainder of the journey on foot; for thus I should both economize +the little means I possessed, and escape many of the questionings and +inquiries to which as a traveller by public conveyance I was exposed. +Knapsack on shoulder, then, and staff in hand, I plodded onward, and +although frequently coming up with others on their way homeward, I +avoided all companionship with those whom I could no longer think of as +comrades. + +The two tides of population which met upon that great highway told the +whole history of war. Here came the young soldiers, fresh enrolled +in the conscription, glowing with ardor, and bounding with life and +buoyancy, and mingling their village songs with warlike chants. There, +footsore and weary, with tattered uniform and weather-beaten look, +toiled along the tired veteran, turning as he went a glance of +compassionate contempt on those whose wild _vivas_ burst forth in +greeting. As for me, I could neither partake of the high hopes of +the one, nor sympathize with the war-worn nature of the other. +Disappointment, bitter disappointment, in every cherished expectation, +had thrown a chill over me, and I wanted even the energy to become +reckless. In this state, I did not dare to face the future, but in moody +despondency reflected on the past. Was this the destiny Marie de Meudon +predicted for me? was the ever-present thought of my mind. Is it thus I +should appear before her? + +A hundred times came the thought to join the new levies as a soldier, +to carry a musket in the ranks. But then came back in all its force +the memory of the distrust and suspicion my services had met with: the +conviction hourly became clearer to me, that I fought not for liberty, +but despotism; that it was not freedom, but slavery, in whose cause I +shed my blood. + +To avoid meeting with the detachments which each day occupied the road, +I turned from the _chaussee_ on passing Eisenach, and took a forest +path that led through Murbach to Fulda. My path led through the Creutz +Mountains,--a wild and unfrequented tract of country, where few cottages +were to be seen, and scarcely a village existed. Vast forests of dark +pines, or bleak and barren mountains, stretched away on either side; a +few patches of miserable tillage here and there met the view; but the +scene was one of saddening influence, and harmonized but too nearly with +my own despondency. + +To reach a place of shelter for the night, I was more than once obliged +to walk twelve leagues during the day, and had thus to set out before +daylight. This exertion, however, brought its own reward: the stimulant +of labor, the necessity of a task, gradually allayed the mental +irritation I suffered under; a healthier and more manly tone of thinking +succeeded to my former regrets; and with a heart elevated, if not +cheered, I continued my way. + +The third day of my toilsome journey was drawing to a close. A mass of +heavy and lowering clouds, dark and thunder-charged, slowly moved along +the sky; and a low, moaning sound, that seemed to sigh along the +ground, boded the approach of a storm. I was still three leagues from my +halting-place, and began to deliberate within myself whether the dense +pine-wood, which came down to the side of the road, might not afford +a safer refuge from the hurricane than the chances of reaching a house +before it broke forth. + +The shepherds who frequented these dreary tracts often erected little +huts of bark as a shelter against the cold and severity of the wintry +days, and to find out one of these now was my great endeavor. Scarcely +had I formed the resolve, when I perceived a small path opening into the +wood, at the entrance to which a piece of board nailed against the +trunk of a tree, gave tidings that such a place of security was not far +distant. These signs of forest life I had learned in my wanderings, and +now strode forward with renewed vigor. + +The path led gradually upwards, along the mountain-side, which soon +became so encumbered with brushwood that I had much difficulty in +pushing my way, and at last began to doubt whether I might not have +wandered from the track. The darkness was now complete; night had +fallen, and a heavy crashing rain poured down upon the tree-tops, but +could not penetrate through their tangled shelter. The wind, too, +swept in loud gusts above, and the long threatened storm began. A +loud, deafening roar, like that of the sea itself, arose, as the leafy +branches bent before the blast, or snapped with sudden shock beneath +the hurricane; clap after clap of thunder resounded, and then the rain +descended in torrents,--the heavy drops at last, trickling from leaf to +leaf, reaching me as I stood. Once more I pushed forward, and had not +gone many paces when the red glare of a fire caught my eye. Steadfastly +fastening my gaze upon the flame, I hurried on, and at length perceived +with ecstasy that the light issued from the window of a small hovel, +such as I have already mentioned. To gain the entrance of the hut I was +obliged to pass the window, and could not resist the temptation to give +a glance at the interior, whose cheerful blaze betokened habitation. + +It was not without surprise that, instead of the figure of a shepherd +reposing beside his fire, I beheld that of an old man, whose dress +bespoke the priest, kneeling in deep devotion at the foot of a small +crucifix attached to the wall. Not all the wild sounds of the raging +storm seemed to turn his attention from the object of his worship; +his eyes were closed, but the head thrown backwards showed his face +upturned, when the lips moved rapidly in prayer. Never had I beheld +so perfect a picture of intense devotional feeling; every line in his +marked countenance indicated the tension of a mind filled with one +engrossing thought, while his tremulous hands, clasped before him, shook +with the tremor of strong emotion. + +What a contrast to the loud warring of the elements, that peaceful +figure, raised above earth and its troubles, in the spirit of his holy +communing! how deeply touching the calm serenity of his holy brow, with +the rolling crash of falling branches, and the deep baying of the storm! +I did not dare to interrupt him; and when I did approach the door it was +with silent step and noiseless gesture. As I stood, the old priest--for +now I saw that he was such--concluded his prayer, and detaching his +crucifix from the wall, he kissed it reverently, and placed it in his +bosom; then, rising slowly from his knees, he turned towards me. A +slight start of surprise, as quickly followed by a smile of kindly +greeting, escaped him, while he said in French,-- + +"You are welcome, my son; come in and share with me the shelter, for it +is a wild night." + +"A wild night, indeed, Father," said I, casting my eyes around the +little hut, where nothing indicated the appearance of habitation. +"I could have wished you a better home than this against the storms of +winter." + +"I am a traveller like yourself," said he, smiling at my mistake; "and a +countryman, too, if I mistake not." + +The accents in which these words were spoken pronounced him a Frenchman, +and a very little sufficed to ratify the terms of our companionship; and +having thrown a fresh billet on the fire, we both seated ourselves +before it My wallet was, fortunately, better stored than the good +father's; and having produced its contents, we supped cheerfully, and +like men who were not eating their first bivouac meal. + +"I perceive, Father," said I, as I remarked the manner in which he +disposed his viands, "I perceive you have campaigned ere now; the habits +of the service are not easily mistaken." + +"I did not need that observation of yours," replied he, laughing +slightly, "to convince me you were a soldier; for, as you truly say, +the camp leaves its indelible traces behind it. You are hastening on to +Berlin, I suppose?" + +I blushed deeply at the question; the shame of my changed condition had +been hitherto confined to my own heart, but now it was to be confessed +before a stranger. + +"I ask your pardon, my son, for a question I had no right to ask; and +even there, again, I but showed my soldier education. I am returning to +France; and in seeking a short path from Eisenach, found myself where +you see; as night was falling, well content to be so well lodged,--all +the more, if I am to have your companionship." + +Few and simple as these words were, there was a tone of frankness in +them, not less than the evidence of a certain good breeding, by which +he apologized for his own curiosity in speaking thus freely of +himself, that satisfied me at once; and I hastened to inform him that +circumstances had induced me to leave the service, in which I had been a +captain, and that I was now, like himself, returning to France. + +"You must not think, Father," added I, with some eagerness, "you must +not think that other reasons than my own free will have made me cease to +be a soldier." + +"It would ill become me to have borne such a suspicion," interrupted he, +quickly. "When one so young and full of life as you are leaves the +path where lie honor and rank and fame, he must have cause to make the +sacrifice; for I can scarce think, that at your age, these things seem +nought to your eyes." + +"You are right, Father, they are not so. They have been my guiding stars +for many a day; alas, that they can be such no longer!" + +"There are higher hopes to cherish than these," said he, +solemnly,--"higher than the loftiest longings of ambition; but we all +of us cling to the things of life, till in their perishable nature they +wean us off with disappointment and sorrow. From such a trial am I now +suffering," added he, in a low voice, while the tears rose to his eyes +and slowly coursed along his pale cheeks. + +There was a pause neither of us felt inclined to break, when at length +the priest said,-- + +"What was your corps in the service?" + +"The Eighth Hussars of the Guard," said I, trembling at every word. + +"Ah, _he_ was in the Guides," repeated he, mournfully, to himself; "you +knew the regiment?" + +"Yes, they belonged to the Guard also; they wore no epaulettes, but a +small gold arrow on the collar." + +"Like this," said he, unfastening the breast of his cassock, and +taking out a small package, which, among other things, contained the +designation of the _Corps des Guides_ in an arrow of gold embroidery. +"Had he not beautiful hair, long and silky as a girl's?" said he, as he +produced a lock of light and sunny brown. "Poor Alphonse! thou wouldst +have been twenty hadst thou lived till yesterday. If I shed tears, young +man, it is because I have lost the great earthly solace of my solitary +life. Others have kindred and friends, have happy homes, which, even +when bereavements come, with time will heal up the wound; I had but +him!" + +"He was your nephew, perhaps?" said I, half fearing to interfere with +his sorrow. + +The old man shook his head in token of dissent, while he muttered to +himself,-- + +"Auerstadt may be a proud memory to some; to me it is a word of sorrow +and mourning. The story is but a short one; alas! it has but one color +throughout:-- + +"Count Louis de Meringues--of whom you have doubtless heard that he rode +as postilion to the carriage of his sovereign in the celebrated flight +to Varennes--fell by the guillotine the week after the king's trial; +the countess was executed on the same scaffold as her husband. I was the +priest who accompanied her at the moment; and in my arms she placed her +only child,--an infant boy of two years. There was a cry among the crowd +to have the child executed also, and many called out that the spawn +would be a serpent one day, and it were better to crush it while it was +time; but the little fellow was so handsome, and looked so winningly +around him on the armed ranks and the glancing weapons, that even +_their_ cruel hearts relented, and he was spared. It is to me like +yesterday, as I remember every minute circumstance; I can recall even +the very faces of that troubled and excited assemblage, that at one +moment screamed aloud for blood, and at the next were convulsed with +savage laughter. + +"As I forced my way through the dense array, a rude arm was stretched +out from the mass, and a finger dripping with the gore of the scaffold +was drawn across the boy's face, while a ruffian voice exclaimed, 'The +Meringues were ever proud of their blood; let us see if it be redder +than other people's.' The child laughed; and the mob, with horrid +mockery, laughed too. + +"I took him home with me to my _presbytere_ at Sevres,--for that was my +parish,--and we lived together in peace until the terrible decree was +issued which proclaimed all France atheist. Then we wandered southwards, +towards that good land which, through every vicissitude, was true to its +faith and its king,--La Vendee. At Lyons we were met by a party of the +revolutionary soldiers, who, with a commissary of the Government, were +engaged in raising young men for the conscription. Alphonse, who was +twelve years old, felt all a boy's enthusiasm at the warlike display +before him, and persuaded me to follow the crowd into the _Place des +Terreaux_, where the numbers were read out. + +"'Paul Ducos,' cried a voice aloud, as we approached the stage on which +the commissary and his staff were standing; 'where is this Paul Ducos?' + +"'I am here,' replied a fine, frank-looking youth, of some fifteen +years; 'but my father is blind, and I cannot leave him.' + +"'We shall soon see that,' called out the commissary. 'Clerk, read out +his _signalement_.' + +"'Paul Ducos, son of Eugene Ducos, formerly calling himself Count Ducos +de la Breche--' + +"'Down with the Royalists! _a bas_ the tyrants!' screamed the mob, not +suffering the remainder to be heard. + +"'Approach, Paul Ducos!' said the commissary. + +"'Wait here, Father,' whispered the youth; 'I will come back presently.' + +"But the old man, a fine and venerable figure, the remnant of a noble +race, held him fast, and, as his lips trembled, said, 'Do not leave me, +Paul; my child, my comforter, stay near me.' + +"The boy looked round him for one face of kindly pity in this emergency, +when, turning towards me, he said rapidly, 'Stand near him!' He broke +from the old man's embrace, and rushing through the crowd, mounted the +scaffold. + +"'You are drawn for the conscription, young man,' said the commissary; +'but in consideration of your father's infirmity, a substitute will be +accepted. Have you such?' + +"The boy shook his head mournfully and in silence. + +"'Have you any friend who would assist you here? Bethink you awhile,' +rejoined the commissary, who, for his station and duties, was a kind and +benevolent man. + +"'I have none. They have left us nothing, neither home nor friends,' +said the youth, bitterly; 'and if it were not for his sake, I care not +what they do with me.' + +"'Down with the tyrants!' yelled the mob, as they heard these haughty +words. + +"'Then your fate is decreed,' resumed the commissary. + +"'No, not yet!' cried out Alphonse, as, breaking from my side, he gained +the steps and mounted the platform; 'I will be his substitute!' + +"Oh! how shall I tell the bitter anguish of that moment, which at once +dispelled the last remaining hope I cherished, and left me destitute +forever. As I dashed the tears from my eyes and looked up, the two boys +were locked in each other's arms. It was a sight to have melted any +heart, save those around them; but bloodshed and crime had choked up +every avenue of feeling, and left them, not men, but tigers. + +"'Alphonse de Meringues,' cried out the boy, in answer to a question +regarding his name. + +"There is no such designation in France,' said a grim-looking, +hard-featured man, who, wearing the tri-colored scarf, sat at the table +beside the clerk. + +"'I was never called by any other,' rejoined the youth, proudly. + +"'Citizen Meringues,' interposed the commissary, mildly, 'what is your +age?' + +"'I know not the years,' replied he; 'but I have heard that I was but an +infant when they slew my father.' + +"A fierce roar of passion broke from the mob below the scaffold as they +heard this; and again the cry broke forth, 'Down with the tyrants!' + +"'Art thou, then, the son of that base sycophant who rode courier to the +Capet to Varennes?' said the hard-featured man at the table. + +"'Of the truest gentleman of France,' called out a loud voice from below +the platform; 'Vive le roi!' It was the blind man who spoke, and waved +his cap above his head. + +"'To the guillotine! to the guillotine!' screamed a hundred voices, in +tones wilde than the cries of famished wolves, as, seizing the aged man, +they tore his clothes to very rags. + +"In an instant all attention was turned from the platform to the scene +below it, where, with shouts and screams of fury, the terrible mob +yelled aloud for blood. In vain the guards endeavored to keep back the +people, who twice rescued their victim from the hands of the soldiery; +and already a confused murmur arose that the commissary himself was a +traitor to the public, and favored the tyrants, when a dull, clanking +sound rose above the tumult, and a cheer of triumph proclaimed the +approach of the instrument of torture. + +"In their impetuous torrent of vengeance they had dragged the guillotine +from the distant end of the 'Place,' where it usually stood; and there +now still knelt the figure of a condemned man, lashed with his arms +behind him, on the platform, awaiting the moment of his doom. Oh, that +terrible face, whereon death had already set its seal! With glazed, +lack-lustre eye, and cheek leaden and quivering, he gazed around on the +fiendish countenances like one awakening from a dream, his lips parted +as though to speak; but no sound came forth. + +"'Place! place for Monsieur le Marquis!' shouted a ruffian, as he +assisted to raise the figure of the blind man up the steps; and a ribald +yell of fiendish laughter followed the brutal jest. + +"'Thou art to make thy journey in most noble company,' said another to +the culprit on the platform. + +"'An he see not his way in the next world better than in this, thou must +lend him a hand, friend,' said a third. And with many a ruffian joke +they taunted their victims, who stood on the last threshold of life. + +"Among the crowd upon the scaffold of the guillotine I could see the +figure of the blind man as it leaned and fell on either side, as the +movement of the mob bore it. + +"'_Parbleu!_ these Royalists would rather kneel than stand," said a +voice, as they in vain essayed to make the old man place his feet under +him; and ere the laughter which this rude jest excited ceased, a cry +broke forth of--'He is dead! he is dead!' And with a heavy sumph, the +body fell from their hands; for when their power of cruelty ended, they +cared not for the corpse. + +"It was true: life was extinct, none knew how,--whether from the +violence of the mob in its first outbreak, or that a long-suffering +heart had burst at last; but the chord was snapped, and he whose proud +soul lately defied the countless thousands around, now slept with the +dead. + +"In a few seconds it seemed as though they felt that a power stronger +than their own had interposed between them and their vengeance, and +they stood almost aghast before the corpse, where no trace of blood +proclaimed it to be their own; then, rallying from this stupor, with +one voice they demanded that the son should atone for the crimes of the +father. + +"'I am ready,' cried the youth, in a voice above the tumult. 'I did not +deem I could be grateful to ye for aught, but I am for this.' + +"To no purpose did the commissary propose a delay in the sentence; he +was unsupported by his colleagues. The passions of the mob rose +higher and higher; the thirst for blood, unslaked, became intense and +maddening; and they danced in frantic glee around the guillotine, while +they chanted one of the demoniac songs of the scaffold. + +"In this moment, when the torrent ran in one direction, Alphonse might +have escaped all notice, but that the condemned youth turned to embrace +him once more before he descended from the people. + +"'They are so sorry to separate, it is a shame to part them,' cried a +ruffian in the crowd. + +"'You forget, Citizen, that this boy is his substitute,' said the +commissary, mildly; 'the Republic most not be cheated of its defenders.' + +"'Vive la Republique!' cried the soldiers; and the cry was re-echoed by +thousands, while amid their cheers there rose the last faint sigh of an +expiring victim. + +"The scene was over; the crowd dispersed; and the soldiers marched back +to quarters, accompanied by some hundred conscripts, among whom was +Alphonse,--a vague, troubled expression betokening that he scarce knew +what had happened around him. + +"The regiment to which he was appointed was at Toulon, and there I +followed him. They were ordered to the north of Italy soon after, +and thence to Egypt. Through the battlefields of Mount Tabor and the +Pyramids I was ever beside him; on the heights of Austerlitz I stanched +his wounds; and I laid him beneath the earth on the field of Auerstadt." + +The old man's voice trembled and became feeble as he finished speaking, +and a settled expression of grief clothed his features, which were pale +as death. + +"I must see Sevres once more," said he, after a pause. "I must look on +the old houses of the village, and the little gardens, and the venerable +church; they will be the only things to greet me there now, but I must +gaze on them ere I close my eyes to this world and its cares." + +"Come, come, Father," said I; "to one who has acted so noble a part as +yours, life is never without its own means of happiness." + +"I spoke not of death," replied he, mildly; "but the holy calm of a +convent will better suit my seared and worn heart than all that the +world calls its joys and pleasures. You, who are young and full of +hope--" + +"Alas! Father, speak not thus. One can better endure the lowering skies +of misfortune as the evening of life draws near than when the morn +of existence is breaking. To me, with youth and health, there is no +future,--no hope." + +"I will not hear you speak thus," said the priest; "fatigue and +weariness are on you now. Wait until to-morrow,--we shall be +fellow-travellers together; and then, if you will reveal to me your +story, mayhap my long experience of the world may suggest comfort and +consolation where you can see neither." + +The storm by this time had abated much of its violence, and across the +moon the large clouds were wafted speedily, disclosing bright patches of +light at every moment. + +"Such is our life here," said the father,--"alternating with its days of +happiness and sorrow. Let us learn, in the dark hour of our destiny, to +bear the glare of our better fortunes; for, believe me, that when our +joys are greatest, so are our trials also." + +He ceased speaking, and I saw that soon afterwards his lips moved as if +in prayer. I now laid myself down in my cloak beside the fire, and was +soon buried in a sleep too sound even for a dream. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. A CHANCE MEETING. + +With the good priest of Sevres I journeyed along towards the frontier of +France, ever selecting the least frequented paths, and such as were not +likely to be taken by the troops of soldiery which daily moved towards +Berlin. The frankness of my companion had made me soon at ease with +him; and I told him, without reserve, the story of my life, down to the +decisive moment of my leaving the army. + +"You see, Father," said I, "how completely my career has failed; how, +with all the ardor of a soldier, with all the devotion of a follower, I +have adhered to the Emperor's fortunes; and yet--" + +"Your ambition, however great it was, could not stifle conscience. I +can believe it well. They who go forth to the wars with high hopes and +bounding hearts, who picture to their minds the glorious rewards of +great achievements, should blind their eyes to the horrors and injustice +of the cause they bleed for. Any sympathy with misfortune would sap the +very principle of that heroism whose essence is success. Men cannot +play the double game, even in matters of worldly ambition. Had you not +listened to the promptings of your heart, you had been greater; had you +not followed the dazzling glare of your hopes, you had been happier: +both you could scarcely be. Be assured of this, my son, the triumphs +of a country can only be enjoyed by the child of the soil; the brave +soldier, who lends his arm to the cause, feels he has little part in the +glory." + +"True, indeed,--most true; I feel it." + +"And were it otherwise, how unsatisfying is the thirst for that same +glory! how endless the path that leads to it! how many regrets accompany +it! how many ties broken! how many friendships forfeited! No, no; return +to your own land,--to the country of your birth; some honorable career +will always present itself to him who seeks but independence and the +integrity of his own heart. Beneath the conquering eagles of the Emperor +there are men of every shade of political opinion; for the conscription +is pitiless. There are Royalists, who love their king and hate the +usurper; there are Jacobins, who worship freedom and detest the tyrant; +there are stern Republicans--Vendeens, and followers of Moreau: but yet +all are Frenchmen. 'La belle France' is the watchword that speaks to +every heart, and patriotism is the bond between thousands. _You_ have +no share in this; the delusion of national glory can never throw its +deception around you. Return, then, to your country; and be assured, +that in _her_ cause your least efforts will be more ennobling to +yourself than the boldest deeds the hand of a mercenary ever achieved." + +The inborn desire to revisit my native land needed but the counsels +of the priest to make it all-powerful; and as, day by day, I plodded +onward, my whole thoughts turned to the chances of my escape, and +the means by which I could accomplish my freedom; for the war still +continued between France and England, and the blockade of the French +ports was strictly maintained by a powerful fleet. The difficulty of the +step only increased my desire to effect it; and a hundred projects did I +revolve in my mind, without ever being able to fix on one where success +seemed likely. The very resolve, however, had cheered my spirits, and +given new courage to my heart; and an object suggested a hope,--and with +a hope, life was no longer burdensome. + +Each morning now I set forward with a mind more at ease, and more open +to receive pleasure from the varied objects which met me as I went. Not +so my poor companion; the fatigue of the journey, added to great mental +suffering, began to prey upon his health, and brought back an ague he +had contracted in Egypt, from the effect of which his constitution had +never perfectly recovered. At first the malady showed itself only in +great depression of spirits, which made him silent for hours of the way. +But soon it grew worse; he walked with much difficulty, took but little +nourishment, and seemed impressed with a sad foreboding that the disease +must be fatal. + +"I wanted to reach my village; my own quiet churchyard should have been +my resting-place," said he, as he sank wearied and exhausted on a +little bank at the roadside. "But this was only a sick man's fancy. Poor +Alphonse lies far away in the dreary plain of Auerstadt." + +The sun was just setting of a clear day in December as we halted on a +little eminence, which commanded a distant view on every side. Behind +lay the dark forest of Germany, the tree-tops presenting their massive +wavy surface, over which the passing clouds threw momentary shadows; +before, but still some miles away, we could trace the Rhine, its bright +silver current sparkling in the sun; beyond lay the great plains of +France, and upon these the sick man's eyes rested with a steadfast gaze. + +"Yes!" said he, after a long silence on both sides, "the fields and the +mountains, the sunshine and the shade, are like those of other lands; +but the feeling which attaches the heart to country is an inborn +sense, and the very word 'home' brings with it the whole history of our +affections. Even to look thus at his native country is a blessing to an +exile's heart." + +I scarcely dared to interrupt the reverie which succeeded these few +words; but when I perceived that he still remained seated, his head +between his hands and lost in meditation, I ventured to remind him that +we were still above a league from Heimbach, the little village where we +should pass the night, and that on a road so wild and unfrequented there +was little hope of finding shelter any nearer. + +"You must lean on me, Father; the night air is fresh and bracing, and +after a little it will revive you." + +The old man rose without speaking, and taking my arm, began the descent +of the mountain. His steps, however, were tottering and uncertain, his +breathing hurried and difficult, and his carriage indicated the very +greatest debility. + +"I cannot do it, my son," said he, sinking upon the grassy bench which +skirted the way; "you must leave me. It matters little now where this +frail body rests; a few hours more, and the rank grass will wave above +it and the rain beat over it unfelt. Let us part here: an old man's +blessing for all your kindness will follow you through life, and may +cheer you to think on hereafter." + +"Do you then suppose I could leave you thus?" said I, reproachfully. "Is +it so you think of me?" + +"My minutes are few now, my child," replied he, more solemnly, "and I +would pass the last moments of my life alone. Well, then, if you will +not,--leave me now for a little, and return to me; by that time my mind +will be calmer, and mayhap, too, my strength greater, and I may be able +to accompany you to the village." + +I acceded to this proposal the more willingly, because it afforded me +the hope of finding some means to convey him to Heimbach; and so, having +wrapped him carefully in my cloak, I hastened down the mountain at the +top of my speed. + +The zigzag path by which I went discovered to me from time to time the +lights of the little hamlet, which twinkled star-like in the valley; and +as I drew nearer, the confused hum of voices reached me. I listened, +and to my amazement heard the deep, hoarse bray of a trumpet. How well +I knew that sound! it was the night-call to gather in the stragglers. +I stopped to listen; and now, in the stillness, could mark the tramp of +horsemen and the clank of their equipments: again the trumpet sounded, +and was answered by another at some distance. The road lay straight +below me at some hundred yards off, and leaving the path, I dashed +directly downwards just as the leading horsemen of a small detachment +came slowly up. To their loud _Qui vive?_ I answered by giving an +account of the sick man, and entreating the sergeant who commanded the +party to lend assistance to convey him to the village. + +"Yes, _parbleu!_ that we will," said the honest soldier; "a priest who +has made the campaign of Egypt and Austria is worthy of all our care. +Where is he?" + +"About a mile from this; but the road is not practicable for a +horseman." + +"Well, you shall have two of my men; they will soon bring him hither." +And as he spoke, he ordered two troopers to dismount, who, quickly +disencumbering themselves of their sabres, prepared to follow me. + +"We shall expect you at the bivouac," cried the sergeant, as he resumed +his way; while I, eager to return, breasted the mountain with renewed +energy. + +"You belong to the Guard, my friends," said I, as I paused for breath at +a turn of the path. + +"The Fourth Cuirassiers of the Guard," replied the soldier I addressed; +"Milhaud's brigade." + +How my heart leaped as he said these words! They were part of the +division General d'Auvergne once commanded; it was the regiment of poor +Pioche, too, before the dreadful day of Austerlitz. + +"You know the Fourth, then?" rejoined the man, as he witnessed the +agitation of my manner. + +"Know the Fourth?" echoed his comrade, in a voice of half-indignant +meaning. "_Sacrebleu!_who does not know them? Does not all the world +know them by this time?" + +"It is the Fourth who wear the motto 'Dix contre un' on their caps," +said I, desirous to flatter the natural vanity of my companions. + +"Yes, Monsieur; I see you have served also." + +I answered by a nod, for already every word, every gesture, recalled to +me the career I had quitted; and my regrets, so late subdued by reason +and reflection, came thronging back, and filled ray heart to bursting. + +Hurrying onward now, I mounted the steep path, and soon regained the +spot I sought. The poor father was sleeping; overcome by fatigue and +weariness, he had fallen on the mossy bank, and lay in a deep, soft +slumber. Lifting him gently, the strong troopers crossed their hands +beneath, and bore him along between them. For an instant he looked up; +but seeing me at his side, he merely pressed my hand, and closed his +eyes again. + +"_Ma foi!_" said one of the dragoons, in a low voice, "I should not be +surprised if this were the Pere Arsene, who served with the army in +Italy. We used to call him 'old Scapulaire'. He was the only priest I +ever saw in the van of a brigade. You knew him too, Auguste." + +"Yes, that I did," replied the other soldier. "I saw him at Elkankah, +where one of ours was unhorsed by a Mameluke, spring forward, and +seizing a pistol at the holster, shoot the Turk through the head, and +then kneel down beside the dying man he was with before, and go on with +his prayers. _Ventrebleu!_ that's what I call discipline." + +"Where was that, Comrade?" + +"At Elkankah." + +"At Quoreyn, rather, my friend, two leagues to the southward," whispered +a low voice. + +"_Tonnerre de ciel!_" cried the two soldiers in a breath, "it is +himself;" for the words were spoken by the priest, who was no other than +the Pere Arsene they spoke of. + +The effort of speech and memory was, however, a mere passing one; for +to all their questions he was now deaf, and lay apparently unconscious +between them. On me, therefore, they turned their inquiries, but with +little more of success; and thus we descended the mountain, eager to +reach some place of succor for the good father. + +As we approached the village, I was soon made aware of the objects of +the party who occupied it. The little street was crowded with cattle, +bullocks, and sheep, fast wedged up amid huge wagons of forage and carts +of corn; mounted dragoons urging on the jaded animals, regardless of +the angry menaces or the impatient appeals incessantly making by the +peasantry, who in great numbers had followed their stock from their +farms. + +[Illustration: BrowneForagingParty121] + +The soldiers, who were detachments of different corps, were also +quarrelling among themselves for their share of the spoil; and these +altercations, in which more than once I saw a sabre flash, added to +the discord. It was, indeed, a scene of tumult and confusion almost +inconceivable. Here were a party of cuirassiers, carbine in hand, +protecting a drove of sheep; around which the country people were +standing, seemingly irresolute whether they should essay an attack,--a +movement often prompted by the other soldiers, who hoped in the _melee_ +to seize a part of the prey. Many of the oxen were bestrode by hussars +or lancers, whose gay trappings formed a strange contrast with the +beasts they rode on; while more than one stately horseman held a sheep +before him on the saddle, for whose protection a cocked pistol seemed no +ineffectual guarantee. + +The task of penetrating this dense and turbulent mob seemed to me almost +impossible, and I expressed my fears to the soldiers. But they replied +that there were too many _braves_ of Egypt there not to remember the +Pere Arsene; saying which, one of the soldiers, whispering a word to +his companion, laid the priest gently upon the ground, and then mounting +rapidly on a forage-cart, he shouted, in a voice heard above the din,-- + +"Comrades of the Fourth, we have found an old companion; the Pere +Scapulaire is here. Place for the good father! place there!" + +A hundred loud _vivas_ welcomed this announcement; for the name was well +known to many who never had seen the priest, and cheer after cheer for +the _bon pere_ now rang through this motley assemblage. + +To the wild confusion of a moment before the regularity of discipline +at once succeeded, and a lane was quickly formed for the soldiers to +advance with the priest between them, each horseman saluting as he +passed as if to his general on parade. + +"To the Trauben,--the Trauben!" cried several voices, as we went +along; and this I learned was the little inn of the village, where the +non-commissioned officers in charge of the several parties were seated +in council to arrange the subdivision of the booty. + +Had not a feeling stronger than mere personal consideration occupied me, +I would have now left the good priest among his old comrades, with +whom he was certain to meet kindness and protection. But I could not so +readily part with one whom, even in the few hours of our intercourse, I +had learned to like; and therefore, enduring as well as I was able +the rugged insubordination of a soldiery free from the restraint of +discipline, I followed on, and soon found myself at the door of the +Trauben. + +A dismounted dragoon, with drawn sword, guarded the entrance, around +which a group of angry peasants were gathered, loudly protesting against +the robbery of their flocks and farmyards. It was with great difficulty +I could persuade the sentry to suffer me to enter; and when I at last +succeeded, I found none willing to pay any attention to my request +regarding a billet for the priest, for unhappily his name and character +were unknown to those to whom I addressed myself. In this dilemma I was +deliberating what step to take, when one of the soldiers, who with such +zealous devotion had never left us, came up to say that his corporal +had just given up his own quarters for the good father's use; and this, +happily, was a small summer-house in the garden at the back of the inn. + +"He cannot come with us himself," said the soldier, "for he is engaged +with the forage rations, but I have got his leave to take the quarters." + +A small wicket beside the inn led us into a large, wildly-grown orchard, +through which a broad path led to the summer-house in question; at +least such we guessed to be the little building from whose windows there +gleamed the bright glare of a cheerful fire. + +The door lay open into a little hall, from which two doors led +into different chambers. Over one of these was marked in chalk +"quartier-general," in imitation of the title assigned to a general's +quarters, and this the soldiers pronounced must belong to the corporal. +I opened it accordingly and entered. The room was small and neatly +furnished, and with the blazing wood upon the hearth, looked most +comfortable and inviting. + +"Yes, we are all right here; I know his helmet,--this is it," said the +dragoon. "So here we must leave you. You'll tell the good father it was +two troopers of the Fourth who carried him hither, won't ye? Ay, and say +Auguste Prevot was one of them; he 'll know the name,--he nursed me in a +fever I had in Italy." + +"I wish he were able to give me his blessing again," said the other; "I +had it before that affair at Brescia, and there were four of my comrades +killed about me, and never a shot touched me. But good-night, Comrade; +goodnight." And so saying, having left the father at his length upon a +couch, they made their military salute and departed. + +A rude-looking flagon of beer which stood on the table was the only +thing I could discover in the chamber, save a canvas bag of tobacco +and some pipes. I filled a goblet with the liquor and placed it to the +priest's lips. He swallowed a little of it, and then opening his eyes, +slowly looked around him, while he murmured to my question a faint sound +of "Better,--much better." I knew enough of such matters to be aware +that perfect rest and repose were the greatest aids to his recovery; +and so, replenishing the fire, I threw myself down on the large dragoon +cloak which lay on the floor, and prepared to pass my night where I was. + +The long-drawn breathings of the sleeping man, the perfect quiet and +stillness of all around,--for though not far distant from the village, +the thick wood of trees intercepted every sound from that quarter,--and +my fatigue combined, soon brought on drowsiness. + +I struggled, so long as I was able, against the tendency; but a humming +sound filled my ears, the objects grew fainter before my vision, and I +sank into that half-dreamy state when consciousness remains, but clouded +and indistinct in all its perceptions. Twice the door was opened and +some persons entered; but though they spoke loudly, I heard not their +words, nor could I recognize their appearance. To this succeeded a deep, +sound sleep, the recompense of great fatigue. + +The falling of a piece of firewood on the hearth awoke me. I opened my +eyes and looked about. The room had no other light than from the embers +of the wood fire and the piece of blazing pine which had just fallen; +but even by that uncertain glare I could see enough to amaze and confuse +me. + +On the couch where I had left the priest sleeping, the old man was now +seated, his head uncovered, and a scarf of light blue silk across his +shoulders and falling to his feet. Before him, and kneeling, was a +figure, of which for some minutes I in vain endeavored to ascertain the +traits; for while in the military air of the dress there was something +to mark the soldier, a waving mass of hair loosely falling on the back +bespoke another sex. While I yet doubted, the flickering flame burst +forth and showed me the small and beautiful shaped foot which from +beneath a loose trouser peeped forth, and in the neat boot and +tastefully ornamented spur I recognized in an instant it was a +vivandiere of the army,--one of those who, amid all the reckless abandon +of the life of camps and battlefields, can yet preserve some vestige of +coquetry and feminine grace. + +So strange the sight, so complete the heavy stupor of my faculties, that +again and again I doubted whether the whole might not be the creation of +a dream; but the well-known tones of the old man's voice soon reassured +me, as I heard him say,-- + +"I know it too, my child; I have followed too long the fortunes of an +army not to feel and to sorrow for these things. But be comforted." + +A passionate burst of tears from her who knelt at his feet interrupted +him here; nor did it seem that all he could speak of consolation was +able to assuage the deep sorrow of the poor girl, whose trembling frame +bespoke her agony. + +By degrees, however, she grew calmer. A deep sob or a long-drawn +sigh alone would be heard, as the venerable father, with impassioned +eloquence, depicted the happiness of those who sought the blessings of +religion, and could tear themselves from the world and its ambitions. +Warming with his theme, he descanted on the lives of those saints +on earth whose every minute was an offering of heavenly love; and +contrasted the holy calm of a convent with the wild revelry of the camp, +or the more revolting carnage of the battlefield. + +"Speak not of these things, Father; your own voice trembles with proud +emotion at the mention of glorious war. Tell me, oh! tell me that I may +have hope, and yet leave not all that makes life endurable." + +The old man spoke again; but his tones were low, and his words seemed a +reproof, for she bowed her head between her hands and sobbed heavily. + +To the long and impassioned appeal of the priest there now succeeded a +silence, only broken by the deep-drawn sighs of her who knelt in sadness +and penitence before him. + +"And his name?" said the father; "you have not told his name." + +A pause followed, in which not even a breathing was heard; then a low, +murmuring sound came, and it seemed to meas though I heard my own name +uttered. I started at the sound, and with the noise the vivandiere +sprang to her feet. + +"I heard a noise there," said she, resolutely. + +"It is my companion of the journey," said the priest. "Poor fellow! he +is tired and weary; he sleeps soundly." + +"I did not know you had a fellow-traveller, Father." + +"Yes; we met in the Creutz Mountains, and since that" have wended our +way together. A soldier--" + +"A soldier! Is he wounded, then?" + +"No, my child; he is leaving the army." + +"Leaving the army, and not wounded! He is old and disabled, perhaps." + +"Neither; he is both young and vigorous." + +"Shame on him, then, that he turn his back on fame and fortune, and +leave the path that brave men tread! He never was a soldier! No, Father; +he in whose heart the noble passion once has lived can never forget it." + +"Hush, child, hush!" said the priest, motioning with his hand to her to +be silent. + +"Let me look on him!" said the vivandiere, as she stooped down and took +from the hearth a piece of lighted wood; "let me see this man, and learn +the features of one who can be so craven of spirit, so poor of heart, as +to fly the field, while thousands are flocking towards it." + +Burning with shame and indignation, I arose, just as she approached me. +The pine-branch threw its red gleam over her bright uniform, and then +upon her face. + +"Minette! Minette!" I exclaimed. But with a wild shriek she let fall the +burning wood, and fell senseless to the ground. + +It was some time before, with all our care, she recovered consciousness; +and even then, in her wild, excited glance, one might read the struggles +of her mind to credit what had occurred. A few broken, unconnected +phrases would escape her at intervals; and she seemed laboring to regain +the lost clew to her recollections, when again she turned her eyes +towards me. At the same instant, the trumpet sounded without for the +_reveil_, and was answered by many a call from other parties around. +With a steadfast gaze of wonderment she fixed her look on me; and twice +passed her hands across her eyes, as though she doubted the evidence of +her senses. + +[Illustration: 346] + +"Minette, hear me! let me speak but one word." "There it is again," +cried she, as the blast rang out a second time, and the clatter of +horsemen resounded from the street. "Adieu, sir; our roads lie not +together. Father, your blessing; if your good counsel this night has +not made its way to my heart, the lesson has come elsewhere. Good-by! +good-by!" She pressed the old man's hand to her lips, and darted from +the room. + +Stunned, and like one spell-bound, I could not move for a few seconds; +and then, with a wild cry, I bounded after her through the garden. +The wicket, however, was fastened on the outside, and it was some time +before I could scale the wall and reach the street. + +The day was just breaking, but already the village was thronged with +soldiers, who were preparing for the march, and arranging their parties +to conduct the wagons. Hurrying on through the crowded and confused +mass, I looked on every side for the vivandiere; but in vain. Groups +of different regiments passed and repassed me; but to my questions they +returned either a jeering reply, or a mere laugh of derision. "But a few +days ago," thought I, "and these fellows had scarce dared to address me; +and now--" Oh, the blighting misery of that thought! I was no longer a +soldier; the meanest horseman of his troop was my superior. + +I passed through the village, and reached the highroad. Before me was a +party of dragoons, escorting a drove of cattle; I hastened after them, +but on coming near, discovered they were a light cavalry detachment. +Sick at heart, I leaned against a tree at the wayside, when again +I heard the tramp of horses approaching. I looked, and saw the tall +helmets of the Fourth, who were coming slowly along, conducting some +large wagons, drawn by eight or ten horses. In front of the detachment +rode a man, whose enormous stature made him at once remarkable, as well +as the air of soldierly bearing he displayed. Beside him was Minette; +the reins had fallen on her horse's neck, and her face was buried in her +hands. + +"Ah! if I had thought that priest would have made thee so sad, +Mademoiselle, I'd have let him spend his night beneath a wagon rather +than in my quarters," said a deep, hollow voice I at once recognized +as that of Pioche. "But the morning air will revive thee; so let us +forward: by threes--open order--trot." + +The word was obeyed; the heavy tramp of the horses, with the dull roll +of the wagons, drowned all other sounds The cortege moved on, and I was +alone. + +[Illustration: BrowneDeathOfMinette127] + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. THE PENSION DE LA RUE MI-CAREME. + +When I returned to the garden, I found that the Pere Arsene was seized +by an access of that dreadful malady, whose intervals of comparative +release are but periods of dread or despondence. The tertian of Egypt, +so fatal among the French troops, now numbered him among its victims, +and he looked worn and exhausted, like one after weeks of illness. + +My first care was to present myself to the official whose business it +was to inspect the passports, and by explaining the condition of my poor +friend, to entreat permission to delay my journey,--at least until +he should be somewhat recovered. The gruff old sergeant, however, +deliberately examined my passport, and as rigidly decided that I could +not remain. The words of the minister were clear and definite,--"Day +by day, without halt, to the nearest frontier of France," was the +direction; and with this I must comply. In vain I assured him that no +personal convenience, no wish of my own, urged the request, but the duty +of humanity towards a fellow-traveller, and one who had strong claims on +every soldier of the Empire. + +"Leave him to me, Monsieur," was the only reply I could obtain; and the +utmost favor he would grant was the permission to take leave of my poor +friend before I started. + +Amid all the sufferings of his malady, I found the good priest dwelling +in his mind on the scene with the vivandiere,--which, perhaps, from +the impressionable character of a sick man's temperament, had entirely +filled his thoughts; and thus he wandered from the subject of his +sorrows to hers, with scarcely a transition between them. + +When I mentioned the necessity of our parting, he seemed to feel it more +on my account than his own. + +"I wished to have reached Paris with you," he repeated over and over. +"It was not impossible I could have arranged your return home. But you +must go down to Sevres,--the priest there, whoever he may be, will know +of me; tell him everything without reserve. I am too ill to write, but +if I get better soon--Well, well; that poor girl is an orphan too; and +Alphonse was an orphan. With what misery have we struggled in France +since this man has ruled our destinies! how have the crimes of a people +brought their retribution to every heart and every home!--none +too low, none too humble, to feel them. Leave this land; no blessing can +rest upon it now. Poor thing! how worthy of a better lot she is! If this +same officer should know,--it is not impossible. But, why do I say this? +No, no; you'll never meet him now." + +He continued to mutter thus some broken and disjointed sentences, +half-aloud, for some minutes, apparently unconscious of my presence. + +"He was in a regiment of the Guard. Alas! she told me which, but I +forget it now; but his name, surely I remember his name! Well, well, it +is a sad story. Adieu, my dear child! good-by! We have each a weary +road before us; but my journey, although the longest, will be soonest +accomplished. Do not forget my words to you. Your own country, and your +country's cause, above every other; all else is the hireling's part. The +sense of duty alone can sustain a man in the trials which fit him for +this world, or that better one which is to follow. Adieu!" He threw his +arm around me as he said this, and leaned exhausted and faint upon my +shoulder. + +The few who journey through life with little sympathy or friendship from +their fellow-men, may know how it rent my heart to part with one to whom +I clung every hour closer; my throat swelled and throbbed, and I could +only articulate a faint good-by as we parted. As the door was closing, I +heard his voice again. + +"Yes, I have it now; I remember it well,--'Le Capitaine Burke.'" + +I started in amazement, for during all our intercourse he had never +asked nor had I told my name, and I stood unable to speak; when he +continued,--"You 'll think of the name,--she said, too, he was on the +staff,--'Burke!' Poor girl!" + +I did not wait for more, but like one flying from some dreaded enemy I +rushed through the garden, and gained the road, my heart torn with many +a conflicting thought; the bitterest of all being the memory of Minette, +the orphan girl, who alone of all the world cared for me. Oh! if strong, +deep-rooted affection, the love of a whole heart, can raise the spirit +above the every-day contentions of the world,--can ennoble thought, +refine sentiments, and divest life of all its meaner traits, making a +path of flowers among the rocks and briers of our worldly pilgrimage; so +does the possession of affection for which we cannot give requital throw +a gloom over the soul, for which there is no remedy. Better, a thousand +times better, had I borne all the solitary condition of my lot, +unrelieved by one token of regard, than think of her who had wrecked her +fortunes on my own. + +With many a sad thought I plodded onward. The miles passed over seemed +like the events in some troubled dream; and of my journey I have not a +recollection remaining. It was late in the evening when I reached the +Barriere de l'Etoile, and entered Paris. The long lines of lamps along +the quays, the glittering reflection in the calm river, the subdued but +continual hum of a great city, awoke me from my reverie, and I bethought +me that my career of life must now begin anew, and all my energies must +be called on to fashion out my destiny. + +On the morning after my arrival I presented myself, in compliance with +the requisite form, before the minister of police. Little information +of mine was necessary to explain the circumstances under which I was +placed. He was already thoroughly acquainted with the whole, and seemed +in nowise disposed to evince any undue lenity towards one who had +voluntarily quitted the service of the Emperor. + +"Where do you purpose to remain, sir?" said the prefet, as he concluded +a lengthened and searching scrutiny of my appearance. + +"In Paris," I replied, briefly. + +"In Paris, I suppose," said he, with a slight derisive curl of the +lip,--"of that I should think there can be little doubt; but I wished to +ascertain more accurately your address,--in what part of the city." + +"As yet I cannot tell; I am almost a stranger here. A day or two will, +however, enable me to choose, and then I shall return here with the +intelligence." + +"That is sufficient, sir; I shall expect to see you soon." + +He waved his hand in sign to me to withdraw, and I was but too happy to +follow the indication. As I hastened down the stairs, and forced my way +through the crowd of persons who awaited an audience with the prefet, +I heard a voice close to my ear whisper, "A word; one word with you, +Monsieur." Conceiving, however, it could not have been intended for me, +to whom no face there was familiar, I passed on, and reached the court. + +The noise of footsteps rapidly moving on the grave behind me induced +me to turn; and I beheld a small, miserably-dressed man, whose spare and +wasted form bespoke the sorest trials of poverty, advancing towards me, +hat in hand. + +"Will you deign me one word, Monsieur?" said he, in a voice whose tone, +although that of entreaty, was yet remote from the habitual accent of +one asking alms. + +"You must mistake me," said I, desirous to pass on; "I am unknown to +you." + +"True, sir; but it is as a stranger I take the liberty of addressing +you. I heard you say just now that you had not fixed on any place of +abode in Paris; now, if I might venture to entreat your preference for +this establishment, it would be too much honor for me, its poor master." + +Here he placed in my hands a small card, inscribed with the words, +"Pension Bourgeoise, Rue de Mi-Careme, Boulevard Mont Parnasse, No. 46," +at top; and beneath was a paragraph, setting forth the economical fact +that a man might eat, drink, and sleep for the sum of twelve francs a +week, enjoying the delights of "agreeable society, pleasant environs, +and all the advantages of a country residence." + +It was with difficulty I could avoid a smile at the shivering figure +who ventured to present himself as an inducement to try the fare of his +house. Whether my eyes did wander from the card to his countenance, or +any other gesture of mine betrayed my thoughts, the old man seemed to +divine what was passing in my mind, and said,-- + +"Monsieur will not pronounce on the 'pension' from the humble guise of +its master. Let him but try it; and I promise that these poor rags, this +miserable figure, has no type within the walls." + +There was a tone of deep dejection, mingled with a sense of conscious +pride, in which he said these few words, that at once decided me not to +grieve him by a refusal. + +"You may count on me, then, Monsieur," said I. "My stay here is so far +uncertain, that it depends not altogether on myself; but for the present +I am your guest." + +I took my purse from my pocket as I spoke, knowing the custom in these +humbler boarding-houses was to pay in advance; but the old man reddened +slightly, and motioned with his hand a refusal. + +"Monsieur is a captain in the Guards," said he, proudly; "no more is +necessary." + +"You mistake, friend, I am no longer so; I have left the army." + +"Left it, _en retraite?_" said he, inquiringly. + +"Not so; left it at my own free will and choice. And now, perhaps, I +had better tell you, that as I may not enjoy any considerable share of +goodwill from the police authorities here, my presence might be less +acceptable to your other guests, or to yourself." + +The old man's eyes sparkled as I spoke, and his lips moved rapidly, as +though he were speaking to himself; then, taking my hand, he pressed it +to his lips, and said,-- + +"Monsieur could not be more welcome than at present. Shall we expect you +to-day at dinner?" + +"Be it so. Your hour?" + +"Four o'clock, to the moment. Do not forget the number, 46 Monsieur +Rubichon; the house with a large garden in front." + +"Till then," said I, bowing to my host, whose ceremonious politeness +made me feel my own salute an act of rudeness in comparison. + +As I parted from the old man, I was glad at the relief to my own +thoughts which even thus much of speculation afforded, and sauntered on, +fancying many a strange conceit about the "pension" and its inhabitants. +At last the hour drew near; and having placed my few effects in a +cabriolet, I set out for the distant boulevard of Mont Parnasse. + +I remarked with pleasure, that as we went along the streets and +thoroughfares became gradually less and less crowded; scarcely a +carriage of any kind was to be met with. The shops were, for the most +part, the quiet, unpretending-looking places one sees in a provincial +town; and an air of peacefulness and retirement prevailed, strongly at +variance with the clamor and din of the heart of the capital. This was +more than ever so as we emerged upon the boulevard itself: on one side +of which houses, at long straggling intervals, alone were to be seen; +at the other, the country lay open to the view, with its orchards and +gardens, for miles away. + +"_Saprelotte!_" said the driver, who, like so many of his calling, was a +blunt son of Alsace,--"_saprelotte!_ we have come to the end of the world +here. How do you call the strange street you are looking for?" + +"The Rue de Mi-Careme." + +"Mi-Careme? I 'd rather you lived there than me; that name does not +promise much in regard to good feeding. Can this be it?" + +As he spoke he pointed with his whip to a narrow, deserted-looking +street, which opened from the boulevard. The houses were old and +dilapidated, but stood in small gardens, and seemed like the remains +of the villa residences of the Parisians in times long past. A few more +modern edifices, flaring with red brick fronts, were here and there +scattered amongst them; but for all the decay and dismantlement of the +others, they seemed like persons of rank and condition in the company of +their inferiors. + +Few of the larger houses were inhabited. Large placards, "a louer," +on the gateways or the broken railings of the garden, set forth the +advantages of a handsome residence, situated between court and garden; +but the falling roofs and broken windows were in sad discordance with +the eulogy. + +The unaccustomed noise of wheels, as we went along, drew many to the +doors to stare at us, and in the gathering groups I could mark the +astonishment so rare a spectacle as a cabriolet afforded in these +secluded parts. + +"Is this the Rue Mi-Careme?" said the driver to a boy, who stood gazing +in perfect wonderment at our equipage. + +"Yes," muttered the child,--"yes. Who are you come for now?" + +"Come for, my little man? Not for any one. What do you mean by that?" + +"I thought it was the commissary," said the boy. + +"Ah, _sapperment!_ I knew we were in a droll neighborhood," murmured the +driver. "It would seem they never see a cabriolet here except when it +brings the _commissaire de police_ to look after some one." + +If this reflection did not tend to allay my previous doubts upon the +nature of the locality, it certainly aided to excite my curiosity, and +I was determined to persist in my resolution of at least seeing the +interior of the "pension." + +"Here we are at last," cried the driver, throwing down his whip on the +horse's back, as he sprang to the ground, and read aloud from a board +fastened to a tree, "'Pension Bourgeoise. M. Rubichon, proprietaire.' +Shall I wait for monsieur?" + +"No. Take out that portmanteau and cloak; I'm not going back now." + +A stare of most undisguised astonishment was the only reply he made, as +he took forth my baggage, and placed it at the little gate. + +"You 'll be coming home at night," said he, at length; "shall I come +to fetch you? Not to-night," repeated he, in amazement. "Well, adieu, +Monsieur,--you know best; but I 'd not come a-pleasuring up here, if I +was a young fellow like you." + +As he drove away, I turned to look at the building before me, which up +to this time I had not sufficiently noted. It was a long, two-storied +house, which evidently at an early period had been a mansion of no mean +pretension. The pilasters which ornamented the windows, the balustrades +of the parapet, and the pediment above the entrance, were still +remaining, though in a dilapidated condition. The garden in front showed +also some signs of that quaint taste originally borrowed from the Dutch, +and the yew-trees still preserved some faint resemblance to the beasts +and animals after which they had once been fashioned, though time and +growth had altered the outlines, and given to many a goodly lion or stag +the bristly coat of a porcupine. A little fountain, which spouted from +a sea-monster's nostrils, was grass-grown and choked with weeds. +Everything betokened neglect and ruin; even the sundial had fallen +across the walk, and lay moss-grown and forgotten; as though to say that +Time had no need of a record there. The _jalousies_, which were closed +in every window, permitted no view of the interior; nor did anything, +save a faint curl of light blue smoke from one chimney, give token of +habitation. + +I could not help smiling to myself at the absurd fancy which had +suffered me to feel that this deserted quarter, this lonesome dwelling, +contained anything either adventurous or strange about it, or that +I should find either in the "pension" or its guests wherewithal to +interest or amuse me. With this thought I opened the wicket, and, +crossing the garden, pulled the bell-rope that hung beside the door. + +The deep clanging echoed again and again to my summons, and ere it +ceased the door was opened, and M. Rubichon himself stood before me: no +longer, however, the M. Rubichon of the morning, in garments of worn +and tattered poverty, but attired in a suit which, if threadbare, was +at least clean and respectable-looking,--a white vest, and ruffles also, +added to the air of neatness of his costume; and whether from his +own deserts, or my surprise at the transformation, he seemed to me to +possess the look and bearing of a true gentleman. + +Having welcomed me with the well-bred and easy politeness of one who +knew the habits of society, he gave orders to a servant girl to conduct +me to a room, adding, "May I beg of monsieur to make a rapid toilet, for +the dinner will be served in less than ten minutes?" + +The M. Rubichon of the morning no more prepared me for that gentleman at +evening than did the ruinous exterior of the dwelling for the neat and +comely chamber into which I was now installed. The articles of furniture +were few, but scrupulously clean; and the white curtains of the little +bed, the cherry-wood chairs, the table, with its gray marble top,--all +were the perfection of that propriety which gives even to humble things +a look of elegance. + +I had but time to make a slight change in my dress when the bell sounded +for dinner, and at the same instant a gentle knock came to my door. It +was M. Rubichon, come to conduct me to the _salle_, and anxious to know +if I were satisfied with my chamber. + +"In summer, Monsieur, if we shall have the happiness of possessing you +here at that season, the view of the garden is delightful from this +window; and,--you have not noticed it, of course, but there is a little +stair, which descends from the window into the garden, which you will +find a great convenience when you wish to walk. This way, now. We are a +small party to-day, and indeed shall be for a few weeks. What name shall +I have the honor to announce?" + +"Mr. Burke." + +"Ah! an Irish name," said he, smiling, as he threw open the door of a +spacious but simply furnished apartment, in which about a dozen persons +were standing or sitting around the stove. + +I could not help remarking, that as Monsieur Rubichon presented me to +his other guests, my name seemed to meet a kind of recognition from each +in turn. My host perceived this, and explained it at once by saying,-- + +"We have a namesake of yours amongst us; not exactly at this moment, +for he is in Normandy, but he will be back in a week or so. Madame de +Langeac, let me present Mr. Burke." + +Monsieur Rubichon's guests were all persons somewhat advanced in life; +and though in their dress evincing a most unvarying simplicity and +economy, had yet a look of habitual good tone and breeding which could +not be mistaken. Among these, the lady to whom I was now introduced was +conspicuous, and in her easy and graceful reception of me, showed the +polished manners of one accustomed to the best society. + +After some half-jesting observations, expressive of surprise that a +young man--and consequently, as she deemed, a gay one--should have +selected as his residence an unvisited quarter and a very retired house, +she took my arm, and proceeded to the dinner-room. + +The dinner itself, and the table equipage, were in keeping with the +simplicity of the whole establishment; but if the fare was humble and +the wine of the very cheapest, all the habitudes of the very highest +society presided at the meal, and the polished ease and elegance, so +eminently the gift of ancient French manners, were conspicuous. + +There prevailed among the guests all the intimacy of a large family; +at the same time a most courteous deference was remarkable, which never +approached familiarity. And thus they talked lightly and pleasantly +together of mutual friends and places they had visited; no allusion ever +being made to the popular topics of the day,--to me a most inexplicable +circumstance, and one which I could not avoid slightly expressing my +astonishment at to the lady beside me. She smiled significantly at my +remark, and merely said,-- + +"It is so agreeable to discuss matters where there can be no great +difference of opinion,--at least, no more than sharpens the wit of the +speakers,--that you will rarely hear other subjects talked of here." + +"But have the great events which are yet passing no interest?" + +"Perhaps they interest too deeply to admit of much discussion," said +she, with some earnestness of manner. + +"But I am myself transgressing; and, what is still worse, losing you the +observations of Monsieur de Saint George on Madame de Sevigne." + +The remark was evidently made to change the current of our conversation; +and so I accepted it,--listening to the chit-chat around me, which, from +its novelty alone, possessed a most uncommon charm to my ears. It was +so strange to hear the allusions to the courtiers and the beauties of +bygone days made with all the freshness of yesterday acquaintance; and +the stores of anecdotes about the court of Louis the Fifteenth and the +Regency told with a piquancy that made the event seem like an occurrence +of the morning. + +Before we retired to the drawing-room for coffee, I saw that the +"pension" was a Royalist establishment, and wondered how it happened +that I should have been selected by the host to make one of his guests. +Yet unquestionably there seemed no reserve towards me; on the contrary, +each evinced a tone of frankness and cordiality which made me perfectly +at ease, and well satisfied at the fortune which led me to the Rue +Mi-Careme. + +The little parties of dominoes and piquet scattered through the _salon_; +some formed groups to converse; the ladies resumed their embroidery; and +all the occupations of indoor life were assumed with a readiness that +betokened habit, and gave to the "pension" the comfortable air of a +home. + +Thus passed the first evening. The next morning the party assembled at +an early hour to breakfast; after which the gentlemen went out, and did +not appear until dinnertime,--day succeeding day in unvarying but to me +not unpleasing monotony. I rarely wandered from the large wilderness of +a garden near the house, and saw weeks pass over without a thought ever +occurring to me that life must not thus be suffered to ebb. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. MY NAMESAKE + +About a month after I came to live in the "pension," I was sitting one +evening at the window, watching, with the interest an idle man will ever +attach to slight things,--the budding leaves of an early spring,--when I +heard a step approach my chair, and on turning my head perceived Madame +de Langeac. She carried her taboret in her hand, and came slowly towards +me. + +"I am come to steal some of your sunshine, Monsieur Burke," said the old +lady, smiling good-naturedly, as I rose to present a chair, "but not to +drive you away, if you will be generous enough to keep me company." + +I stammered out some commonplace civility in reply, and was silent, +for my thoughts were bent upon my future, and I was ill disposed to +interruption. + +"You are fond of flowers, I have remarked," continued she, as if +perceiving my preoccupation, and willing to relieve it by taking the +burden of the conversation. "And it is a taste I love to witness; it +seems to me like the evidence of a homely habit. It is only in childhood +we learn this love; we may cultivate it in after life as we will." + +"My mother was passionately fond of them," said I, calling up a +long-buried memory of home and kindred. + +"I thought so. These simple tastes are the inheritance a mother gives +her child; and happily they survive every change of fortune." + +I sighed heavily as she spoke, for thus accidentally was touched the +weakest chord of my heart. + +"And, better still," resumed she, "they are the links that unite us to +the past, that bind the heart of manhood to infancy, that can bring down +pride and haughtiness, and call forth guileless affection and childlike +faith." + +"They are happy,"' said I, musing, "who can mingle such early memories +with the present." + +"And who cannot?" interrupted she, rapidly. "Who has not felt the love +of parents,--the halo of a home? Old as I am, even I can recall the +little walks I trod in infancy, and the hand that used to guide me. I +can bring up the very tones of that voice which vibrated on my heart as +they spoke my name. But how much happier they to whom these memories +are linked with tokens of present affection, and who, in their manhood's +joys, can feel a father's or a mother's love!" + +"I was left an orphan when a mere child," said I, as though the +observation had been specially addressed to me. + +"But you have brothers,--sisters, perhaps." + +I shook my head. "A brother, indeed; but we have never met since we were +children." + +"And yet your country has not suffered the dreadful convulsion of ours; +no social wreck has scattered those who once lived in close affection +together. It is sad when such ties are broken. You came early to +France, I think you told me?" + +"Yes, Madame. When a mere child my heart conceived a kind of devotion +to the Emperor: his fame, his great exploits, seemed something more +than human,--filled every thought of my brain; and to be a soldier,_his_ +soldier, was the limit of my ambition. I fancied, too, that the cause he +asserted was that of freedom; that liberty, universal liberty, was the +watchword that led to victory." + +"And you have discovered your error," interrupted she. "Alas! it were +better to have followed the illusion. A faith once shaken leaves an +unsettled spirit, and with such there is little energy." + +"And less of hope," said I, despondingly. + +"Not so, if there be youth. Come, you must tell me your story. It is +from no mere curiosity I ask you; but that I have seen much of the +world, and am better able than you to offer counsel and advice. I have +remarked, for some time past, that you appear to have no acquaintance +in Paris,--no friend. Let me be such. If the confidence have no other +result, it will relieve your heart of some portion of its burden; +besides, the others here will learn to regard you with less distrust." + +"And is such their feeling towards me?" + +"Forgive me; I did not exactly use the word I sought for. But now that +I have ventured so far, I may as well confess that you are an object of +the greatest interest in their eyes; nor can they divest themselves of +the impression that some deep-laid plot had led you hither." + +"Had I known this before--" + +"You had left us. I guessed as much: I have remarked it in your +character already, that a morbid dread of being suspected is ever +uppermost in your thoughts; and accounted for it by supposing that you +might have been thrown at too early an age into life. But you must +not feel angry with us here. As for me, I have no merit in my right +appreciation of you: Monsieur Rubichon told me how you met,--a mere +accident, at the bureau of the prefet." + +"It was so; nor have I been able to divine why he addressed himself to +me, nor what circumstance could have led him to believe my sentiments in +accordance with those of his guests." + +"Simple enough the reason. He heard from your own lips you were a +stranger, without any acquaintance in Paris. The police for a time +have been somewhat frequent in their visits here, when the exclusively +Royalist feature of the 'pension' excited some dissatisfaction. To +overcome the impression, M. Rubichon determined to wait each day at the +bureau of the prefet, and solicit at hazard among the persons there +to patronize his house. We all here consented to the plan, feeling +its necessity. Our good fortune sent us you. Still, you must not be +surprised if long sorrows and much suffering have engendered suspicion, +nor that the old followers of a king look distrustfully on the soldier +of"--she hesitated and blushed slightly, then added, in a low voice--"of +the Emperor." + +The word seemed to have cost a pang in its utterance; for she did not +speak for several minutes after. + +"And these gentlemen,--am I to conclude that they cherish disaffection +to the present Government, or harbor a hope of its downfall?" + +Whether some accidental expression of disdain escaped me as I said this, +I cannot say; but Madame de Langeao quickly replied,-- + +"They are good Frenchmen, sir, and loyal gentlemen; what they _hope_ +must be a matter for their own hearts." + +"I entreat your pardon, Madame, if I have said one syllable which could +reflect upon their motives." + +"I forgive you readily," said she, smiling courteously; "he who has worn +a sabre so long, may well deem its influence all-powerful. But believe +me, young man, there is that within the heart of a nation against which +mere force is nothing; opposed to it, armed squadrons and dense ranks +are powerless. Devotion to a sovereign, whose claim comes hallowed by a +long line of kings, is a faith to which religion lends its sanction and +tradition its hope. Look on these very persons here; see, has adversity +chilled their affection, or poverty damped their ardor? You know them +not; but I will tell you who they are. + +"There, at the fire, that venerable old man with the high, bold +forehead, he is Monsieur de Plessis (Comte Plessis de Riancourt). His +grandfather entertained Louis the Fourteenth and his suite within his +chateau; he himself was grand falconer to the king. And what is he +now? I shame to speak it,--a fencing-master at an humble school of the +Faubourg. + +"And the other opposite to him (he is stooping to pick something from +the floor), I myself saw him kneel at the levee of his Majesty, and +beheld the king assist him to rise, as he said, 'Monsieur de Maurepas, I +would make you a duke, but that no title could be so dear to a Maurepas +as that his ancestors have borne for six hundred years.' And he, whose +signature was but inferior to the royal command, copies pleadings of a +lawyer to earn his support. + +"And that tall man yonder, who has just risen from the table,--neither +years nor poverty have erased the stamp of nobility from his graceful +figure,--Comte Felix d'Ancelot, captain of the Gardes du Corps; the +same who was left for dead on the stairs at Versailles pierced by eleven +wounds. He gives lessons in drawing! two leagues from this, at the other +extremity of Paris. + +"You ask me if they hope; what else than hope, what other comforter, +could make such men as these live on in want and indigence, declining +every proffer of advancement, refusing every temptation that should warp +their allegiance? I have read of great deeds of your Emperor,--I have +heard traits of heroism of his generals, compared to which the famed +actions of the Crusaders paled away; but tell me if you think that all +the glory ever won by gallant soldier, tried the courage or tested the +stout heart like the long struggle of such men as these? And here, if I +mistake not, comes another, not inferior to any." + +As she spoke, the steps of a _caleche_ at the door were suddenly +lowered, and a tall and powerfully built man stepped lightly out. In +an instant we heard his footstep in the hall, and in another moment the +door of the _salon_ opened, and M. Rubichon announced "Le General Count +Burke." + +The general had just time to divest himself of his travelling pelisse as +he entered, and was immediately surrounded by the others, who welcomed +him with the greatest enthusiasm. + +"Madame la Marquise de Langeac," said he, approaching the old lady, as +she sat in the recess of the window, and lifted her hand to his lips, +"I am overjoyed to see you in such health. I passed three days with +your amiable cousin, Arnold de Rambuteau; who, like yourself, enjoys the +happiest temperament and the most gifted mind." + +"If you flatter thus, General," said Madame de Langeac, "my young friend +here will scarcely recognize in you a countryman,--a kinsman, perhaps. +Let me present Mr. Burke." + +The general's face flushed, and his eyes sparkled, as taking my hand in +both of his own, he said,-- + +"Are you indeed from Ireland? Is your name Burke? Alas! that I cannot +speak one word of English to you. I left my country thirty-eight years +since, and have never revisited it." + +The general overwhelmed me with questions: first about my family, of +which I could tell him little; and then of my own adventures, at which, +to my astonishment, he never evinced those symptoms of displeasure I +so confidently expected from an old follower of the Bourbons. This he +continued to do, as he ate a hurried meal which was laid out for him in +the _salon_; all the rest standing in a circle around, and pressing him +with questions for this friend or that at every pause he made. + +"You see, gentlemen," cried he, as I replied to some inquiry about my +campaign, "this is an instance of what I have so often spoken to you. +Here is a youth who leaves his country solely for fighting sake; he +does not care much for the epaulette, he cares less for the cause. Come, +come, don't interrupt me; I know you better than you know yourself. +You longed for the conflict and the struggle and the victory; and, +_parbleu!_ we may say as we will, but you could have scarcely made a +better selection than with his Majesty, Emperor and King, as they style +him." + +This speech met with a sorry reception from the bystanders, and in the +dissatisfied expression of their faces, a less confident speaker might +have read his condemnation; but the general felt not this, or, if he +did, he effectually concealed it. + +"You have not inquired for Gustave de Me is in," said he, looking round +at the circle. + +"You have not seen him, surely?" cried several together; "we heard he +was at Vienna." + +"No, _parbleu!_ he lives about a league from his old home,--the very +house we spent our Christmas at eighteen years ago. They have made a +barrack of his chateau, and thrown his park into a royal _chasse_; but +he has built a hut on the river-side, and walks every day through his +own ground, which he says he never saw so well stocked for many a year. +He is as happy as ever, and loves to look out on the Seine before his +door when the bright stream is rippling through many a broad leaf; ay, +Messieurs, of good augury, too,--the lilies of France." He lifted a +bumper to his lips as he spoke, and drank the toast with enthusiasm. + +This sudden return to loyalty, so boldly announced, served to reinstate +him in their estimation; and once again all their former pleasure at +his appearance came back, and again the questions poured in from every +quarter. + +"And the abbe," said one; "what of him? Has he made up his mind yet?" + +"To be sure he has, and changed it too, at least twice every twenty-four +hours. He is ever full of confidence and brimming with hope when the +wind is from the eastward; but let it only come a point west, his +spirits fall at once, and he dreams of frigates and gunboats, and the +hulks in the Thames; and though they offered him a cardinal's hat, he 'd +not venture out to sea." + +The warning looks of the bystanders, and even some signals to be +cautious, here interrupted the speaker, who paused for a few seconds, +and then fixed his eyes on me. + +"I have no fears, gentlemen, on that score. I know my countrymen well, +though I have lived little among them. My namesake here may like the +service of the Emperor better than that of a king,--he may prefer the +glitter of the eagle to the war-cry of Saint Louis,--but he 'll never +betray the private conversations nor expose the opinions expressed +before him in all the confidence of social intercourse. + +"We are speaking, Mr. Burke, of an abbe who is about to visit Ireland, +and whose fears of the English cruisers seem little reasonable to some +of my friends here, though you can explain, perhaps, that they are not +groundless. I forgot,--you were but a boy when you crossed that sea." + +"But he will go at last," said Madame de Langeac; "I suppose we may rely +on that?" + +"We hope," said the general, shrugging his shoulders with an air of +doubt, "because, when we can do nothing else, we can always hope." And +so saying he arose from the table, and taking a courteous leave of each +person in turn, pleading the fatigue of his journey, he retired for the +night. + +I left the saloon soon after, and went to my room full of all I had +heard, and pondering many thoughts about the abbe and his intended +voyage. I spent a sleepless night. Thoughts of home, long lost in the +excitement of my career, came flocking to my brain, and a desire +to revisit my country--stronger, perhaps, because undefined in its +object--made me restless and feverish. It was with delight I perceived +the day dawning, and dressing myself hastily, I descended into the +garden. To my surprise, I found General Burke already there. He was +sauntering along slowly by himself, and seemed wrapped in meditation. +The noise of my approach startled him, and he looked up. + +"Ah! my countryman,--so early astir?" said he, saluting me courteously. +"Is this a habit of yours?" + +"No, sir; I cannot claim the merit of such wakefulness. But last night +I never closed my eyes. A few words you dropped in conversation in the +drawing-room kept possession of my heart, and even yet I cannot expel +them." + +"I saw it at the time I spoke," replied the general, with a keen, quick +glance; "you changed color twice as I mentioned the Abbe Gernon. Do you +know him?" + +"No, sir; it was his intended journey, not himself, for which I felt +interested." + +"You would wish to accompany him, perhaps. Well, the matter is not +impossible; but as time presses, and we have little leisure for +mysteries, tell me frankly why are you here?" + +In few words, and without a comment on any portion of my conduct, I told +him the principal circumstances of my life, down to the decisive moment +of my leaving the army. + +"After that step," said I, "feeling that no career can open to me here, +I wish to regain my own country." + +"You are right," said the general, slowly; "it is your only course now. +The venture is not without risk,--less from the English cruisers than +the French, for the abbe is well known in England, and Ireland too; +but his Royalist character would find slight favor with Fouche. You are +willing to run the risk, I suppose?" + +"I am." + +"And to travel as the abbe's servant, at least to Falaise? there the +disguise will end." + +"Perfectly so." + +"And for this service, are you also ready to render us one in return?" +said he, peering at me beneath his eyelashes. + +"If it involve the good faith I once swore to preserve towards the +Emperor Napoleon, I refuse it at once. On such a condition, I cannot +accept your aid." + +"And does your heart still linger where your pride has been so +insulted?" + +"It does, it does; to be his soldier once more, I would submit to +everything but dishonor." + +"In that case," said he, smiling good-naturedly, "my conscience is a +clear one; and I may forward your escape with the satisfying reflection +that I have diminished the enemies of his Majesty Louis the Eighteenth +by one most inveterate follower of Napoleon. I shall ask no conditions +of you. When are you ready?" + +"To-day,--now." + +"Let me see; to-morrow will be the 8th,--to-morrow will do. I will write +about it at once. Meanwhile, it is as well you should not drop any hint +of your intended departure, except to Madame de Langeac, whose secrecy +may be relied on." + +"May I ask," said I, "if you run any risk in thus befriending me? It is +an office, believe me, of little promise." + +"None whatever. Rarely a month passes over without some one or other +leaving this for England. The intercourse between Rome and Ireland is +uninterrupted, and has been so during the hottest period of the war." + +"This seems most unaccountable to me; I cannot understand it." + +"There is a key to the mystery, however," said he, smiling. "The English +Government have confidence in the peaceful efforts of the priesthood as +regards Ireland, and permit them to hold unlimited intercourse with the +Holy See, which fears France and the spirit of her Emperor. The Bourbons +look to the Church as the last hope of the Restoration. It is in the +Catholic religion of this country, and its traditions, that monarchy +has its root. Sap one, and you undermine the other. Legitimacy is a holy +relic,--like any other, the priests are the guardians of it; and as for +the present ruler of France, he trusts in the spirit of the Church to +increase its converts, and believes that Ireland is ripening to revolt +through the agency of the priests. Fouche alone is not deceived. Between +him and the Church the war is to the knife; and but for him the high +seas would be more open than the road to Strasburg,--at least, to +all with a shaven crown and a silk frock. Here, then, is the simple +explanation of what seemed so difficult; and I believe you will find it +the true one." + +"But two out of the three parties must be deceived," said I. + +"Perhaps all three are," replied he, smiling sarcastically. "There are +some, at least, who deem the return of the rightful sovereign is more to +be hoped from the sabre than the crosier, and think that Rome never was +true except to Rome. As to your journey, however, its only difficulty +or danger is the transit through France; once at the coast, and all +is safe. Your passport shall be made out as a retired sous-officier +returning to his home. You will take Marboeuf in the route, and I will +give you the necessary directions for discovering the abbe." + +"Is it not possible," said I, "that _he_ may feel no inclination +to encumber himself with a fellow-traveller, and particularly one a +stranger to him?" + +"Have no fear on that head. Your presence, on the contrary, will give +him courage, and we must let him suppose you accompany him at our +suggestion." + +"Not with any implied knowledge or any connection with your views, +however," said I. "This is well understood between us?" + +"Perfectly so. And now meet me here this evening, after coffee, and I +will give you your final instructions, Adieu, for the present." + +He waved his hand and left me. Then, after walking a few paces, turned +quickly round, and said,-- + +"You will remember, a blouse and knapsack are indispensable for your +equipment. Adieu!" + + + +CHAPTER XXX. AN OLD SAILOR OF THE EMPIRE + +No circumstance of any interest occurred on my journey to Marboeuf; my +passport, made out in my own name as a sous-officier on leave, secured +me against any interruption or delay; and on the third evening I reached +the little wayside cabaret, about a league beyond the town, where I was +informed by the count that the abbe would await me. + +To my surprise, however, I discovered that the house was occupied by a +detachment of the Marines of the Guard, proceeding from Marboeuf to the +coast; with these, assuming the "camaraderie" of the service, I soon +made acquaintance, and being possessed of some information about +the army, my company was at once coveted by the sailors, who had no +opportunity of learning the events of the campaign. + +The flurried manner and the over-solicitous desire of the landlord +to please, did not escape me; and taking the first opportunity that +offered, I followed him into his room, and closed the door behind me. + +"Has _he_ arrived?" said I, assuming at once the tone of one with whom +there need be no secrecy. + +"Ha! you are the captain, then, and I was right?" said he, not replying +to my question, but showing that he was aware who I was. But in an +instant he resumed, "Alas! no, sir; the orders to have quarters ready +for ten men reached me yesterday; and though I told his messenger that +he might come in safety,--the marines never noticing any traveller,--he +has evidently been afraid to venture. This is the 10th; on the 12th the +vessel is to be off the coast; after that it will be too late." + +"But he may come yet." + +The man shook his head and sighed; then muttered half aloud, "It was a +foolish choice to take a coward for a hazardous enterprise. The Comte de +Chambord has been here twice to-day to see him, but in vain." + +"Where is he, then? at what distance from here?" + +"No one knows. It must be some leagues away, however, for his messenger +seems tired and weary when he comes, and never returns the same day." + +"Is it not possible he may have pushed on to the coast, finding this +place occupied?" + +"Ah, sir, it is plain you know him not; he has no daring like this, and +would never seek a new path if the old were closed against him. But +after all, it would be useless here." + +"How so?" + +"The letters have not come yet, and without them he could not leave the +coast. Meanwhile, be cautious: take care lest your absence should be +remarked by the men; return to them now, and if anything occur, I will +make a signal for you." + +The landlord's advice was well timed, for I found that the party were +already becoming impatient at my delay, and wondering what had caused +it. + +"They say, Comrade," said a short-set, dark-featured Breton, whose black +beard and mustache left little vestige of a human face visible,--"they +say that the cavalry of the Guard give themselves airs with us marines, +and that our company is not good enough for them. Is this the case?" + +"It is the first time I have heard the remark," replied I, "and I hope +it may be the last; with us of the Eighth I know such a feeling never +existed; and yet we thought ourselves not inferior to our neighbors." + +"Then why did you leave us just now?" grumbled out two or three in a +breath. + +"You shall know that presently," said I, smiling; at the same time I +arose and opened the door. "You may bring in the Burgundy now, Master +Joseph; we are all ready for it." + +A hearty cheer welcomed this speech, and many a rude hand was stretched +forth to grasp mine; at the same instant the host, accurately divining +the necessity of the moment, entered with a basket containing six +bottles, whose cobwebbed necks and crusted surface bespoke the choicest +bin of his cellar. + +"_Macon!_ gentlemen," said he, drawing the cork of a flask with all the +steadiness of hand of one accustomed to treat Burgundy properly. + +"Ah, _parbleu!_ a generous grape, too," said the short sailor, who spoke +first, as he drained his glass and refilled it. "_Allons_, Comrades, +'The Emperor! '" + +"The Emperor!" repeated each voice in turn, even to the poor landlord, +whose caution was stronger than his loyalty. + +"The Emperor, and may Heaven preserve him!" said the dark-whiskered +fellow. + +"The Emperor, and may Heaven forgive him!" said the host, who this time +uttered the true sentiments of his heart, without knowing it. + +"Forgive him!" roared three or four together,--"forgive him what?" + +"For not making thee an admiral of the fleet," said the landlord, +slapping the stout sailor familiarly on the shoulder. + +A burst of rude laughter acknowledged the success of this speech, and +by common consent the host was elected One of the company. As the wine +began to work upon the party, the dark fellow, whose grade of sergeant +was merely marked by a gold cord on his cuff, and which had hitherto +escaped my notice, assumed the leadership, and recounted some stories +of his life; which, treating of a service so novel to me in all its +details, were sufficiently interesting, though the materials themselves +were slight and unimportant. + +One feature struck me in particular through all he said, and gave a +character most distinctive to the service he belonged to, and totally +unlike what I had observed among the soldiers of the army. With _them_ +the armies of all Europe were accounted the enemy,--the Austrian, the +Russian, the Italian, and the Prussian were the foes he had met and +conquered in so many fields of glory. The pride he felt in his triumphs +was a great but natural sentiment; involving, however, no hatred of his +enemy, nor any desire to disparage his courage or his skill. With the +sailor of the Empire, however, there was but one antagonist, and that +one he detested with his whole heart: England was a word which stirred +his passion from its very inmost recesses, and made his blood boil +with intense excitement. The gay insolence of the soldier, treating his +conquest as a thing of ease and certainty, had no resemblance to the +collected and impassioned hate of the sailor, who felt that _his_ +victories were not such as proclaimed his superiority by evidence +incontestable. The victories on land contrasted, too, so strongly +with even what were claimed as such at sea, that the sailors could not +control their detestation of those who had robbed them of a share of +their country's praise, and made the hazardous career they followed one +of mere secondary interest in the eyes of France. + +A more perfect representative of this mingled jealousy and hate could +not be found than Paul Dupont, the sous-officier in command of this +little party. He was a Breton, and carried the ruling trait of his +province into the most minute feature of his conduct. Bold, blunt, +courageous, open-hearted, and fearless, but passionate to the verge of +madness when thwarted, and unforgiving in his vengeance when insulted, +he only believed in Brittany, and for the rest of France he cared as +little as for Switzerland. His whole life had been spent at sea, until +about two years previous, when from boatswain he was promoted to be a +sergeant of the Marines of the Guard,--a step he regretted every day, +and was now actually petitioning to be restored to his old grade, even +at the sacrifice of pay and rank; such was the impression a short life +ashore had made on him, and so complete his contempt for any service +save that in blue water. + +"Come, old 'sea-wolf,'"--such was the sobriquet Paul went by among his +comrades,--"thou art dull to-night," said an old sailor with a head as +white as snow. "I haven't seen thee so low of heart this many a day." + +"What wonder, Comrade, if I am so?" retorted Paul, gruffly. "This shore +service is bad enough, not to make it worse by listening to such yarns +as these we have been hearing, about platoons and squadrons; of charges +here and counter-marches there. _Ventre d'enfer!_ that may amuse +those who never saw a broadside or a boarding; but as for me, look ye, +Comrade!"--here he addressed himself to me, laying his great hand upon +my shoulder as he spoke,--"until ye can bring your mounted lines to +charge up to the mouth of a battery vomiting grape and roundshot, ye +must not tell your stories before old sailors, ay, though they be only +Marines' of the Guard, some of them." + +"Don't be angry with old Paul, Comrade," said the man who spoke before; +"he does not mean to offend you." + +"Who told you that?" said Paul, sternly. "Why can't you sheer off, and +leave me to' lay alongside of my enemy my own way?" + +"You must not call me by such a name," said I; "we all serve the +Emperor, and have no enemies save his. Come, Paul, let us have a cup of +wine together." + +"Agreed! an ye promise to tell no more tales of dragoons and hussars, +and such like cattle, I'll drink with you. Bah! it's not Christianlike +to fight a-horse-back,--it's only fit for Turks and Arabs; but for men +that are made to stand fast on their own stout timbers, they have no +need of four-footed beasts to carry them against an enemy. Here's my +hand, Comrade; is it a bargain?" + +"Willingly," said I, laughing. "If you consent, instead, to tell us some +of your own adventures, I promise faithfully not to trouble you with one +of mine." + +"That's like a man," said Paul, evidently flattered by the successful +assertion of his own superiority. "And now, if the host will let us have +some more wine, I'm ready." + +"Ay, ay," cried several together; "replenish the basket once more." + +"This time, gentlemen, you must permit me to treat you. It is not every +day such guests assemble under my poor roof," said the landlord, bowing +courteously, "nor am I likely soon to pass so pleasant an evening." + +"That's as you please it," said Paul, carelessly. "If you are too good +a fellow to care for money, there's three naps for the poor of the +village; mayhap there may be an old sailor amongst them." + +A murmur of satisfaction at their comrade's conduct ran round the +circle, as the host disappeared for the fresh supply of wine. In an +instant he was back again, carrying a second basket under his arm, which +he placed carefully on the table, saying, "Pomard of '87, gentlemen; I +wish it were Chambertin for your sakes." + +"_Tete bleue!_that's what I call wine," said one, smacking his lips, as +he tasted the generous liquor. + +"Yes," said Paul, "that's better than drinking the pink water they serve +us out on service. _Morbleu!_ how we 'd fight, if they'd tap an aume of +that when they beat to quarters." + +The bottle now passed freely from hand to hand; and Paul, leaning +back in his chair, crossed his arms before him, as, with his eyes +half closed, he seemed to be occupied in remembering some long passed +occurrence. + +"Ay, Comrades," said he, after a long pause, "the landlord was not so +far out as you may think him. I might have been, if not an admiral of +the fleet, at least a captain or a commodore by this time, if I only +wished it, but I wouldn't." + +"You wouldn't, Paul?" cried three or four in a breath. "How do you mean, +you wouldn't? Is it that you didn't like it?" + +"That's it: I didn't like it," replied he, glaring around him as he +spoke, with a look which had repressed any tendency to mirth, if such +an inclination existed in the party. "Mayhap there are some here don't +believe this," he continued, as if anxious to extort a contradiction +from any one bold enough to adventure it; but none seemed disposed to +meet his wishes. He resumed. "The way of it was this:-- + +"We sailed from Brest, seven sail and two frigates, on a cruise, in the +Messidor of the year '13, (it was the time of the Republic then), and +our orders were to keep together, and afford protection to all vessels +of our flag; and wherever an opportunity offered to engage the enemy, to +do so, if we had a fair chance of success. There was one heavy sailer +of the fleet, the 'Old Torch,' and by good luck I was in her; and so, +before we were eight days out, it came on to blow a hurricane from the +northeast, with a great sea that threatened to poop us at every stroke. +How the others weathered it I can't say; we rolled so badly that we +carried away our mainmast and half our bulwarks, and when day broke we +could see nothing of the rest. We were lying floundering there in the +trough of the sea, with nothing left but a storm-jib to keep her head +straight, and all hands at the pumps; for in working she had opened her +old seams, and leaked like a basket. Well, we cut away the wreck of the +mast, and we threw twelve of our guns over,--short eighteens they were, +and all heavy metal,--and that lightened her a bit, and we began to have +hopes of weathering out the gale, when the word was passed of a strange +sail to windward. + +"We looked, and there saw a great vessel looming, as large as a +three-decker, coming down towards us with close-reefed topsails, but +going through the water like a swordfish. At first we hoped it was one +of our own; but that hope did not last long, for as she neared us we +saw floating from the peak that confounded flag that never boded us good +fortune. She was an English eighty-gun ship; the 'Blanche' they called +her. _Ventrebleu!_ I didn't know how they ever got so handsome a model; +but, I learned after, she was a French ship, and built at Toulon,--for +you see, Comrades, they never had such craft as ours. Well, down they +came, as if they were about to come right over us, and never once made +a signal, nor took any notice of us whatever, till quite close; when +a fellow from the poop-deck shouted out in French,--bad enough it was, +too,--desiring us to keep close till the sea went down a bit, and then +to send a boat to them. _Sacristi!_there was no more about it than that; +and they made a prize of us at once. + +"But our captain was not one of that mould, and he answered by beating +to quarters; and just as the 'Blanche' swept past, up flew our ports, +and eight carronades threw in a fire of grape along her deck that made +them dance to the music. _Diable!_ the fun was short, though. Round she +came in stays like a pinnace, down helm, and passed us again; when, as +if her sides slit open, forty guns flashed forth their flame, and sent +us a broadside that made the craft tremble again, and left our deck one +mass of dead and wounded. There was no help for it now. The clear +water came gushing up the hatchways from many a shothole; the craft was +settling fast, and so we hauled down the ensign and made the signal of +distress. The answer was, 'Keep her afloat if you can.' But, faith, our +fellows didn't care much to save a prize for the English, and they would +n't lend a hand to the pumps, but crossed their arms and stood still, +waiting for her to go down; when what did we see but two boats lowered +from the 'Blanche' and dropped into the sea, which was then running +mountains high. _Feu d'enfer!_ they don't know where there is danger and +where not, these English; and that's the reason they seem so brave! +For a minute or two we thought they were swamped, for they were hidden +entirely; then we saw them on the top of a wave, balancing, as it might +be; and again they disappeared, and the huge dark swell seemed to have +swallowed them. And so we strained eyes after them, just as if our own +danger was not as great as theirs; when suddenly a fearful cry for'ed +was heard, and a voice called out. 'She is sinking by the head!' + +"And so it was. A crash like falling timber was heard above the storm +and the sea, and the 'Torch' rolled heavily from side to side, and then +plunged bowsprit down, and the boiling surf met over her. There was +a wild yell; some said it was a cheer; I thought it like a drowning +cry,--and I remember no more. That is, I have a kind of horrid dreamy +remembrance of buffeting in the waves, and shaking off a hand that +grasped me by the shoulder, and then feeling the water gathering over me +as I grew more and more exhausted. But the end of it was, I came to +my senses some hours after, and found myself in a hammock on board the +'Blanche,' with twenty-eight of my comrades. All the rest--above two +hundred and fifty--had perished, the captain and the officers among +them. + +"The 'Blanche' was under orders for St. Domingo, and was in no way +anxious to have our company; and before a week was over we were drafted +into a small sloop of war, carrying eight guns, and called the 'Fawn,' +She was bound for England with despatches from Nelson,--one of their +English admirals they 're always talking about. This little craft could +sail like the wind, but she was crowded with sick and invalided men from +some foreign station, and there was not a place the size of a dog-kennel +on board of her that was not occupied. As for us, we were only +prisoners, and you may think they were n't very particular about +our comforts; and so they ranged us along under the bulwarks to +leeward,--for they would n't spoil her sailing trim by suffering us to +sit to windward; and there we were, drenched to the skin, and shivering +from day to dark. + +"Four days went over in this way, when, on the fifth, about eight +o'clock in the morning, the lookout announced several strange sail +in sight; and the same instant we perceived the officers setting the +glasses to observe them. We could remark that the sight did not seem to +please them much; but more we knew not, for we were not allowed to stand +up nor look over the bulwarks. The lieutenant of the watch called up the +commander; and when he came on deck he ordered the men to cram on more +sail, and hold her head a point or so off the wind; and as soon as +it was done, the rushing noise at the cutwater told the speed she was +making through the sea. It was a fine day, with a fresh breeze and a +nice curl from the water; and it was a handsome thing to see how the +sloop bent to the gale and rose again, her canvas white as snow and +steady as a board; and we soon knew, from the manner of the officers +and the anxious looks they 'd give to leeward from time to time, that +another vessel was in chase of the 'Fawn.' Not a man stirred on the deck +save the lieutenant of the watch, who walked the quarterdeck with his +glass in his hand; now lifting it to his eye, and now throwing a glance +aloft to see how the sails were drawing. + +"'She's gaining on us, sir,' cried the boatswain, as he went aloft, to +the lieutenant. 'Shall we ease her off a little more?' + +"'No, no,' said he, impatiently. 'She's coming handover-hand now. Clear +the deck, and prepare for action.' + +"My heart jumped to my throat as I heard the words; and waiting until +the lieutenant's back was turned, I stole my eyes above the bulwark, +and beheld the tall masts and taper spars of a frigate, all covered +with canvas, about two miles astern of us. She was a good-sized craft, +apparently of thirty-eight guns; but what I liked best about her was the +broad tricolor that fluttered from her masthead. Every curl that floated +on the breeze whispered liberty to my heart. + +"'You know her?' said the lieutenant, laying his hand on my shoulder, +before I was aware he was behind me. 'What is she?' + +"'Lend me your glass, Lieutenant, and perhaps I can tell you,' said +I; and with that he gave the telescope into my hand, and leaned on the +bulwark beside me. 'Ha!' said I, as soon as I caught the side of her +hull, 'I ought to know her well; I sailed in her for two years and a +half. She's the "Creole," of thirty-eight guns, the fastest frigate in +our navy; she has six carronades on her quarterdeck, and never goes to +sea without three hundred and twenty men.' + +"'If she had three tiers of them we 'd not flinch from her,' said a +voice behind. It was the commander himself, who was now in full uniform, +and wore a belt with four pistols stuck around it. + +"There is no use in denying it,--the English prepared for action like +brave fellows, and soon cleared the deck of everything in the way of the +guns. But what use was it? In less than an hour the 'Creole' worked to +windward, and opened a fire from her long guns to which the other could +make no reply. There they came plumping in,--some into the hull, some +splintering through the bulwarks, and some crashing away through the +rigging; and all the crew could do was to repair the mischief the +distant cannonade was making. + +"'It's a cowardly way your countrymen come into action, after all,' said +the lieutenant, as he watched the shot hopping and skipping along the +water to leeward. 'With four times our strength, they don't bear down +and encourage us.' + +"As he spoke, a shot cut the peak halyards in two, and down came the +spar with a crash, carrying with it in its fall that ensign they 're so +proud of. It was all we could do, prisoners as we were, not to cheer at +this; but the faces around us did not encourage us to such a course, and +we sat silently watching them. + +"The moment the accident happened, twenty stout fellows were clambering +up the rigging, and as many more engaged to repair the mischief. But +suddenly the commander whispered something to the lieutenant; the +men were called down again, and the craft was let fall off the wind, +trailing the sails and the tangled rigging over her sides. + +"'And the prisoners, sir?' said the lieutenant, at the close of +something I could not hear. + +"'Send them below,' was the short reply. + +"'We cannot; the space between decks is crowded to suffocation. But here +she comes.' And, as he spoke, the frigate came bearing down in gallant +style, her whole deck swarming with men. + +"'Down, men, down!' whispered the lieutenant, and he dropped on his +knee behind the bulwark, and motioned to the rest to kneel. And I now +perceived that every sailor had a drawn cutlass in his hand and pistols +in his belt, as he lay crouching on the deck. + +"The frigate was now so close, I could hear the commands of the officers +on the quarterdeck, and the words 'Bas les branles'--the signal to +board--passed from mouth to mouth. The next instant, she closed on us, +and showed her tall sides towering above us. + +"'Now, men!' cried the commander of the 'Fawn,' 'now, forward! 'All who +care to live, there's your ground,' said he, pointing to the frigate. +'Such as like to die on a British deck, remain with me.' The boarders +sprang up the side of the 'Creole' before the crew could fasten the +grapples. _Tonnerre de Dieu!_ what a moment it was! The fellows cheered +like madmen, as they poured in to certain death; the lieutenant himself +was one of the first on board, and fell back the same instant, dead upon +his own deck. The struggle was a bloody but brief one; for a few +minutes the English pressed our men back, and gained a footing on +the quarterdeck, but a murderous fire from the tops cut them down in +numbers, and they now fought, not for victory, but vengeance. + +"'Now, Captain, now!' screamed a youth, in a lieutenant's uniform, but +all covered with blood, and his face gashed with a cutlass-wound, as he +leaned over the bulwark of the 'Creole,' and waved his cap in the air. + +"'I'm ready,' replied the English commander, and sprang down the main +hatchway as he spoke, with a pistol in his hand. At the same instant, +a fearful cry burst forth from the prisoners; for, with the instinct of +despair, they guessed his desperate resolve was to blow up the vessel. +We were tied, wrist to wrist, and the rope run through the blocks at our +back in such a way as to prevent our moving more than a few inches. But +what will not the fear of a dreadful death do? With one unanimous effort +we tore the lashings in pieces, and got free. I was myself the first +at liberty, and sprang towards the 'Creole.' Alas! they had divined +the awful doom awaiting us, and were endeavoring to shove off at once. +Already there were some ten or twelve feet between the vessels. I rushed +forward to gain the bowsprit, a vague hope of escape suggesting the +effort. As I did so, my eyes caught sight of a book, which, with his +hat, the captain threw from him as he hastened below. I stooped down +and put it in my bosom,--why, I know not. Life, and life only, was my +thought at that moment. Then, with lightning's speed, I ran along the +deck, and out on the bowsprit. + +"At this instant, the frigate shot ahead of us; I made a leap, the last +effort of despair, and caught the fluke of the anchor; a friendly +hand threw me a rope and dragged me on the deck. As I gained it, a +thunderclap, louder than ten broadsides, broke forth, and the frigate +fell over on one side as if sinking; while over her rigging and her +masts flew spars and timbers, blazing and burning, amid a black smoke +that filled the air on every side. Every man about dropped wounded +or terrified on the deck, where they lay amid the falling fire of the +wreck, and the terrible carnage. I wiped the blood from my eyes, for +I was bleeding profusely from a splinter cut, and looked about me. The +deck was a mass of dead and dying; their piercing cries and groans were +maddening to hear. The frigate, however, was flying fast through the +water; the 'Fawn' was gone!" + +"_Tete-bleue!_ he blew her up?" said three or four in a breath. + +Paul nodded, and resumed:-- + +"Ay, Comrades, and the half-dozen of her crew who stood alive on our +quarterdeck cheered the explosion as if it was a victory; and one +fellow, as he lay bleeding on the planks, cried out, 'See, there; look, +if our gay flag is not high above yours, as it always will be! 'And that +time he was right, for the spar that bore it was nigh the clouds. + +"Well, to finish my story: In eight days we made Brest, and all of us +who were wounded were sent on shore to the naval hospital. A sorry set +we were; most of us disabled by splinter-wounds, and many obliged to +suffer amputation. I was about again sooner than the rest, and was sent +for one morning on board the admiral's ship, to give some account of the +'Fawn,' of which they never could hear enough; and when I came to that +part where I made my escape, they all began a-laughing at my stopping +to take up a book at such a moment. And one of the lieutenants said, +jokingly,-- + +"'Well, Paul, I suppose it was the Englishman's breviary saved your +life, was n't it?' + +"'No, Lieutenant,' said I; 'but you 'd be mighty proud this day to have +that same breviary in your possession.' + +"'How so, good fellow?' said the admiral himself, old Villaret Joyeuse, +who always talked like one of ourselves. 'What is this book, then, that +is so precious?' + +"'I 'll show it you, sir, because I 've no fear of foul play at your +hands; but there's not another man of the fleet I 'd let see it,' And +with that I took it out of my breast, where I always carried it, and +gave it to him. Ah! if you'd seen his face,--how it flushed up as he +turned over the leaves, and how his eyes sparkled with fire! + +"'Paul Dupont,' said he, 'are you aware what this is?' + +"'Yes, Admiral,' said I, 'as well as you are.' + +"'Your fortune's made, then, my brave fellow,' said he, slapping me on +the shoulder. 'The finest frigate in the English navy is a less prize +than this.' + +"_Mille tonnerres!_ how the others stared at me then. But I stood +without minding how they looked, for I was the same Paul Dupont they +laughed at a few minutes before. + +"Meanwhile the admiral laid down the book on the table, and covered +it with his cocked hat; and then taking a pen he wrote some lines on a +piece of paper before him. + +"'Will that do, Paul?' said he, handing it towards me. + +"It was just this: 'Bureau of the Marine, Brest. Pay Paul Dupont the sum +of ten thousand francs, for service rendered to his Imperial Majesty, +and attested in a note by me Villaret Joyeuse, Admiral of France.' + +"I could scarce read the lines, Comrades, for pure passion. + +"'Ten thousand francs!' said I at last, as soon as I found breath,--'ten +thousand francs!' + +"'What!' cried the admiral, 'not content? Well, then, thou shalt have +more; but I have rarely met one of your cloth with so mercenary a +spirit.' + +"'Stay, Admiral,' said I, as I saw him about to write a new order; 'we +both are in an error here. You mistake me, and I you. An old admiral of +the fleet ought to know his sailors better than to think that money is +their highest reward; it never was so at least with Paul Dupont Let me +have my book again.' + +"'Come, come, Paul; I believe I understand you now,' laid he. 'Your +warrant shall be made out this day.' + +"'No, Admiral, it's too late,' said I. 'If that had come first, and from +yourself, all well; but it looks like a bargain now, and I 'll not have +promotion that way.' + +"'Mort du diable!' said he, stamping with passion. 'But they 're all +the same; these Bretons are as brutal in their obstinacy as their own +cattle.' + +"'You say true, Admiral,' said I; 'but if they're obstinate in wrong, +they're resolute in right. You are a Breton gentleman; give me back my +book.' + +"'Take it,' said he, flinging it at me, 'and let me never see your face +again.' And with that he left the cabin, and banged the door after him +in a rage. + +"And so, I went my way, Comrades, back to my ship, and served for many a +long year after, carrying that book always in my breast, and thinking +to myself, 'Well, what if thou art only a boatswain, Paul; thou hast +wherewithal in thy keeping to make thee a commodore any day.'" + +"And what can it be, then, this book?" said the party, in a breath. + +"You shall see," said Paul, solemnly; "for though I have never shown it +since, nor have I ever told the story before, here it is." + +With these words he drew from his bosom a small square volume, bound in +vellum, and fastened by a clasp; lettered on the cover, "Signals of the +Channel Fleet." + +This was the secret of honest Paul's life; and as he turned over the +leaves, he expatiated with eloquent delight on the various British +emblems which were represented there, in all their brilliant coloring. + +"That double streak of yellow on the black is to make all sail, +Comrades," said he. "Whenever they see us standing out to sea you may +remark that signal flying." + +"And what is this large blue flag here, with all the colored bars across +it?" said one. + +"Ay," cried another, "they're very fond of that ensign; what can it be?" + +"Close action," growled out Paul, sullenly, who didn't fancy even the +reflective praise this question implied to the hated rival. + +"_Sacrebleu!_" said a third, "they've no other to announce a victory. +Look here; it is the same flag for both." + +Paul shut up the book at this, with a muttered curse, which might have +been intended either for his comrades or the English, or both together, +and the whole party became suddenly silent. + +It was now that the landlord's tact became conspicuous; for instead +of any condoling expressions on what might have been deemed the +unsuccessful result of Paul's career, he affected to think that the +brave seaman was more to be envied for the possession of that volume +than if he walked the deck an admiral of France. + +This flattery, aided by a fresh supply of Burgundy, had full success; +and from story-telling the party fell to singing,--the songs being +only a more boastful detail of their prowess at sea than their prose +narratives; and even here Paul maintained his supremacy. + +Sleep, however, stronger than self-glorification and pride, fell on the +party one by one, and they lay down at last on the tables and benches, +and slumbered heavily. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. A MOONLIGHT RECOGNITION + +I sat on my bed in the little chamber allotted me, and as the bright +moonlight streamed along the floor, and lit up the wide landscape +without, I hesitated within myself whether I should await the morning, +or at once set forth on my way to the coast. It was true the abbe had +not arrived; and without him I knew nothing of the vessel, nor where she +lay, much less by what means I should induce the crew to receive me as +a passenger. But my heart was fixed on gaining the coast; once there, +I felt that the sea alone rolled between me and my country, and I had +little doubt some means of escape would present itself. + +The desire to return to Ireland, long stilled, was now become a passion. +I thought some new career must there open for me, and in its active +vicissitudes I should make amends for the wearisome languor of my late +life. What this novel path was to be, and where to lead, I cannot +say; nor am I able now, in looking back, to guess by what sophistry I +persuaded myself into this belief. It was the last ray of hope within +me, however, and I cherished it only the more fondly for its very +uncertainty. + +As I sat thus deliberating with myself what course to take, the door was +cautiously opened, and the landlord entered. + +"He is come," whispered he; "and, thank Heaven! not too late." + +"The abbe?" inquired I. + +"No, not the abbe; but the Comte de Chambord. The abbe will not venture; +but it matters not, if you will. The letters are all ready; the sloop is +off the coast; the wind is fair--" + +"And not a moment to be lost," added a deep, low voice, as the figure of +a tall man, wrapped in a travelling cloak, darkened the doorway. "Leave +us, Pierre; this is the gentleman, I suppose?" + +"Yes, sir," said the landlord. "Should you need a light, I 'll bring +one." + +"Thank you, friend; we can dispense with any, save what the moon affords +us." + +As the door closed on the retiring figure of the host, the stranger took +his place beside me on the bed, and in a low voice thus began:-- + +"I only know, sir, that you have the full confidence of one of my +stanchest and best friends, who tells me that you are willing to incur +great risk, provided you gain the chance of reaching your native land. +That chance--nay, I will call it that certainty--lies in my power; and, +in return for the assistance, are you willing to do me a service?" + +"I served the Emperor, sir; ask me not anything unworthy of one who wore +his epaulette. Aught else, if it be but honorable and fair, I 'll do." + +"I have no leisure for casuistry, nor is it my humor, sir," replied he +angrily. "Neither do I seek any wondrous devotion at your hands. The +service is an easy one: costs nothing at the present; involves nothing +for the future." + +"The slight value you place upon it may detract but little from my +objection," said I. + +"_Sacre ciel!_" exclaimed he, in a louder voice, as he sprang from the +bed and clasped his hands before him. "Is it to be ever thus? Is every +step we take to be marred by some unlooked for casualty? Is the stamp +of fear and vacillation to be on every act of our lives? This abbe, the +creature we have made, the man whose fortune is our handiwork, could +render but one service to our cause; and he fails us in our need. And +now, you--" + +"Beware, sir, how you speak to one who has never been accustomed to +hear his name slightingly used nor his honor impugned. With your cause, +whatever it be, I have no sympathy. Remember that; and remember, also, +we are strangers to each other." + +"No, _par Saint Denis!_ that we are not!" said he, seizing me by the +arm, as he turned his head round, and stared me steadfastly in the face. +"It was but this instant I deemed my fortune at the worst; and now I +find myself mistaken. Do you know me now?" said he, throwing off his +travelling cap, and letting his cloak fall from his shoulders to the +ground. + +"De Beauvais!" exclaimed I, thunderstruck at the sight. + +"Yes, sir; the same De Beauvais whose fortunes you have blighted, +whose honor you have tarnished--Interrupt me not. The mill at Holbrun +witnessed the latter, if even the former were an error; and now we meet +once more." + +"Not as enemies, however; at least on my side. You may persist, if you +will, in attributing to me wrongs I never inflicted. I can better bear +the imputation, unjust though it be, than involve myself in any quarrel +with one I feel no anger towards. I was in hopes a few hours hence might +have seen me on my way from France forever; but here, or elsewhere, I +will not reply to your enmity." + +De Beauvais made no reply as I concluded, but with his arms crossed, and +head bent down, seemed lost in thought. + +"And so," said he, at length, in a slow, sad voice, "you have not found +the service of the Usurper as full of promise as you hoped; you have +followed his banner long enough to learn how mean a thing even ambition +may be, and how miserably selfish is the highest aspiration of an +adventurer!" + +"The Emperor was my good master," said I, sternly; "it would ill become +me to vent my disappointment on aught save my own demerits." + +"I have seen as slight deservings bring a high reward, notwithstanding," +replied he; "ay, and win their meed of praise from lips whose eulogy was +honor. There was a service, Burke--" + +"Stay, no more of this!" said I. "You are unjust to your own cause and +to me, if you deem that the hour of baffled hopes is that in which I +could see its justice. _You_ are true and faithful to one whose fortunes +look darkly. I respect the fidelity, while I will not follow its +dictates. I leave the path where fame and riches abound; I only ask you +to believe that I do so with honor. Let us part, then." + +"Where do you mean to go, hence?" + +"I know not; a prospect of escape had led me hither. I must now bethink +me of some other course." + +"Burke, I am your debtor for one kindness, at least," said De Beauvais, +after a brief pause. "You saved my life at the risk of your own. The +night at the Chateau d'Ancre should never be forgotten by me; nor had +it been, if I did not revenge my own disappointed hopes, in not +seducing you to our cause, upon yourself. It may be that I wrong you in +everything as in this." + +"Believe me, that you do, De Beauvais." + +"Be it as it may, I am your debtor. I came here to-night to meet one who +had pledged himself to perform a service. He has failed in his promise; +will you take his place? The same means of escape shall be yours. All +the precautions for his safety and sure conduct shall be taken in your +behalf. I ask no pledge for the honorable discharge of what I seek at +your hands, save your mere assent." + +"What is it you require of me?" + +"That you deliver these letters to their several addresses; that you +do so with your own hands; that when questioned, as you may be, on the +state of France, you will not answer as the partisan of the Usurper." + +"I understand you. Enough: I refuse your offer. Your zeal for the cause +you serve must indeed be great when it blinds you to all consideration +for one placed as I am." + +"It has made me forget more, sir, far more than that, as I might prove +to you, were I to tell what my life has been for two years past. But for +such forgetfulness there is an ample recompense, a glorious one,--the +memory of our king." He paused at these words, and in his tremulous +voice and excited gesture I could read the passion that worked within +him. "Come, then; there shall be no more question of a compact between +us. I ask no conditions, I seek for no benefits: you shall escape. +Take my horse; my servant, who is also mounted, will accompany you to +Beudron, where you will find fresh horses in readiness. This passport +will prevent all interruption or delay; it is countersigned by Fouche +himself. At Lisieux, which you will reach by sunset, you can leave the +cattle, and the boy of the cabaret will be your guide to the Falaise +de Biville. The tide will ebb at eleven o'clock, and a rocket from the +sloop will be your signal to embark." + +"And for this I can render nothing in return?" said I, sadly. + +"Yes. It may be that in your own country you will hear the followers +of our king scoffed at and derided,--called fools or fanatics, perhaps +worse. I would only ask of you to bear witness that they are at least +ardent in the cause they have sworn to uphold, and firm to the faith +to which they have pledged themselves. This is the only service you can +render us, but it is no mean one. And now, farewell!" + +"Farewell, De Beauvais! But ere we separate forever, let me hear from +your lips that you bear me no enmity; that we are friends, as we used to +be." + +"Here is my hand. I care not if you injured me once; we can be friends +now, for we are little likely to meet again as enemies. Adieu!" + +While De Beauvais left the room to order the horses to be in readiness, +the landlord entered it, and seemed to busy himself most eagerly in +preparing my knapsack for the road. + +"I trust you will be many a mile hence ere the day breaks," said +he, with an anxiety I could ill comprehend, but which at the time +I attributed to his desire for the safety of one intrusted with an +important mission. "And now, here come the horses.'" + +A moment more, and I was seated in the saddle. A brief word at parting +was all De Beauvais spoke, and turned away; and the minute after I was +hurrying onward towards Beudron. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. THE FALAISE DE BIVILLE. + +Everything occurred as De Beauvais had predicted. The authorities in the +little villages we passed glanced at my passport, and as instantaneously +handed it back, and we journeyed like couriers of the Emperor, without +halt or impediment. + +We reached Lisieux early in the evening, where, having dismissed the +servant and horses, I took my way on foot towards a small fishing +village, called La Hupe, where at a certain cabaret I was to find my +guide to Biville. + +The address of the sailor written on a card, and marked with a peculiar +cipher by De Beauvais, was at once recognized by the old Norman, who +welcomed me with a rude but kindly hospitality. + +"Thou art more like a man to make this venture than the last three who +came down here," said he, as he slowly measured me with his eye from +head to foot. "These priests they sent us never dared even to look at +the coast, much less to descend the cliffs; but thou hast a look about +thee of another fashion. And now, the first thing is to have something +to eat, and I promise thee a _goutte_ of brandy will not be amiss to +prepare thee for what is before thee." + +"Is there, then, so much of danger in the descent?" + +"Not if a man's head be steady and his hand firm; but he must have both, +and a stout heart to guide them, or the journey is not over-pleasant. +Art thou cool enough in time of peril to remember what has been told +thee for thy guidance?" + +"Yes; I hope I can promise so much." + +"Then thou art all safe; so eat away, and leave the rest to me." + +Although the sailor's words had stimulated my curiosity in the highest +degree, I repressed every semblance of the feeling, and ate my supper +with a well-feigned appearance of easy indifference; while he questioned +me about the hopes of the Bourbon party in their secret machinations, +with a searching inquisitiveness that often nearly baffled all my +ingenuity in reply. + +"Ah! _par Saint Denis!_" said he, with a deep sigh, "I see well thou +hast small hope now; and, in truth, I feel as thou dost. When George +Cadoudal and his brave fellows failed, where are we to look for success? +I mind well the night he supped here." + +"Here, said you?" + +"Ay, where you sit now,--on the same seat. There was an English +officer with him. He wore a blue uniform, and sat yonder, beneath that +fishing-net; the others were hid along the shore." + +"Was it here they landed, then?" + +"Yes, to be sure, at the Falaise; there is not another spot to land on +for miles along the coast." + +The old sailor then began a circumstantial account of the arrival of +George and his accomplices from England; and told how they had one by +one scaled the cliffs by means of a cord, well known in these parts, +called the "smuggler's rope." "Thou shalt see the spot now," added he, +"for there's the signal yonder." + +He pointed as he spoke to an old ruined tower, which crowned a cliff +about half a mile distant, and from a loophole in which I could see a +branch of ivy waving, as though moved by the wind. + +"And what may that mean?" + +"The cutter is in sight; as the wind is off shore, she 'll be able to +come in close to-night. Indeed, if it blew from the westward, she dared +not venture nearer, nor thou, either, go down to meet her. So, now let's +be moving." + +About twenty minutes' walking brought us to the old signal-tower, on +looking from the window of which I beheld the sea plashing full three +hundred feet beneath. The dark rocks, fissured by time and weather, were +abrupt as a wall, and in some places even overhung the waves that rolled +heavily below. Masses of tangled seaweed and shells, which lay in the +crevices of the cliffs, showed where in times of storm the wild waters +were thrown; while lower down, amid fragments of rocks, the heavy beams +and planks of shipwrecked vessels surged with every motion of the tide. + +"You cannot see the cutter now," said the old sailor,--"the setting sun +leaves a haze over the sea; but in a few minutes more we shall see her." + +"I am rather looking for the pathway down this bold cliff," replied I, +as I strained my eyes to catch something like a way to descend by. + +"Then throw thine eyes in this direction," said the sailor, as he +pointed straight down beneath the window of the tower. "Seest thou that +chain there? Well, follow it a little farther, and thou may'st mark a +piece of timber jutting from the rock." + +"Yes, I see it plainly." + +"Well, the path thou asketh for is beneath that spar. It is a good rope +of stout hemp, and has carried the weight of many a brave fellow before +now." + +"The smuggler's rope?" + +"The same. Art afraid to venture, now thou seest the place?" + +"You'll not find me so, friend. I have seen danger as close before now, +and did not blink it." + +"Mark me well, then," said he, laying his hand on my arm. "When thou +readiest that rope, thou wilt let thyself cautiously down to a small +projecting point of rock; we cannot see it here, but thou wilt soon +discern it in the descent. The rope from this goes no farther, for that +spot is nigh sixty fathom below us. From thence the cliff slopes sharply +down about thirty or forty feet. Here thou must creep cautiously,--for +the moss is dry and slippery at this season,--till thou nearest the +edge. Mark me well, now: near the edge thou'lt find a large stone +fast-rooted in the ground; and around that another rope is fastened, by +which thou may'st reach the bottom of the precipice. There is but one +place of peril in the whole." + +"The sloping bank, you mean?" + +"Yes; that bit will try thy nerve. Remember, if thy foot slip, there's +nothing to stop thy fall; the cliff is rounded over the edge, and the +blue sea beats two hundred feet below it. And see! look yonder, far away +there! Seest thou the twinkling, as of a small star, on the water?" + +"The cutter will throw up a rocket, will she not?" + +"A rocket!" repeated he, contemptuously; "that's some landsman's story +thou hast been listening to. A rocket would bring the whole fleet of +boats from Treport on her. No, no; they know better than that: the +faintest glimmer of a fishing-craft is all they 'll dare to show. But +see how steadily it burns now! we must make the signal seawards." + +"Halloo, Joseph! a light there." + +A boy's voice answered from the upper part of the tower,--the same +figure who made the signal towards the shore, and whose presence there I +had altogether forgotten; and in a few minutes a red glare on the rocks +below showed that the old man's command was obeyed, and the beacon +lighted. + +"Ah! they see it already," cried he, triumphantly, pointing seawards; +"they've extinguished the light now, but will show it again, from time +to time." + +"But tell me, friend, how happens it that the marines of the Guard, who +line this coast, do not perceive these signals?" + +"And who tells thee that they do not? They may be looking, as we are +now, at that same craft, and watching Her as she beats in shore; but +they know better than to betray us. Ah, _ma foi!_ the 'contrebande' +is better than the Government. Enough for them if they catch some poor +English prisoner now and then, and have him shot; that contents the +Emperor, as they call him, and he thinks the service all that is brave +and vigilant. But as to us, it is our own fault if we fall in with them; +it would need the rocket you spoke of a while ago to shame them into it. +There, look again,--thou seest how far in shore they've made already; +the cutter is stealing fast along the water. Answer the signal, Joseph." + +The boy replenished the fire with some dry wood, and it blazed up +brilliantly, illuminating the gray cliffs and dark rocks, on which the +night was fast falling, but leaving all beyond its immediate sphere in +deepest blackness. + +"I see not, friend, by what means I am to discover this sloping cliff, +much less guide my way along it," said I, as I gazed over the precipice, +and tried to penetrate the gloomy abyss below me. + +"Thou 'lt have the moon at full in less than two hours; and if thou 'lt +take a friend's counsel, thou 'lt have a sleep ere that time. Lay thee +down yonder on those rushes; I 'll awake thee when time comes for it." + +The rather that I resolved to obey my old guide in his every direction, +than from any desire for slumber at such a time, I followed his advice, +and threw myself full length in a corner of the tower. In the perfect +stillness of the hour, the sea alone was heard, surging in slow, minute +peals through many a deep cavern below; and then, gathering for fresh +efforts, it swelled and beat against the stern rocks in passionate fury. +Such sounds, heard in the silence of the night, are of the saddest; nor +was their influence lightened by the low, monotonous chant of the old +sailor, who, seated in a corner, began to repair a fishing-net, as he +sang to himself some ditty of the sea. + +How strangely came the thought to my mind, that all the peril I once +incurred to reach France, the hoped-for, wished-for land, I should +again brave to escape from its shores! Every dream of boyish ambition +dissipated, every high hope flown, I was returning to my country as poor +and humble as I left it, but with a heart shorn of all the enthusiasm +that gave life its coloring. In what way I could shape my future career +I was not able even to guess; a vague leaning to some of England's +distant colonies, some new world beyond the seas, being all my +imagination could frame of my destiny. A sudden flash of light, +illuminating the whole interior of the tower, startled me from my +musings, while the sailor called out,-- + +"Come, wake up, friend! The cutter is standing in close, and a signal to +make haste flying from her mast." + +I sprang to my legs, and looked out. The sea was all freckled with the +moonlight, and the little craft shone like silver, as the bright beams +glanced on her white sails. The tall cliffs alone preserved their gloom, +and threw a dark and frowning shadow over the waves beneath them. + +"I can see nothing close to shore," said I, pointing to the dark rocks +beneath the window. + +"Thou'lt have the moon presently; she's rising above the crest of the +hill, and then the cliffs are clear as at noonday. So, make haste! strap +on that knapsack on your shoulder; high up, mind; and give thine arms +full play,--that's it. Now fasten thy shoes over all; thou wert not +about to wear them, surely?" said he in a tone almost derisive. "Take +care, in keeping from the face of the rock, not to sway the rope; it +wears the cordage. And, above all, mind well when thou reachest the +cliff below; let not thy hold go before thou hast well felt thy footing. +See, the moon is up already!" + +As he spoke, a vast sheet of yellow light seemed to creep over the whole +face of the precipice, displaying every crag and projection, and making +every spot of verdure or rock brilliant in color; while, many a fathom +down below, the heavy waves were seen,--now rising in all their majestic +swell, now pouring back in their thousand cataracts from every fissure +in the precipice. So terribly distinct did each object show, so +dreadfully was each distance marked, I felt that all its former gloom +and darkness were not one half so thrilling as that moonlight splendor. + +"La bonne Marie guard thee now!" said the old seaman, as he wrung my +hand in his strong fingers. "Be steady and cool of head, and there is +no danger; and look not downwards till thou hast got accustomed to the +cliff." + +As he said this, he opened a small door at the foot of the tower stair, +and passing through himself, desired me to follow. I did so, and now +found myself on a narrow ledge of rock, directly over the crag; below, +at about ten feet, lay the chain to which the rope was attached, and to +reach it was not the least perilous part of the undertaking. But in this +I was assisted by the old man, who, passing a rope through a massive +iron staple, gradually lowered me till my hand came opposite the chain. + +"Thou hast it now," cried he, as he saw me disengage one hand and grasp +the iron links firmly. + +"Yes, all safe! Good-by, friend; good-by!" + +"Wait yet," cried he again. "Let not go the cord before thou thinkest +a minute or so; I have known more than one change his mind when he felt +himself where thou art." + +"Mine is made up. Farewell!" + +"Stay, stay!" shouted he rapidly. "See, thou hast forgotten this purse +on the rock here; wait, and I will lower it with a cord." + +By this time I had grasped the chain firmly with both hands, and with +the resolve of one who felt life depend on his own firmness, I began +the descent. The old man's voice, as he muttered a prayer for my safety, +grew fainter and fainter, till at length it ceased to reach my ears +altogether. + +Then, for the first time, did my heart sink within me. The words of one +human being, faint and broken by distance, suggested a sense of sympathy +which nerved my courage and braced my arm; but the dreary silence that +followed, only broken by the booming of the sea below, was awful beyond +measure. + +Hand below hand I went, the space seeming never to lessen, as I strained +my eyes to catch the cliff where the first rope ended. Time, as in +some fearful dream, seemed protracted to years long; and I already +anticipated the moment when, my strength failing, my hands would +relinquish their hold, and I should be dashed upon the dark rocks below. +The very sea-birds, which I startled in my descent, wheeled round my +head, piercing the air with their shrill cries, and as if impatient for +a prey. Above my head the frowning cliff beetled darkly; below, a depth +unfathomable seemed to stretch, from whose black abyss arose the wild +sounds of beating waves. More than once, too, I thought that the +rope had given way above, and that I was actually falling through the +air,--and held my breath in horror; then, again, the idea flashed +upon me that death inevitable awaited me, and I fancied in the singing +billows I could hear the wild shouts of demons rejoicing over my doom. + +Through all these maddening visions, the instinct to preserve my life +held its strong sway, and I clutched the knotted rope with the eager +grasp of a drowning man; when suddenly I felt my foot strike a rock +beneath, and then discovered I was on the cliff of which the sailor had +told me. In a few seconds the sense of security imparted a thrill of +pleasure to my heart, and I uttered a prayer of thankfulness for my +safety. + +But the fearful conviction of greater danger as suddenly succeeded. The +rope I had so long trusted terminated here; the end hung listlessly on +the rock, and from thence to the brow of the cliff nothing remained to +afford a grip save the short moss and the dried ferns withered with the +sun. The surface of this frightful ledge sloped rapidly towards the edge +where was the rock around which the rope was tied. + +Fatigued by my previous exertion I sat down on that moss-grown cliff and +gazed out upon the sea, along which the cutter came, proudly dashing +the spray from her bows, and bending gracefully with every wave. She was +standing fearlessly in, for the wind was off the land, and, as she swept +along, I could have fancied her directly beneath my very feet. + +Arousing myself from the momentary stupor of my faculties, I began to +creep down the cliff; but so slippery had the verdure become by heat, +that I could barely sustain myself by grasping the very earth with my +fingers. Aloud "Halloo!" was shouted from the craft, and arose in many +an echo around me; I tried to reply, but could not. A second cheer +saluted me, but I did not endeavor to answer it. The moment was full of +peril. I had come to the last spot which offered a hold, and below me, +at some feet, lay the rock, hanging, as it were, over the precipice; it +seemed to me as though a sea-bird's weight might have sent it thundering +into the depth beneath. The moon was on it, and I could see the rope +coiled twice around it, and knotted carefully. What would I have given +in that terrible minute for one tuft of grass, one slender bough, even +enough to have sustained my weight for a second or two, until I should +grasp the cord! But none was there. + +A louder cry from the cutter now rang in my ears, and the dreadful +thought of destruction now flashed on me. I fixed my eyes on the rock to +measure the place; and then, turning with my face towards the cliff, I +suffered myself to slip downwards. At first I went slowly; then faster +and faster. At last my legs passed over the brow of the precipice. I +was falling! My head reeled. I uttered a cry, and in an agony of despair +threw out my hands. They caught the rope. Knot after knot slipped past +my fingers in the descent ere my senses became sufficiently clear to +know what was occurring. But even then the instinct of self-preservation +was stronger than reason; for I afterwards learned from the boat's crew +with what skill I guided myself along the face of the cliff, avoiding +every difficulty of the jagged rocks, and tracking my way like the most +experienced climber. + +I stood upon a broad fiat rock, over which white sheets of foam were +dashing. Oh, how I loved to see them curling on my feet t I could have +kissed the bright water on which the moonbeams sported, for the moment +of danger was passed; the shadow of a dreadful death had moved from +my soul. What cared I now for the boiling surf that toiled and fretted +about me? The dangers of the deep were as nothing to that I escaped +from; and when the cutter's boat came bounding towards me, I minded +not the oft-repeated warnings of the sailors, but plunging in, I dashed +towards her on a retreating wave, and was dragged on board almost +lifeless from my struggles. + +The red glare of the signal-fire was blazing from the old tower as we +got under weigh. I felt my eyes riveted on it as I lay on the deck of +the little vessel, which now stood out to sea in gallant style. It was +my last look of France, and so I felt it. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. THE LANDING + +With the crew of the cutter I had little intercourse. They were +Jerseymen,--that hybrid race, neither French nor English,--who followed +the trade of spies and smugglers, and were true to nothing save their +own interests. The skipper, a coarse, ill-featured fellow, in no respect +superior to the others, leisurely perused the letter De Beauvais gave +me on my departure; then, tearing it slowly, threw the pieces into the +fire. + +"What, then, is this?" said he, taking up a sealed packet, which I now +for the first time perceived was fastened to my knapsack. "It seems +meant for me; look at the address, 'Jacques Oloquette, on board the +"Rouge Galant."'" And so saying, he broke the seal, and bent over the +contents. + +"Oh," cried he, in a voice of triumphant delight, "this is a prize worth +having,--the English signal-book!" And he held up the little volume +which Paul Dupont had rescued from the "Fawn." + +"How came it here?" said I, horror-struck at the loss the poor sailor +had sustained. + +"Old Martin, of the 'Star,' tells me he stole it from a marine of the +Guard, and that it cost him twenty-four flasks of his best Pomard +before the fellow and his companions were drunk enough to make the theft +practicable." + +I remembered at once the eagerness of the landlord for my departure, and +the hurried anxiety of his wish that morning might find me miles off on +my journey, as well as the care he bestowed on strapping my knapsack, +and saw how all had occurred. + +"I knew most of them already," continued the skipper. "But here is one +will serve our turn well now,--the very thing we wanted, for it +saves all delay and stoppage. That flag is the signal for Admiralty +despatches, which are often brought by small craft like ours when they +can't spare cruisers. We 'll soon rig it out, you 'll see, and run down +Channel with all our canvas set." + +He went aft as he spoke; and in a few seconds the cutter's head was +directed straight towards the English coast, while, crowding on more +sail, she seemed to fly through the water. + +The cheering freshness of the sea-breeze, the sense of danger past, +the hope of escape, all combining, raised my spirits and elevated my +courage; but through all, I felt grieved beyond measure at the loss +of poor Paul Dupont,--the prize the honest fellow valued next to life +itself, if not above it, taken from him in the very moment of his +exultation! Besides, I could not help feeling that suspicion must light +on me from my sudden disappearance; and my indignation was deep, to +think how such an imputation would tarnish the honor of that service I +gloried in so much. "How far may such a calumny spread?" thought I. "How +many lips may repeat the tale, and none be able to deny it?" Deep as was +my regret at the brave Breton's loss, my anger for its consequences +was still deeper; and I would willingly have perilled all my hope of +reaching England to have been able to restore the book into Paul's own +hand. + +These feelings did not tend to draw me closer in intimacy with the +skipper; whose pleasure at the acquisition was only heightened by the +subtlety of its accomplishment, and who seemed never so happy as when +repeating some fragment of the landlord's letter, and rejoicing at the +discomfiture the brave sailor must have experienced on discovering +his loss. To witness the gratification a coarse nature feels in some +unworthy but successful action, is the heaviest penalty an honorable +mind can experience when unhappily its possessor has been in any way +accessory to the result. With these reflections I fell off to sleep, and +never woke till the bright sun was shining over the white-crested water, +and the craft breasting the waves with a strong breeze upon her canvas. + +As we held on down Channel, we passed several ships of war beating up +for Spithead; but our blue bunting, curiously streaked with white, was a +signal which all acknowledged, and none ventured to retard. Thus passed +the first day: as night was falling, we beheld the Needles on our lee, +and with a freshening breeze, held on our course. + +A second morning broke. And now the sea was covered with the white sails +of a magnificent fleet, bound for the West Indies; at least, so the +skipper pronounced it. It was indeed a glorious sight to see the mighty +vessels obeying the signals of the flag-ship, and shaping their course +through the blue water as if instinct with life and reason. They were +far seaward of us, however; for now we hugged the land, as the skipper +was only desirous of an opportunity to land me unobserved before he +proceeded on his own more immediate enterprise,--the smuggling of some +hogsheads of brandy on the coasts of Ireland. + +Left to my own thoughts,--the memories of my past life,--I dreamed away +the hours unconsciously, and as the time sped on, I knew not of its +flight. Some strange sail, seen from afar off, would for an instant +arouse my attention; but it was a mere momentary effect, and I fell back +into my musings, as though they had never been interrupted. As I look +back upon that voyage now, and think of the dreamy listlessness in which +its hours were passed, I can half fancy that certain periods of our +lives are destined to sustain the part which night performs in our daily +existence, and by their monotony contribute to that renewal of energy +and vigor so essential after times of labor and exertion. It seemed to +me as though, the period of exertion past, I was regaining in rest and +repose the power for future action; and I canvassed every act of +the past to teach me more of my own heart, and to instruct me for my +guidance in life after. + +"You can land now, whenever you please," said the skipper to me, as by a +faint moonlight we moved along the waveless sea. "We can put you ashore +at any moment here." + +I started with as much surprise as though the thought had never occurred +to me; and without replying, I leaned over the bulwark, and gazed at the +faint shadows of tall headlands about three miles distant. + +"How do you call that bluff yonder?" said I, carelessly. + +"Wicklow Head." + +"Wicklow Head! Ireland!" cried I, with a thrill of ecstasy my heart had +never felt for many a day before. "Yes, yes; land me there,--now, at +once!" said I, as a thousand thoughts came rushing to my mind, and hopes +too vague for utterance, but palpable enough to cherish. + +With the speed their calling teaches, the crew lowered the boat, and as +I took my place in the stern, pulled vigorously towards the shore. As +the swift bark glided along the shallow sea, I could scarce restrain +my impatience from springing out and rushing on land. Without family or +friend, without one to welcome or meet me, still it was home,--the only +home I ever had. + +The sharp keel grated on the beach; its sound vibrated within my heart. +I jumped on shore; a few words of parting, and the men backed their +oars; the boat slipped fast through the water. The cutter, too, got +speedily under weigh again, and I was alone. Then the full torrent of my +feelings found their channel, and I burst into tears. Oh! they were not +tears of sorrow; neither were they the outpourings of excessive joy. +They were the utterance of a heart loaded with its own unrelieved +griefs, who now found sympathy on touching the very soil of home. I felt +I was no longer friendless. Ireland, my own dear native country, would +be to me a place of kindred and family, and I fell upon my knees, and +blessed it. + +Following a little path, which led slantingly up the cliff, I reached +the top as day was beginning to break, and gained a view of the country. +The range of swelling hills, dotted with cottages and waving with +wood; the fields of that emerald green one sees not in other lands; +the hedge-rows bounding the little farms,--all so unlike the spreading +plains of France,--struck me with delight, and it was with a rapture of +happiness I called the land my country. + +Directing my steps towards Dublin, I set out at a good pace, but +following a path which led near the cliffs, in preference to the +highroad; for I was well aware that my appearance and dress would expose +me to curiosity, and perhaps subject me to more serious annoyance. My +first object was to learn some news of my brother; for although the +ties of affection had been long since severed between us, those of blood +still remained, and I wished to hear of, and it might be to see him, +once more. For some miles I had kept my eyes directed towards a little +cabin which crowned a cliff that hung over the sea; and this I reached +at last, somewhat wearied and hungry. + +As I followed a little footpath which conducted to the door, a fierce +terrier rushed out as if to attack me, but was immediately restrained +by the voice of a man within, calling, "Down, Vicksey! down, you baste!" +and the same moment a stout, middle-aged man appeared at the door. + +"Don't be afeard, sir; she's not wicked, but we're unused to strangers +down here." + +"I should think so, friend, from my path," said I, throwing a glance +at the narrow footway I had followed for some miles, over hill and +precipice; "but I am unacquainted with the country, and was looking out +for some house where I might obtain a breakfast." + +"There's a town about three miles down yonder, and a fine inn, I 'm +tould, sir," replied he, as he scrutinized my appearance with a shrewd +eye; "but if I might make so bould, maybe you 'd as lief not go there, +and perhaps you 'd take share of what we have here?" + +"Willingly," said I, accepting the hospitable offer as freely as it was +made, and entered the cabin at once. + +A good-featured countrywoman and some young children were seated at the +table, where a large dish of potatoes and some fresh fish were smoking, +a huge jug of milk occupying the middle of the board. The woman blushed +as she heard that her husband had invited a gentleman to partake of his +humble meal; but the honest fellow cared little for the simple fare he +offered with so good a grace, and placed my chair beside his own with +the air of one who was more anxious for his guest's comfort than caring +what impression he himself might make upon him. + +After some passing words about the season and the state of the +tides,--for my host was a fisherman,--I turned the conversation on the +political condition of the country, avowing frankly that I had been for +some years absent, and was ignorant of what had occurred meantime. + +"'Twas that same I was thinking, sir," said he, replying to the first +and not the latter part of my remark. "When I saw your honor's face, and +the beard you wore, I said to myself you wor a Frenchman." + +"You mistook there, then; I am your countryman, but have passed a good +many years in France." + +"Fighting for Boney?" said he, as his eyes opened wide with surprise to +behold one actually before him who might have served under Napoleon. + +"Yes, my good friend, even so; I was in the army of the Emperor." + +"Tare an ages! then, are they coming over here now?" cried he, almost +gasping in his eagerness. + +"No, no," replied I, gravely; "and be thankful, too, for it, for your +own and your children's sakes, that you see not a war raging in the +fields and cities of your native land. Be assured, whatever wrongs you +suffer,--I will not dispute their existence, for, as I told you, I am +ignorant of the condition of the country,--but whatever they may be, you +can pay too dearly for their remedy." + +"But sure they 'd be on our side, would n't they?" + +"Of course they would; but think you that they 'd fight your battles +without their price? Do you believe that Frenchmen so love you here +that they would come to shed their blood in your cause without their own +prospect of advantage?" + +"They hate the English, I'm tould, as bad as we do ourselves." + +"They do so, and with more of justice for their hate. But that dislike +might suffice to cause a war; it never would reward it. No, no; I know +something of the spirit of French conquest. I glory in the bravery and +the heroism that accomplished it; but I never wish to see my own country +at the mercy of France. Whose soldier would you become if the Emperor +Napoleon landed here to-morrow?--his. Whose uniform would you wear, +whose musket carry, whose pay receive, whose orders obey?--his, and his +only. And how long, think you, would your services be limited to home? +What should prevent your being sent away to Egypt, to Poland, or to +Russia? How much favor would an Irish deserter receive from a French +court-martial, think you? No, good friend; while you have this warm roof +to shelter you, and that broad sea is open for your industry and toil, +never wish for foreign aid to assist you." + +I saw that the poor fellow was discouraged by my words, and gradually +led him to speak of those evils for whose alleviation he looked +to France. To my surprise, however, he descanted less on political +grievances than those which affect the well-being of the country +socially. It was not the severity of a Government, but the absence of +encouragement to industry,--the neglect of the poor,--which afflicted +him. England was no longer the tyrant; the landlord had taken her place. +Still, with the pertinacity of ignorance, he visited all the wrongs on +that land from which originally his first misfortunes came, and with +perverse ingenuity would endeavor to trace out every hardship he +suffered as arising from the ill-will and hatred the Saxon bore him. + +It was easy to perceive that the arguments he used were not of his own +devising; they had been supplied by others, in whose opinion he had +confidence; and though valueless and weak in reality, to him they were +all-convincing and unanswerable,--not the less, perhaps, that they +offered that value to self-love which comes from attributing any +evils we endure to causes outside and independent of ourselves. These, +confronted with extravagant hopes of what would ensue should national +independence be established, formed his code; and however refuted on +each point, a certain conviction, too deeply laid to be disturbed by any +opposing force, remained; and in his "Well, well, God knows best! +and maybe we'll have better luck yet," you could perceive that he was +inaccessible to any appeal except from the quarter which ministered to +his discontent and disaffection. + +One thing was clear to me from all he said, that if the spirit of open +resistance no longer existed towards England, it was replaced by as +determined and as rancorous hatred,--a brooding, ill-omened dislike had +succeeded, to the full as hostile, and far less easily subdued. How it +would end,--whether in the long-lingering fear which wastes the energies +and saps the strength of a people, or in the conflict of a civil war, +the prospect was equally ruinous. + +Sadly pondering on these things, I parted with my humble host, and set +out towards the capital. If my conversation with the Irishman had taught +me somewhat of the state of feeling then current in Ireland, it also +conveyed another and very different lesson; it enabled me to take some +account of the change years had effected in my own sentiments. As a +boy, high-flown, vague, and unsettled ideas of national liberty and +independence had made me look to France as the emancipator of Europe. +As a man, I knew that the lust of conquest had extinguished the love of +freedom in Frenchmen; that they who trusted to her did but exchange the +dominion of their old masters for the tyranny of a new one; while such +as boldly stepped forward in defence of their liberties, found that +there was neither mercy nor compassion for the conquered. + +I had seen the Austrian prisoners and the Russian led captive through +the streets of Paris; I had witnessed the great capital of Prussia in +its day of mourning after Jena; and all my idolatry for the General +scarce balanced my horror of the Emperor, whose vengeance had +smitten two nations thus heavily: and I said within my heart, "May my +countrymen, whatever be their day of need, never seek alliance with +despotic France!" + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. A CHARACTER OF OLD DUBLIN + +It was about nine o'clock of a calm summer evening as I entered +Dublin,--nearly the same hour at which, some ten years before, I had +approached that city, poor, houseless, friendless; and still was I the +same. In that great capital of my country I had not one to welcome +me; not one who would rejoice at my coming, or feel any interest in my +fortunes. This indeed was loneliness,--utter solitude. Still, if there +be something which weighs heavily on the heart in the isolation of +one like me, there is a proportionate sense of independence of his +fellow-man that sustains the courage and gives energy to the will. I +felt this as I mixed with the crowds that thronged the streets, and +shrank not from the inquisitive glances which my questionable appearance +excited as I passed. + +Though considerable changes had taken place in the outskirts of the +capital since I had seen it last, the leading thoroughfares were just +as I remembered them; and as I walked along Dame Street, and one by one +each familiar object caught my eye, I could almost have fancied the +long interval since I had been there before like a mere dream. National +physiognomy, too, has a strange effect on him who has been long absent +from his country. Each face you meet seems well known. The traits of +features, to which the eye was once so well accustomed, awake a memory +of individuals, and it is sometimes a moat difficult task to distinguish +between the acquaintance and the passing stranger. + +This I experienced at every moment; and at length, as I stood gazing +on the space before the Bank, and calling to mind the last scene I +witnessed there, a tall, strongly-built man brushed close past me, +and then turning round, fixed a steady and searching look on me. As I +returned his stare, a sudden thought flashed upon me that I had seen +the face before; but where, how, and when, I could not call to mind. And +thus we stood silently confronting each other for some minutes. + +"I see you are a stranger here, sir," said he, touching his hat +courteously; "can I be of service to you with any information as to the +city?" + +"I was curious to know, sir," said I, still more puzzled by the voice +than I had been by the features of the stranger, "if Miley's Hotel, +which was somewhere in the neighborhood, exists still?" + +"It does, sir; but it has changed proprietors several times since you +knew it," replied he, significantly. "The house is yonder, where you +see that large lamp. I perceive, sir, I was mistaken in supposing you a +foreigner. I wish you good-evening." And again saluting me, he resumed +his way. + +As I crossed the street towards the hotel, I remarked that he turned as +if to watch me, and became more than ever embarrassed as to who he might +be. + +The doorway of the hotel was crowded with loungers and idlers of every +class, from the loitering man about town to the ragged newsvendor, +between whom, whatever disparity of condition existed, a tone of the +most free-and-easy condition prevailed; the newsmen interpolating, amid +the loud announcements of the latest intelligence, the reply to the +observation beside him. + +One figure was conspicuous in the group. He was a short, dwarfish +creature, with an enormous head, covered with a fell of black hair, +falling in masses down his back and on his shoulders. A pair of +fierce, fiery black eyes glared beneath his heavy brows; and a large, +thick-lipped mouth moved with all the glib eloquence of his class and +calling. Fearfully distorted legs and club feet gave to his gait a +rolling motion, which added to the singularity of his whole appearance. + +Terry Regan was then at the head of his walk in Dublin; and to his +capacious lungs and voluble tongue were committed the announcement of +those great events which, from time to time, were given to the Irish +public through the columns of the "Correspondent" and the "Dublin +Journal." + +I soon found myself in the crowd around this celebrated character, +who was, as usual, extolling the great value of that night's paper by +certain brief suggestions regarding its contents. + +[Illustration: 410] + +"Here's the whole, full, and true account (bad luck to the less!) of the +great and sanguinary battle between Boney and the Roosians; with all the +particklars about the killed, wounded, and missing; with what Boney said +when it was over." + +"What was that, Terry?" + +"Hould yer peace, ye spalpeen! Is it to the likes of yez I 'd be telling +cabinet sacrets? (Here, yer honor),--'Falkner,' is it, or 'The Saunders'. +With the report of Mr. O'Gogorman's grand speech in Ennis on the +Catholic claims. There's, yer sowl, there's fippence worth any day ay +the week. More be token, the letter from Jemmy O'Brien to his wife, wid +an elegant epic poem called 'The Gauger.' Bloody news, gentlemen! bloody +news! Won't yez sport a tester for a sight of a real battle, and +ten thousand kilt; with 'The Whole Duty of an Informer, in two easy +lessons.' The price of stocks and shares--Ay, Mr. O'Hara, and what +boroughs is bringing in the market." + +This last sally was directed towards a large, red-faced man, who +good-humoredly joined in the laugh against himself. + +"And who's this, boys?" cried the fellow, turning suddenly his piercing +eyes on me, as I endeavored, step by step, to reach the door of the +hotel. "Hurrool look at his beard, acushla! On my conscience, I wouldn't +wonder if it was General Hoche himself. 'Tis late yer come, sir," said +he, addressing me directly; "there's no fun here now at all, barrin' +what Beresford has in the riding-house." + +"Get away, you ruffian!" said a well-dressed and respectable-looking +man, somewhat past the middle of life; "how dare you permit your tongue +to take liberties with a stranger? Allow me to make room for you, sir," +continued he, as he politely made an opening in the crowd, and suffered +me to enter the house. + +"Ah, counsellor, dear, don't be cross," whined out the newsvendor; +"sure, isn't it wid the bad tongue we both make our bread. And here," +vociferated he once more,--"and here ye have the grand dinner at the +Lord Mayor's, wid all the speeches and toasts; wid the glorious, pious, +and immortial memory of King William, who delivered us from Popery (by +pitched caps), from slavery (by whipping), from brass money (by bad +ha'pence), and from wooden shoes (by bare feet). Haven't we reason to +bless his--? Ay, the heavens be his bed! 'Tis like Molly Crownahon's +husband he was." + +"How was that, Terry?" asked a gentleman near. + +"Take a 'Saunders,' yer honor, and I 'll tell you." + +"Here, then, here's fippence; and now for the explanation." + +"Molly Crownahon, yer honor, was, like us poor craytures, always +grateful and contented wid the Lord's goodness to us, even in taking +away our chief comfort and blessing,--the darling up there on the horse! +(Ah, 'tis an elegant sate ye have, without stirrups!) And she went +one day to say a handful of prayers oyer his grave,--the husband's, ye +mind,--and sure if she did, when she knelt down on the grass she sprung +up again as quick as she went down, for the nettles was all over the +place entirely. 'Bad scran to ye, Peter!' says she, as she rubbed her +legs,--'bad scran to ye! living or dead, there was always a sting in +ye.'" + +[Illustration: 414] + +As the latter part of this speech was addressed in a tone of apostrophe +to the statue of King William, it was received by the assembled crowd +with a roar of laughter. + +By this time I had entered the house, and only bethought me how little +suited was the great hotel of the city to pretensions as humble as mine. +It was now, however, too late to retreat, and I entered the coffee-room, +carrying my knapsack in my hand. As I passed up the room in search of +a vacant table, the looks of astonishment my appearance excited on each +side were most palpable evidences that the company considered me as +an interloper. While some contented themselves with a stare of steady +surprise, others, less guarded in their impertinence, whispered with, +and even winked at their neighbors, to attract attention towards me. + +Offensive as this unquestionably was, it amazed even more than it +annoyed me. In France, such a display of feeling would have been +impossible; and the humblest soldier of the army would not have been so +received had he deemed fit to enter Beauvilliers' or Very's. + +Whether hurt at this conduct, and consequently more alive to affront +from any quarter, or that the waiters participated in the sentiments +of their betters, I cannot exactly say; but I certainly thought their +manner even less equivocally betrayed the same desire of impertinence. +This was not long a mere suspicion on my part; for on inquiring whether +I could have a room for the night, the waiter, touching my knapsack, +which lay on the ground beside me, with his foot, replied,-- + +"Is this your luggage, sir?" + +Amazement so completely mastered my indignation at this insolence, that +I could make no answer but by a look. This had its effect, however; and +the fellow, without further delay, bustled off to make the inquiry. +He returned in a few minutes with a civil message, that I could be +accommodated, and having placed before me the simple meal I ordered, +retired. + +As I sat over my supper, I could not help feeling that unless memory +played me false, the company were little like the former frequenters +of this house. I remembered it of old, when Bubbleton and his brother +officers came there; and when the rooms were thronged with members +of both Houses of Parliament,--when peers and gentlemen of the first +families were grouped about the windows and fireplaces, and the highest +names of the land were heard in the din of recognition; handsome +equipages and led horses stood before the doors. But now the ragged mob +without was scarce a less worthy successor to the brilliant display than +were the company within to the former visitants. A tone of pretentious +impertinence, an air of swagger and mock defiance,--the most opposite to +the polished urbanity which once prevailed,--was now conspicuous; and +in their loud speech and violent gesticulation, it was easy to mark +how they had degenerated from that high standard which made the Irish +gentleman of his day the most polished man of Europe. + +If in appearance and manner they fell far short of those my memory +recalled, their conversation more markedly still displayed the long +interval between them. Here, of old, were retailed the latest news of +the debate,--the last brilliant thing of Grattan, or the last biting +retort of Flood; here came, hot from debate, the great champions of +either party to relax and recruit for fresh efforts; and in the groups +that gathered around them you might learn how great genius can diffuse +its influence and scatter intelligence around it,--as the Nile +waters spread plenty and abundance wherever they flow: high and noble +sentiments, holy aspirations and eloquent thoughts, made an atmosphere, +to breathe which was to feel an altered nature. But now a vapid mixture +of conceit and slang had usurped the place of these, and a tone of +vulgar self-sufficiency unhappily too much in keeping with the externals +of those who displayed it: the miserable contentions of different +factions had replaced the bolder strife of opposite parties, and +provincialism had put its stamp on everything. The nation, too, if I +might trust my ears with what fell around me, had lost all memory of its +once great names, and new candidates for popular favor figured in their +places. + +Such were some of the changes I could mark, even as I sat. But my +attention was speedily drawn from them by a circumstance more nearly +concerning myself. This was the appearance in the coffee-room of the +gentleman who first addressed me in the street. + +As he passed round the room, followed by a person whose inferiority was +evident, he was recognized by most of those present, many of whom shook +him warmly by the hand, and pressed him to join their parties. But this +he declined, as he continued to walk slowly on, scrutinizing each face +as he went. At last I saw his eyes turn towards me. It was scarcely a +glance, so rapid was it, and so quickly were his looks directed to a +different quarter; but I could mark that he whispered something to a +person who followed, and then, after carelessly turning over a newspaper +on the table, sauntered from the room. As he did so, the shaggy head of +the dwarf newsvendor peeped in, and the great black eyes took a survey +of the coffee-room, till finally they settled on me. + +"Ah!" cried the fellow, with a strange blending of irony and compassion +in his voice; "be gorra, I knew how it would be,--the major has ye!" At +this a general laugh broke out from all present, and every eye was fixed +on me. + +Meanwhile the follower had taken his place nearly opposite me at the +table, and was busily engaged examining a paper which he had taken from +his pocket. + +"May I ask, sir, if your name be Burke?" said he, in a low voice, across +the table. + +I started with amazement to hear my name pronounced where I believed +myself so completely a stranger, and in my astonishment, forgot to +answer. + +"I was asking, sir--" repeated he. + +"Yes, you are quite correct," interrupted I; "that is my name. May I beg +to know, in return, for what purpose you make the inquiry?" + +"Thomas Burke, sir?" continued he, inattentive to my observation, and +apparently about to write the name on the paper before him. + +I nodded, and he wrote down the words. + +"That saves a deal of trouble to all of us, sir," said he, as he +finished writing. "This is a warrant for your arrest; but the major is +quite satisfied if you can give bail for your appearance." + +"Arrest!" repeated I; "on what charge am I arrested?" + +"You'll hear in the morning, I suppose," said he, quietly. "What shall +we say about the bail? Have you any acquaintance or friend in town?" + +"Neither; I am a perfect stranger here. But if you are authorized to +arrest me, I here surrender myself at once." + +By this time, several persons of the coffee-room had approached the +table, and among the rest the gentleman who so politely made way for me +in the crowd to reach the door. + +"What is it, Roche?" said he, addressing the man at the table; "a +warrant?" + +"Yes, sir; for this gentleman here. But we can take bail, if he has it." + +"I have told you already that I am a stranger, and know no one here." + +The gentleman threw his eyes over the warrant, and then looking me +steadily in the face, muttered in a whisper to the officer, "Why, he +must have been a boy, a mere child, at the time." + +"Very true, sir; but the major says it must be done. Maybe you'd bail +him yourself." + +These words were added in a tone of half irony, as the fellow gave a sly +look beneath his eyelashes. + +"I tell you, again," said I, impatient at the whole scene, "I am quite +ready to accompany you." + +"Is this your name, sir?" said the strange gentleman, addressing me, as +he pointed to the warrant. + +"Yes," interposed the officer, "there's no doubt about that; he gave it +himself." + +"Come, come, then, Roche," said he, cajolingly; "these are not times +for undue strictness. Let the gentleman remain where he is to-night, +and to-morrow he will attend you. You can remain here, if you like, with +him." + +"If you say so, I suppose we may do it," replied the officer, as he +folded up the paper, and arose from the table. + +"Yes, yes; that's the proper course. And now," said he, addressing me, +"will you permit me to join you while I finish this bottle of claret?" + +I could have no objection to so pleasant a proposal; and thus, for the +time at least, ended this disagreeable affair. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. AN UNFORSEEN EVIL + +"I perceive, sir," said the stranger, seating himself at my table, "they +are desirous to restore an antiquated custom in regard to you. I thought +the day of indemnities was past and gone forever." + +"I am ignorant to what you allude." + +"The authorities would make you out an emissary of France, sir,--as if +France had not enough on her hands already, without embroiling herself +in a quarrel from which no benefit could accrue; not to speak of the +little likelihood that any one on such an errand would take up his +abode, as you have, in the most public hotel of Dublin." + +"I have no apprehensions as to any charges they may bring against me. +I am conscious of no crime, saving having left my country a boy, and +returning to it a man." + +"You were in the service of France, then?" + +"Yes; since 1801 I have been a soldier." + +"So long? You must have been but a mere boy when you quitted Ireland. +How have they connected you with the troubles of that period?" + +I hesitated for a second or two, uncertain what answer, if any, I +should return to this abrupt question. A glance at the manly and frank +expression of the stranger's face soon satisfied me that no unworthy +curiosity had prompted the inquiry; and I told him in a few words, +how, as a child, the opinions of the patriotic party had won me over to +embark in a cause I could neither fathom nor understand. I traced out +rapidly the few leading events of my early career down to the last +evening I spent in Ireland. When I came to this part of my story, the +stranger became unusually attentive, and more than once questioned +me respecting the origin of my quarrel with Crofts, and the timely +appearance of Darby; of whose name and character, however, I gave him no +information, merely speaking of him as an old and attached follower of +my family. + +"Since that period, then, you have not been in Ireland?" said he, as I +concluded. + +"Never: nor had I any intention of returning until lately, when +circumstances induced me to leave the Emperor's service; and from very +uncertainty I came back here, without well knowing why." + +"Of course, then, you have never heard the catastrophe of your adventure +with Crofts. It was a lucky hit for him." + +"How so? I don't understand you." + +"Simply this: Crofts was discovered in the morning, severely wounded, +where you left him; his account being, that he had been waylaid by a +party of rebels, who had obtained the countersign of the night, and +passed the sentry in various disguises. You yourself--for so, at least, +I surmise it must have been--were designated the prime mover of the +scheme, and a Government reward was offered for your apprehension. +Crofts was knighted, and appointed to the staff,--the reward of +his loyalty and courage; of the exact details of which my memory is +unfortunately little tenacious." + +"And the truth of the occurrence was never known?" + +"What I have told you is the only version current. I have reason to +remember so much of it, for I was then, and am still, one of the legal +advisers of the Crown, and was consulted on the case; of which, I +confess, I always had my misgivings. There was a rage, however, for +rewarding loyalty, as it was termed at the period, and the story went +the round of the papers. Now, I fancy Crofts would just as soon not see +you back again; he has made all he can of the adventure, and would as +lief have it quietly forgotten." + +"But can I suffer it to rest here? Is such an imputation to lie on my +character as he would cast on me?" + +"Take no steps in the matter on that score: vindication is time enough +when the attack is made directly; besides, where should you find your +witness? where is the third party who could prove your innocence, and +that all you did was in self-defence? Without his testimony, your +story would go for nothing. No, no; be well satisfied if the charge is +suffered to sleep, which is not unlikely. Crofts would scarcely like to +confess that his antagonist was little more than a child; his prowess +would gain nothing by the avowal. Besides, the world goes well with him +latterly; it is but a month ago, I think, he succeeded unexpectedly to a +large landed property." + +The stranger, whose name was M'Dougall, continued to talk for some time +longer; most kindly volunteered to advise me in the difficult position +I found myself; and having given me his address in town, wished me a +goodnight and departed. + +It was to no purpose I laid my head on my pillow. Tired and fatigued +as I was, I could not sleep; the prospect of fresh troubles awaiting +me made me restless and feverish, and I longed for day to break, that +I might manfully confront whatever danger was before me, and oppose a +stout heart to the arrows of adverse fortune. My accidental meeting with +the stranger also reassured my courage; and I felt gratified to think +that such _rencontres_ in life are the sunny spots which illumine our +career in the world, the harbingers of bright days to come. + +This feeling was still more strongly impressed on me as I entered the +small room on the ground-floor at the Castle, where was the secretary's +office, and beheld M'Dougall seated in an armchair, reading the +newspaper of the day. I could not help connecting his presence there +with some kindly intention towards me, and already regarded him as my +friend. Major Barton stood at the secretary's side, and whispered from +time to time in his ear. + +"I have before me certain information, sir," said the secretary, +addressing me, "that you were connected with parties who took an active +part in the late rebellion in this country, and by them sent over to +France to negotiate co-operation and assistance from that quarter," +(Barton here whispered something, and the secretary resumed), "and in +continuance of this scheme are at present here." + +"I have only to observe, sir, that I left Ireland a mere boy, when, +whatever my opinions might have been, they were, I suspect, of small +moment to his Majesty's Government; that I have served some years in +the French army, during which period I neither corresponded with any one +here, nor had intercourse with any from Ireland; and lastly, that I have +come back unaccredited by any party, not having, as I believe, a single +acquaintance in the island." + +"Do you still hold a commission in the French service?" + +"No, sir; I resigned my grade as captain some time since." + +"What were your reasons for that step?" + +"They were of a purely personal nature, having no concern with politics +of any sort; I should, therefore, ask of you not to demand them. I can +only say, they reflect neither on my honor nor my loyalty." + +"His loyalty! Would you ask him, sir, how he applies the term, and to +what sovereign and what government the obedience is rendered?" said +Barton, with a half smile of malicious meaning. + +"Very true, Barton; the question is most pertinent." + +"When I said loyalty, sir," said I, in answer, "I confess I did not +express myself as clearly as I intended. I meant, however, that as an +Irishman, and a subject of his Majesty George the Third, as I now am, no +act of mine in the French service ever compromised me." + +"Why, surely you fought against the allies of your own country?". + +"True, sir. I speak only with reference to the direct interests of +England. I was the soldier of the Emperor, but never a spy under his +Government." + +"Your name is amongst those who never claimed the indemnity? How is +this?" + +"I never heard of it; I never knew such an act was necessary. I am not +guilty of any crime, nor do I see any reason to seek a favor." + +"Well, well; the gracious intentions of the Crown lead us to look +leniently on the past. A moderate bail for your appearance when called +on, and your own recognizances for the same object, will suffice." + +"I am quite willing to do the latter; but as to bail, I repeat it, I +have not one I could ask for such a service." + +"No relative? no friend?" + +"Come, come, young gentleman," said M'Dougall, speaking for the first +time; "recollect yourself. Try if you can't remember some one who would +assist you at this conjuncture." + +Basset was the only name I could think of; and however absurd the idea +of a service from such a quarter, I deemed that, as my brother's agent, +he would scarce refuse me. I thought that Barton gave a very peculiar +grin as I mentioned the name; but my own securities being entered into, +and a few formal questions answered, I was told I was at liberty to seek +out the bail required. + +Once more in the streets, I turned my steps towards Basset's house, +where I hoped, at all events, to learn some tidings of my brother. I +was not long in arriving at the street, and speedily recognized the old +house, whose cobwebbed windows and unwashed look reminded me of former +times. The very sound of the heavy iron knocker awoke its train of +recollections; and when the door was opened, and I saw the narrow +hall, with its cracked lamp and damp, discolored walls, the whole +heart-sinking with which they once inspired me came back again, and I +thought of Tony Basset when his very name was a thing of terror to me. + +Mr. Basset, I was told, was at court, and I was shown into the office to +await his return. The gloomy little den,--I knew it well, with its dirty +shelves of dirtier papers, its old tin boxes, and its rickety desk, +at which two meanly-dressed starveling youths were busy writing. They +turned a rapid glance towards me as I entered; and as they resumed their +occupation, I could hear a muttered remark upon my dress and appearance, +the purport of which I did not catch. + +I sat for some time patiently, expecting Basset's arrival, but as +the time stole by, I grew wearied with waiting, and determined on +ascertaining, if I might, from the clerks, some intelligence concerning +my brother. + +"Have you any business with Mr. Burke?" said the youth I addressed, +while his features assumed an expression of vulgar jocularity. + +"Yes," was my brief reply. + +"Wouldn't a letter do as well as a personal interview?" said the other, +with an air of affected courtesy. + +"Perhaps so," I replied, too deeply engaged in my own thoughts to mind +their flippant impertinence. + +"Then mind you direct your letter 'Churchyard, Loughrea;' or, if you +want to be particular, say 'Family vault.'" + +[Illustration: 426] + +"Is he dead? Is George dead?" + +"That's hard to say," interposed the other; "but they've buried him, +that's certain." + +Like a stunning blow, the shock of this news left me unable to speak or +hear. A maze of confused thoughts crossed and jostled each other in my +brain, and I could neither collect myself nor listen to what was said +around me. My first clear memory was of a thousand little childish +traits of love which had passed between us. Tokens of affection long +forgotten now rushed freshly to my mind; and he whom a moment before I +had condemned as wanting in all brotherly feeling, I now sorrowed for +with true grief. The low and vulgar insolence of the speakers made no +impression on me; and when, in answer to my questions, they narrated +the manner of his death,--a fever contracted after some debauch at +Oxford,--I only heard the tidings, but did not notice the unfeeling tone +it was conveyed in. + +My brother dead! the only one of kith or kindred belonging to me. How +slight the tie seemed but a few moments back! what would I not give for +it now? Then, for the first time, did I know how the heart can heap up +its stores of consolation in secrecy, and how unconsciously the mind can +dwell on hopes it has never confessed even to itself. How I fancied to +myself our meeting, and thought over the long pent-up affection years of +absence had accumulated, now flowing in a gushing stream from heart to +heart I The grave is indeed hallowed when the grass of the churchyard +can cover all memory save that of love. We dwell on every good gift +of the lost one, as though no unworthy thought could cross that little +mound of earth, the barrier between two worlds. Sad and sorrow-struck, +I covered my face with my hands, and did not notice that Mr. Basset had +entered, and taken his place at the desk. + +His voice, every harsh tone of which I well remembered, first made me +aware of his presence. I lifted my eyes, and there he stood, little +changed indeed since I had seen him last. The hard lines about the mouth +had grown deeper, the brow more furrowed, and the hair more mixed with +gray, but in other respects he was the same. As I gazed at him I could +not help fancying that time makes less impression on men of coarse, +unfeeling mould, than on natures of a finer temper. The world's changes +leave no trace on the stern surface of the one, while they are wearing +deep tracks of sorrow in the other. + +"Insert the advertisement again, Simms," said he, addressing one of the +clerks, "and let it appear in some paper of the seaport towns. Among the +Flemish or French smugglers who frequent them, there might be some one +to give the information. They must be able to show that though Thomas +Burke--" + +I started at the sound of my name. The motion surprised him; he looked +round and perceived me. Quick and piercing as his glance was, I could +not trace any sign of recognition; although, as he scanned my features, +and suffered his eyes to wander over my dress, I perceived that his was +no mere chance or cursory observation. + +"Well, sir," said he, at length, "is your business here with me?" + +"Yes; but I would speak with you in private." + +"Come in here, then. Meanwhile, Sam, make out that deed; for we may go +on without the proof of demise." + +Few and vague as the words were, their real meaning flashed on me, and I +perceived that Mr. Basset was engaged in the search of some evidence of +my death, doubtless to enable the heir-at-law to succeed to the estates +of my brother. The moment the idea struck me, I felt assured of its +certainty, and at once determined on the plan I should adopt. + +"You have inserted an advertisement regarding a Mr. Burke," said I, as +soon as the door was closed, and we were alone together. "What are the +particular circumstances of which you desire proof?" + +"The place, date, and manner of his death," replied he, slowly; "for +though informed that such occurred abroad, an authentic evidence of the +fact will save some trouble. Circumstances to identify the individual +with the person we mean, of course, must be offered; showing whence he +came, his probable age, and so on. For this intelligence I am prepared +to pay liberally; at least a hundred pounds may be thought so." + +"It is a question of succession to some property, I have heard." + +"Yes; but the information is not of such moment as you may suppose," +replied he, quickly, and with the wariness of his calling anticipating +the value I might be disposed to place on my intelligence. "We are +satisfied with the fact of the death; and even were it otherwise, the +individual most concerned is little likely to disprove the belief, his +own reasons will probably keep him from visiting Ireland." + +"Indeed!" I exclaimed, the word escaping my lips ere I could check its +utterance. + +"Even so," resumed he. "But this, of course, has no interest for you. +Your accent bespeaks you a foreigner. Have you any information to offer +on this matter?" + +"Yes; if we speak of the same individual, who may have left this country +about 1800 as a boy of some fourteen years of age, and entered the +'Ecole Polytechnique' of Paris." + +"Like enough. Continue, if you please; what became of him afterwards?" + +"He joined the French service, attained the rank of captain, and then +left the army; came back to Ireland, and now, sir, stands before you." + +Mr. Basset never changed a muscle of his face as I made this +declaration. So unmoved, so stolid was his look, that for a moment or +two I believed him incredulous of my story. But this impression soon +gave way, as with his eyes bent on me he said,-- + +"I knew you, sir, I knew you the moment I passed you in the office +without; but it might have fared ill with you to have let my recognition +appear." + +"As how? I do not understand you." + +"My clerks there might have given information for the sake of the +reward; and once in Newgate, there was an end to all negotiation." + +"You must speak more intelligibly, sir, if you wish me to comprehend +you. I am unaware of any circumstance which should threaten me with such +a fate." + +"Have you forgotten Captain Crofts,--Montague Crofts?" said Basset, in a +low whisper, while a smile of insulting malice crossed his features. + +"No; I remember him well. What of him?" + +"What of him! He charges you with a capital felony,--a crime for which +the laws have little pity here, whatever your French habits may have +taught you to regard it. Yes; the attempt to assassinate an officer in +his Majesty's service, when foiled by him in an effort to seduce the +soldiery, is an offence which might have a place in your memory." + +"Can the man be base enough to make such a charge as this against me,--a +boy, as I then was?" + +"You were not alone; remember that fact." + +"True; and most thankful am I for it. There is one, at least, can prove +my innocence, if I can but discover him." + +"You will find that a matter of some difficulty. Your worthy friend and +early preceptor was transported five years since." + +"Poor fellow! I could better bear to hear that he was dead." + +"There are many of your opinion on that head," said Basset, with a +savage grin. "But the fellow was too cunning for all the lawyers, and +his conviction at last was only effected by a stratagem." + +"A stratagem!" exclaimed I, in amazement. + +"It was neither more nor less. Darby was arraigned four several times, +but always acquitted. Now it was defective evidence; now a lenient jury; +now an informal indictment: but so was it, he escaped the meshes of the +law, though every one knew him guilty of a hundred offences. At last +Major Barton resolved on another expedient. Darby was arrested in Ennis; +thrown into jail; kept four weeks in a dark cell, on prison fare; and at +the end, one morning the hangman appeared to say his hour was come, and +that the warrant for his execution had arrived. It was to take place, +without judge or jury, within the four walls of the jail. The scheme +succeeded; his courage fell, and he offered, if his life was spared, to +plead guilty to any transportable felony for which the grand Jury would +send up true bills. He did so, and was then undergoing the sentence." + +"Great heavens! and can such iniquity be tolerated in a land where men +call themselves Christians?" exclaimed I, as I heard this to the end. + +"Iniquity!" repeated he, in mockery; "to rid the country of a ruffian, +stained with every crime,--a fellow mixed up in every outrage in the +land? Is this your notion of iniquity? Not so do I reckon it. And if I +have told you of it now, it is that you may learn that when loyal +and well-affected men are trusted with the execution of the laws, the +principle of justice is of more moment than the nice distinction of +legal subtleties. You may learn a lesson from it worth acquiring." + +"I! how can it affect me or my fortunes?" + +"More nearly than you think. I have told you of the accusation which +hangs over your head; weigh it well, and deliberate what are your +chances of escape. We must not waste time in discussing your innocence. +The jury who will try the cause will be more difficult of belief than +you suspect; neither the opinions you are charged with, your subsequent +escape, nor your career in France, will contribute to your exculpation, +even had you evidence to adduce in your favor. But you have not; your +only witness is equally removed as by death itself. On what do you +depend, then? Conscious innocence! Nine out of every ten who mount the +scaffold proclaim the same; but I never heard that the voice that cried +it stifled the word 'guilty.' No, sir; I tell you solemnly, you will be +condemned!" + +The tone of his voice as he spoke the last few words made my very blood +run cold. The death of a soldier on the field of battle had no terrors +for me; but the execrated fate of a felon I could not confront. The +pallor of my cheek, the trembling of my limbs, must have betrayed my +emotion; for even Basset seemed to pity me, and pressed me down into a +chair. + +"There is one way, however, to avoid all the danger," said he, after +a pause; "an easy and a certain way both. You have heard of the +advertisements for information respecting your death, which it was +surmised had occurred abroad. Now you are unknown here,--without a +single acquaintance to recognize or remember you; why should not you, +under another name, come forward with these proofs? By so doing, you +secure your own escape and can claim the reward." + +"What! perjure myself that I may forfeit my inheritance!" + +"As to the inheritance," said he, sneeringly, "your tenure does not +promise a very long enjoyment of it." + +"Were it but a day,--an hour!" exclaimed I, passionately; "I will make +no compromise with my honor. On their own heads be it who sentence an +innocent man to death; better such, even on a scaffold, than a life of +ignominy and vain regret." + +"The dark hours of a jail change men's sentiments wonderfully," said +he, slowly. "I have known some who faced death in its wildest and most +appalling shape, shrink from it like cowards when it came in the guise +of a common executioner. Come, sir, be advised by me; reflect at least +on what I have said, and if there be any path in life where a moderate +sum may assist you--" + +"Peace, sir! I beg of you to be silent. It may be that your counsel is +prompted by kindly feeling towards me; but if you would have me think +so, say no more of this,--my mind is made up." + +"Wait until to-morrow, in any case; perhaps some other plan may suggest +itself. What say you to America? Have you any objection to go there?" + +"Had you asked me the question an hour since, I had replied, 'None +whatever.' Now it is different; my departure would be like the flight of +a guilty man. I cannot do it." + +"Better the flight than the fate of one," muttered Basset between his +teeth, while at the same instant the sound of voices talking loudly +together was heard in the hall without. + +"Think again, before it is too late. Remember what I have told you. Your +opinions, your career, your associates, are not such as to recommend you +to the favorable consideration of a jury. Is your case strong enough to +oppose all these? Sir Montague will make liberal terms; he has no desire +to expose the calamities of a family." + +"Sir Montague!--of whom do you speak?" + +"Sir Montague Crofts," said Basset, reddening, for he had unwittingly +suffered the name to escape his lips. "Are you ignorant that he is +your relative? a distant one, it is true, but your nearest of kin +notwithstanding." + +"And the heir to the estate?" said I, suddenly, as anew light flashed on +my mind; "the heir, in the event of my life lapsing?" + +Basset nodded an assent. + +"You played a deep game, sir," said I, drawing a long breath; "but you +never were near winning it." + +"Nor you either," said he, throwing wide the door between the two rooms; +"I hear a voice without there, that settles the question forever." + +At the same instant, Major Barton entered, followed by two men. + +"I suspected I should find you here, sir," said he, addressing me. "You +need scarcely trouble my worthy friend for his bail; I arrest you now +under a warrant of felony." + +"A felony!" exclaimed Basset, with a counterfeited astonishment in his +look. "Mr. Burke accused of such a crime!" + +I could not utter a word; indignation and shame overpowered me, and +merely motioning with my hand that I was ready to accompany him, I +followed to the door, at which a carriage was standing, getting into +which we drove towards Newgate. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. THE PERIL AVERTED + +If I have dwelt with unnecessary prolixity on this dark portion of my +story, it is because the only lesson my life teaches has lain in similar +passages. The train of evils which flows from one misdirection in early +life,--the misfortunes which ensue from a single false and inconsiderate +step,--frequently darken the whole subsequent career. This I now thought +over in the solitude of my cell. However I could acquit myself of the +crime laid to my charge, I could not so easily absolve my heart of the +early folly which made me suppose that the regeneration of a land should +be accomplished by the efforts of a sanguinary and bigoted rabble. To +this error could I trace every false step I made in life,--to this cause +attribute the long struggle I endured between my love of liberty and my +detestation of mob rule; and yet how many years did it cost me to learn, +that to alleviate the burdens of the oppressed may demand a greater +exercise of tyranny than ever their rulers practised towards them. Like +many others, I looked to France as the land of freedom; but where was +despotism so unbounded! where the sway of one great mind so unlimited! +They had bartered liberty for equality, and because the pressure was +equal on all, they deemed themselves free; while the privileges of class +with us suggested the sense of bondage to the poor man, whose actual +freedom was yet unencumbered. + +Of all the daydreams of my boyhood, the ambition of military glory +alone survived; and that lived on amid the dreary solitude of my prison, +comforting many a lonely hour by memories of the past. The glittering +ranks of the mounted squadrons; the deep-toned thunder of the artillery; +the solid masses of the infantry, immovable beneath the rush of +cavalry,--were pictures I could dwell on for hours and days, and my +dearest wish could point to no higher destiny than to be once more a +soldier in the ranks of France. + +During all this time my mind seldom reverted to the circumstances of +my imprisonment, nor did I feel the anxiety for the result my position +might well have suggested. The conscious sense of my innocence kept the +flame of hope alive, without suffering it either to flicker or vary. It +burned like a steady fire within me, and made even the dark cells of a +jail a place of repose and tranquillity. And thus time rolled on: the +hours of pleasure and happiness to thousands, too short and flitting for +the enjoyments they brought. They went by also to the prisoner, as to +one who waits on the bank of the stream, nor knows what fortune may +await him on his voyage. + +A stubborn feeling of conscious right had prevented my taking even the +ordinary steps for my defence, and the day of trial was now drawing nigh +without any preparation on my part. I was ignorant how essential the +habits and skill of an advocate are in the conduct of every case, +however simple; and implicitly relied on my guiltlessness, as though men +can read the heart of a prisoner and know its workings. M'Dougall, the +only member of the bar I knew even by name, had accepted a judicial +appointment in India, and was already on his way thither, so that I had +neither friend nor adviser in my difficulty. Were it otherwise, I felt I +could scarcely have bent my pride to that detail of petty circumstances +which an advocate might deem essential to my vindication; and was +actually glad to think that I should owe the assertion of my innocence +to nothing less than the pure fact. + +When November at length arrived, I learned that the trial had been +deferred to the following February; and so listless and indifferent had +imprisonment made me, that I heard the intelligence without impatience +or regret. The publicity of a court of justice, its exposure to the gaze +and observation of the crowd who throng there, were subjects of more +shrinking dread to my heart than the weight of an accusation which, +though false, might peril my life; and for the first time I rejoiced +that I was friendless. Yes! it brought balm and comfort to me to think +that none would need to blush at my relationship nor weep over my fate. +Sorrow has surely eaten deeply into our natures, when we derive pleasure +and peace from what in happier circumstances are the sources of regret. + +Let me now hasten on. My reader will readily forgive me if I pass with +rapid steps over a portion of my story, the memory of which has not yet +lost its bitterness. The day at last came; and amid all the ceremonies +of a prison I was marched from my cell to the dock. How strange the +sudden revolution of feeling,--from the solitude and silence of a jail +to the crowded court, teeming with looks of eager curiosity, dread, or +perhaps compassion, all turned towards him, who himself, half forgetful +of his condition, gazes on the great mass in equal astonishment and +surprise! + +My thoughts at once recurred to a former moment of my life, when I stood +accused among the Chouan prisoners before the tribunal of Paris. But +though the proceedings were less marked by excitement and passion, the +stern gravity of the English procedure was far more appalling; and in +the absence of all which could stir the spirit to any effort of its own, +it pressed with a more solemn dread on the mind of the prisoner. + +I have said I would not linger over this part of my life. I could not +do so if I would. Real events, and the impressions they made upon +me,--facts, and the passing emotions of my mind,--are strangely confused +and commingled in my memory; and although certain minute and trivial +things are graven in my recollection, others of moment have escaped me +unrecorded. + +The usual ceremonial went forward: the jury were impanelled, and the +clerk of the Crown read aloud the indictment, to which my plea of "Not +guilty" was at once recorded; then the judge asked if I were provided +with counsel, and hearing that I was not, appointed a junior barrister +to act for me, and the trial began. + +I was not the first person who, accused of a crime of which he felt +innocent, yet was so overwhelmed by the statements of imputed guilt,--so +confused by the inextricable web of truth and falsehood, artfully +entangled.--that he actually doubted his own convictions when opposed to +views so strongly at variance with them. + +The first emotion of the prisoner is a feeling of surprise to discover, +that one utterly a stranger--the lawyer he has perhaps never seen, whose +name he never so much as heard of--is perfectly conversant with his +own history, and as it were by intuition seems acquainted with his +very thoughts and motives. Tracing out not only a line of acting but +of devising, he conceives a story of which the accused is the hero, and +invests his narrative with all the appliances to belief which result +from time and place and circumstance. No wonder that the very accusation +should strike terror into the soul; no wonder that the statement of +guilt should cause heart-sinking to him who, conscious that all is not +untrue, may feel that his actions can be viewed in another and very +different light to that which conscience sheds over them. + +Such, so far as I remember, was the channel of my thoughts. At first +mere astonishment at the accuracy of detail regarding my name, age, +and condition in life, was uppermost; and then succeeded a sense of +indignant anger at the charges laid against me; which yielded gradually +to a feeling of confusion as the advocate continued; which again merged +into a sort of dubious fear as I heard many trivial facts repeated, +some of which my refreshed memory acknowledged as true, but of which +my puzzled brain could not detect the inapplicability to sustain the +accusation,--all ending in a chaos of bewilderment, where conscience +itself was lost, and nothing left to guide or direct the reason. + +The counsel informed the jury that, although they were not placed in the +box to try me on any charge of a political offence, they must bear in +mind, that the murderous assault of which I was accused was merely part +of a system organized to overthrow the Government; that, young as I then +was, I was in intimate connection with the disaffected party which the +mistaken leniency of the Crown had not thoroughly eradicated on the +termination of the late rebellion, my constant companion being one whose +crimes were already undergoing their but too merciful punishment in +transportation for life; that, to tamper with the military, I had +succeeded in introducing myself into the barrack, where I obtained the +confidence of a weak-minded but good-natured officer of the regiment. + +"These schemes," continued he, "were but partially successful. My +distinguished client was then an officer of the corps; and with that +ever-watchful loyalty which has distinguished him, he determined to keep +a vigilant eye on this intruder, who, from circumstances of youth and +apparent innocence, already had won upon the confidence of the majority +of the regiment. Nor was this impression a false one. An event, +apparently little likely to unveil a treasonable intention, soon +unmasked the true character of the prisoner and the nature of his +mission." + +He then proceeded to narrate with circumstantial accuracy the night in +the George's Street barracks, when Hilliard, Crofts, and some others +came with Bubbleton to his quarters to decide a wager between two of the +parties. Calling the attention of the jury to this part of the case, he +detailed the scene which occurred; and, if I could trust my memory, not +a phrase, not a word escaped him which had been said. + +"It was then, gentlemen," said he, "at that instant, that the prisoner's +habitual caution failed him, and in an unguarded moment developed the +full story of his guilt. Captain Bubbleton lost his wager, of which my +client was the winner. The habits of the service are peremptory in these +matters; it was necessary that payment should be made at once. Bubbleton +had not the means of discharging his debt, and while he looked around +among his comrades for assistance, the prisoner steps forward and +supplies the sum. Mark what followed. + +"A sudden call of service now summoned the officers beneath; all save +Crofts, who, not being on duty, had no necessity for accompanying them. +The bank-note so opportunely furnished by the prisoner lay on the table; +and this Crofts proceeded leisurely to open and examine before he left +the room. Slowly unfolding the paper, he spread it out before him; and +what, think you, gentlemen, did the paper display? A Bank of England +bill for twenty pounds, you'll say, of course. Far from it, indeed! The +paper was a French assignat, bearing the words, 'Payez au porteur la +somme de deux mille livres.' Yes; the sum so carelessly thrown on the +table by this youth was an order for eighty pounds, issued by the French +Government. + +"Remember the period, gentlemen, when this occurred. We had just +passed the threshold of a most fearful and sanguinary rebellion,--the +tranquillity of the land scarce restored after a convulsion that shook +the very constitution and the throne to their centres. The interference +of France in the affairs of the country had not been a mere threat; her +ships had sailed, her armies had landed, and though the bravery and the +loyalty of our troops had made the expedition result in utter defeat +and overthrow, the emissaries of the land of anarchy yet lingered on our +shores, and disseminated that treason in secret which openly they dared +not proclaim. If they were sparing of their blood, they were lavish +of their gold; what they failed in courage they supplied in assignats. +Large promises of gain, rich offers of booty, were rife throughout the +land; and wherever disaffection lurked or rebellion lingered, the enemy +of England found congenial allies. Nothing too base, nothing too +low, for this confederacy of crime; neither was anything too lowly in +condition or too humble in efficiency. Treason cannot choose its agents; +it must take the tools which chance and circumstances offer: they may +be the refuse of mankind, but if inefficient for good, they are not the +less active for evil. Such a one was the youth who now stands a prisoner +before you, and here was the price of his disloyalty." + +At these words he held up triumphantly the French assignat, and waved it +before the eyes of the court. However little the circumstances weighed +within me, such was the impression manifestly produced upon the jury by +this piece of corroborative evidence, that a thrill of anxiety for the +result ran suddenly through me. + +Until that moment I believed Darby had repossessed himself of the +assignat when Crofts lay insensible on the ground; at least I remembered +well that he stooped over him and appeared to take something from him. +While I was puzzling my mind on this point, I did not remark that +the lawyer was proceeding to impress on the jury the full force of +conviction such a circumstance implied. + +The offer I had made to Crofts to barter the assignat for an English +note; my urgent entreaty to have it restored to me; the arguments I had +employed to persuade him that no suspicion could attach to my possession +of it,--were all narrated with so little of exaggeration that I was +actually unable to say what assertion I could object to, while I was +conscious that the inferences sought to be drawn from them were false +and unjust. + +Having displayed with consummate skill the critical position this paper +had involved me in, he took the opportunity of contrasting the anxiety I +evinced for my escape from my difficulty, with the temperate conduct +of my antagonist, whose loyalty left him no other course than to retain +possession of the note, and inquire into the circumstances by which it +reached my hands. + +Irritated by the steady determination of Crofts, it was said that I +endeavored by opprobrious epithets and insulting language to provoke +a quarrel, which a sense of my inferiority as an antagonist rendered a +thing impossible to be thought of. Baffled in every way, I was said to +have rushed from the room, double-locking it on the outside, and hurried +down the stairs and out of the barrack; not to escape, however, but with +a purpose very different,--to return in a few moments accompanied by +three fellows, whom I passed with the guard as men wishing to recruit. +To ascend the stairs, unlock the door, and fall on the imprisoned +officer, was the work of an instant. His defence, although courageous +and resolute, was but brief. His sword being broken, he was felled by a +blow of a bludgeon, and thus believed dead. The ruffians ransacked his +pockets, and departed. + +The same countersign which admitted, passed them out as they went; and +when morning broke the wounded man was found weltering in his blood, +but with life still remaining, and strength enough to recount what had +occurred. By a mere accident, it was stated, the French bank-note had +not been consigned to his pocket, but fell during the struggle, and was +discovered the next day on the floor. + +These were the leading features of an accusation, which, however +improbable while thus briefly and boldly narrated, hung together with a +wonderful coherence in the speech of the lawyer, supported as they were +by the number of small circumstances corroboratory of certain immaterial +portions of the story. Thus, the political opinions I professed; the +doubtful--nay, equivocal--position I occupied; the intercourse with +France or Frenchmen, as proved by the _billet de banque_; my sudden +disappearance after the event, and my escape thither, where I continued +to live until, as it was alleged, I believed that years had eradicated +all trace of, if not my crime, myself,--such were the statements +displayed with all the specious inferences of habitual plausibility, and +to confirm which by evidence Sir Montague Crofts was called to give his +testimony. + +There was a murmur of expectancy through the court as this well-known +individual's name was pronounced; and in a few moments the throng around +the inner bar opened, and a tall figure appeared upon the witness table. +The same instant that I caught sight of his features he had turned his +glance on me, and we stood for some seconds confronting each other. +Mutual defiance seemed the gage between us; and I saw, with a thrill +of savage pleasure, that after a minute or so his cheek flushed, and he +averted his face and appeared ill at ease and uncomfortable. + +To the first questions of the lawyer he answered with evident +constraint, and in a low, subdued voice; but soon recovering his +self-possession, gave his testimony freely and boldly, corroborating by +his words all the statements of his advocate. By both the court and +the jury he was heard with attention and deference; and when he took +a passing occasion to allude to his loyalty and attachment to the +constitution, the senior judge interrupted him by saying,-- + +"On that point, Sir Montague, no second opinion can exist. Your +character for unimpeachable honor is well known to the court." + +The examination was brief, lasting scarcely half an hour; and when the +young lawyer came forward to put some questions as cross-examination, +his want of instruction and ignorance were at once seen, and the witness +was dismissed almost immediately. + +Sir Montague's advocate declined calling any other witness. The regiment +to which his client then belonged was on foreign service; but he felt +satisfied that the case required nothing in addition to the evidence the +jury had heard. + +A few moments of deliberation ensued among the members of the bench; and +then the senior judge called on my lawyer to proceed with the defence. + +The young barrister rose with diffidence, and expressed in few words his +inability to rebut the statements that had been made by any evidence in +his power to produce. "The prisoner, my lord," said he, "has confided +nothing to me of his case. I am ignorant of everything, save what has +taken place in open court." + +"It is true, my lord," said I, interrupting. "The facts of this unhappy +circumstance are known but to three individuals. You have already heard +the version which one of them has given; you shall now hear mine. The +third, whose testimony might incline the balance in my favor, is, I am +told, no longer in this country; and I have only to discharge the debt +I feel due to myself and to my own honor, by narrating the real +occurrence, and leave the issue in your hands, to deal with as your +consciences may dictate." + +With the steadiness of purpose truth inspires, and in few words, I +narrated the whole of my adventure with Crofts, down to the moment of +Darby's sudden appearance. I told of what passed between us; and how +the altercation, that began in angry words, terminated in a personal +struggle, where, as the weaker, I was overcome, and lay beneath the +weapon of my antagonist, by which already I had received a severe and +dangerous wound. + +"I should hesitate here, my lords," said I, "before I spoke of one who +then came to my aid, if I did not know that he is already removed by +a heavy sentence, both from the penalty his gallant conduct might call +down on him, and the enmity which the prosecutor would as certainly +pursue him with. But he is beyond the reach of either, and I may speak +of him freely." + +I then told of Darby's appearance that night in the barrack, disguised +as a ballad-singer; how in this capacity he passed the sentry, and was +present in the room when the officers entered to decide the wager; that +he had quitted it soon after their arrival, and only returned on hearing +the noise of the scuffle between Crofts and myself. The struggle itself +I remembered but imperfectly, but so far as my memory bore me out, +recapitulated to the court. + +"I will relate, my lords," said I, "the few events which followed,--not +that they can in any wise corroborate the plain statement I have made, +nor indeed that they bear, save remotely, on the events mentioned; but +I will do so in the hope,--a faint hope it is,--that in this court there +might be found some one person who could add his testimony to mine, and +say, 'This is true; to that I can myself bear witness.'" + +With this brief preface, I told how Darby had brought me to a house in +an obscure street, in which a man, apparently dying, was stretched upon +a miserable bed; that while my wound was being dressed, a car came to +the door with the intention of conveying the sick man away somewhere. +This, however, was deemed impossible, so near did his last hour appear; +and in his place I was taken off, and placed on board the vessel bound +for France. + +"Of my career in that country it is needless that I should speak; it +can neither throw light upon the events which preceded it, nor have +any interest for the court My commission as a captain of the Imperial +Hussars may, however, testify the position that I occupied; while the +certificate of the minister of war on the back will show that I quitted +the service voluntarily, and with honor." + +"The court would advise you, sir," said the judge, "not to advert to +circumstances which, while they contribute nothing to your exculpation, +may have a very serious effect on the minds of the jury against you. +Have you any witnesses to call?" + +"None, my lord." + +A pause of some minutes ensued, when the only sounds in the court were +the whispering tones of Crofts's voice, as he said something into his +counsel's ear. The lawyer rose. + +"My task, my lords," said he, "is a short one. Indeed, in all +probability, I need not trouble either your lordships or the jury +with an additional word on a case where the evidence so conclusively +establishes the guilt of the accused, and where attempt to contradict +it has been so abortive. Never, perhaps, was a story narrated within +the walls of a court so full of improbable--might I not almost say +impossible--events, as that of the prisoner." + +He then recapitulated, with rapid but accurate detail, the principal +circumstances of my story, bestowing some brief comment on each as he +went. He sneered at the account of the struggle, and turned the whole +description of the contest with Crofts into ridicule,--calling on the +jury to bestow a glance on the manly strength and vigorous proportions +of his client, and then remember the age of his antagonist,--a boy of +fourteen. + +"I forgot, gentlemen (I ask your pardon), he confesses to one +ally,--this famous piper. I really did hope that was a name we had done +with forever. I indulged the dream, that among the memories of an +awful period this was never to recur; but unhappily the expectation was +delusive. The fellow is brought once more before us; and perhaps, for +the first time in his long life of iniquity, charged with a crime he did +not commit." In a few sentences he explained that a large reward was at +that very moment offered for the apprehension of Darby, who never would +have ventured under any disguise to approach the capital, much less +trust himself within the walls of a barrack. + +"The tissue of wild and inconsistent events which the prisoner has +detailed as following the assault, deserves no attention at my hands. +Where was this house? What was the street? Who was this doctor of which +he speaks? And the sick man, how was he called?" + +"I remember his name well; it is the only one I remember among all I +heard," said I, from the dock. + +"Let us hear it, then," said the lawyer, half contemptuously. + +"Daniel Fortescue was the name he was called by." + +Scarcely was the name uttered by me, when Crofts leaned back in his seat +and became pale as death; while, stretching out his hand, he took hold +of the lawyer's gown and drew him towards him. For a second or two he +continued to speak with rapid utterance in the advocate's ear; and then +covering his face with his handkerchief, leaned his head on the rail +before him. + +"It is necessary, my lords," said the lawyer, "that I should explain the +reason of my client's emotion, and at the same time unveil the baseness +which has dictated this last effort of the prisoner, if not to injure +the reputation, to wound the feelings, of my client. The individual +whose name has been mentioned was the half brother of my client; and +whose unhappy connection with the disastrous events of the year '98 +involved him in a series of calamities which ended in his death, +which took place in the year 1800, but some months earlier than the +circumstance which we now are investigating. The introduction of this +unhappy man's name was, then, a malignant effort of the prisoner to +insult the feelings of my client, on which your lordships and the jury +will place its true value." + +A murmur of disapprobation ran through the crowded court as these words +were spoken; but whether directed against me or against the comment of +the lawyer I could not determine; nor, such was the confusion I then +felt, could I follow the remainder of the advocate's address with +anything like clearness. At last he concluded; and the chief justice, +after a whispered conversation with his brethren of the bench, thus +began:-- + +"Gentlemen of the jury, the case which you have this day to try, to my +mind presents but one feature of doubt and difficulty. The great fact +for your consideration is, to determine to which of two opposite and +conflicting testimonies you will accord your credence. On the one side +you have the story of the prosecutor, a man of position and character, +high in the confidence of honorable men, and invested with all the +attributes of rank and station; on the other, you have a narrative +strongly coherent in some parts, equally difficult to account for in +others, given by the prisoner, whose life, even by his own showing, has +none of those recommendations to your good opinions which are based +on loyalty and attachment to the constitution of these realms. Both +testimonies are unsupported by any collateral evidence. The prosecutor's +regiment is in India, and the only witnesses he could adduce are many +thousand miles off. The prisoner appeals also to the absent, but with +less of reason; for if we could call this man, M'Keown, before us,--if, +I say, we had this same Darby M'Keown in court--" + +A tremendous uproar in the hall without drowned the remainder of the +sentence; and although the crier loudly proclaimed silence, and +the bench twice interposed its authority to enforce it, the tumult +continued, and eventually extended within the court itself, where all +semblance of respect seemed suddenly annihilated. + +"If this continues one moment longer," exclaimed the chief justice, "I +will commit to Newgate the very first disorderly person I can discover." + +The threat, however, did but partially calm the disturbance, which, in +a confused murmur, prevailed from the benches of the counsel to the very +galleries of the court. + +"What means this?" said the judge, in a voice of anger. "Who is it that +dares to interfere with the administration of justice here?" + +"A witness,--a witness, my lord," called out several voices from the +passage of the court; while a crowd pushed violently forward, and came +struggling onwards till the leading figures were pressed over the inner +bar. + +Again the judge repeated his question, while he made a signal for the +officer of the court to approach him. + +"'Tis me, my lord," shouted a deep-toned voice from the middle of +the crowd. "Your lordship was asking for Darby M'Keown, and it isn't +himself's ashamed of the name!" + +A perfect yell of approval broke from the ragged mob, which now filled +every avenue and passage of the court, and even jammed up the stairs +and the entrance halls. And now, raised upon the shoulders of the crowd, +Darby appeared, borne aloft in triumph; his broad and daring face, +bronzed with sun and weather, glowed with a look of reckless effrontery, +which no awe of the court nor any fear for himself was able to repress. + +Of my own sensations while this scene was enacting I need not speak; +and as I gazed at the weather-beaten features of the hardy piper, it +demanded every effort of my reason to believe in the testimony of my +eyesight. Had he come back from death itself the surprise would scarcely +have been greater. Meanwhile the tumult was allayed; and the lawyers on +either side--for, now that a glimmer of hope appeared, my advocate had +entered with spirit on his duties--were discussing the admissibility +of evidence at the present stage of the proceedings. This point being +speedily established in my favor, another and a graver question arose: +how far the testimony of a convicted felon--for such the lawyer at once +called Darby--could be received as evidence. + +Cases were quoted and authorities shown to prove that such cannot be +heard as witnesses,--that they are among those whom the law pronounces +infamous and unworthy of credit; and while the lawyer continued to pour +forth on this topic a perfect ocean of arguments, he was interrupted by +the court, who affirmed the opinion, and concurred in his view of the +case. + +"It only remains, then, my lord," said my counsel, "for the Crown to +establish the identity of the individual--" + +"Nothing easier," interposed the other. + +"I beg pardon; I was about to add,--and produce the record of his +conviction." + +This last seemed a felling blow; for although the old lawyer never +evinced here or at any other time the slightest appearance of +discomfiture at any opposition, I could see by the puckering of the +deep lines around his mouth that he felt vexed and annoyed by this new +suggestion. + +An eager and animated discussion ensued, in which my advocate was +assisted by the advice of some senior counsel; and again the point was +ruled in my favor, and Darby M'Keown was desired to mount the table. + +It required all the efforts of the various officers of the court to +repress another outbreak of mob enthusiasm at the decision; for already +the trial had assumed a feature perfectly distinct from any common +infraction of the law. Its political bearing had long since imparted +a character of party warfare to the whole proceeding; and while Sir +Montague Crofts found his well-wishers among the better dressed and more +respectable persons present, a much more numerous body of supporters +claimed me as their own, and in defiance of all the usages and solemnity +of the place, did not scruple to bestow on me looks and even words of +encouragement at every stage of the trial. Darby's appearance was the +climax of this popular enthusiasm. There were few who had not seen, +or at least heard of, the celebrated piper in times past. His daring +infraction of the law; his reputed skill in evading detection; his +acquaintance with every clew and circumstance of the late rebellion; the +confidence he enjoyed among all the leaders--had made him a hero in a +land where such qualities are certain of obtaining their due estimation. +And now, the reckless effrontery of his presence as a witness in a court +of justice while the sentence of transportation still hung over him, was +a claim to admiration none refused to acknowledge. + +His air and demeanor as he took his seat on the table seemed an +acknowledgment of the homage rendered him: for though, as he placed his +worn and ragged hat beside his feet, and stroked down his short black +hair on his forehead, a careless observer might have suspected him +of feeling awed and abashed by the presence in which he sat, one more +conversant with his countrymen would have detected in the quiet leer of +his roguish black eye, and a certain protrusion of his thick under lip, +that Darby was as perfectly at his ease there as the eminent judge was +who now fixed his eyes upon him. A short, but not disrespectful nod was +the only notice he bestowed on me; and then concealing his joined hands +within his sleeves, and drawing his legs back beneath the chair, he +assumed that attitude of mock humility your least bashful Irishman is so +commonly fond of. + +The veteran barrister was meanwhile surveying the witness with the +peculiar scrutiny of his caste: he looked at him through his spectacles, +and then he stared at him above them; he measured him from head to foot, +his eye dwelling on every little circumstance of his dress or demeanor, +as though to catch some clew to his habits of thinking or acting. +Never did a matador survey the brawny animal with which he was about +to contend in skill or strength with more critical acumen than did the +lawyer regard Darby the Blast. Nor was the object of this examination +unaware of it; very far from this, indeed. He seemed pleased by the +degree of attention bestowed on him, and felt all the flattery +such notice conveyed; but while doing so, you could only detect his +satisfaction in an occasional sidelong look of drollery, which, brief +and fleeting as it was, had still a numerous body of admirers through +the court, whose muttered expressions of "Divil fear ye, Darby! but +ye 're up to them any day;" or "Faix! 't is himself cares little about +them!" showed they had no lack of confidence in the piper. + + +[Illustration: BrownDarbyInTheChair294] + +"Your name is M'Keown, sir?" said the lawyer, with that abruptness +which so often succeeds in oversetting the balance of a witness's +self-possession. "Yes, sir; Darby M'Keown." "Did you ever go by any +other than this?" "They do call me 'Darby the Blast' betimes, av that 'a +a name." + +"Is that the only other name you have been called by?" "I misremember +rightly, it's so long since I was among friends and acquaintances; but +if yer honor would remind me a little, maybe I could tell." "Well, were +you ever called 'Larry the Flail?'" "Faix, I was," replied he, laughing; +"divil a doubt of it." + +"How did you come by the name of 'Larry the Flail'?" + +"They gave me the name up at Mulhuldad there, for bating one M'Clancy +with a flail." + +"A very good reason. So you got the name because you beat a certain +M'Clancy with a flail?" + +"I didn't say that; I only said they gave me the name because they said +I bate him." + +"Were you ever called 'Fire-the-Haggard'?" + +"I was, often." + +"For no reason, of course?" + +"Divil a may son. The boys said it in sport, just as they talk of yer +honor out there in the hall." + +"How do you mean,--talk of me?" + +"Sure I heard them say myself, as I was coming in, that you wor a clever +man and a 'cute lawyer. They do be always humbugging that way." + +A titter ran round the benches of the barristers at this speech, which +was delivered with a naive simplicity that would deceive many. + +"You were a United Irishman, Mr. M'Keown, I believe?" rejoined the +counsel, with a frown of stern intimidation. + +"Yes, sir; and a White Boy, and a Defender, and a Thrasher besides. I +was in all the fun them times." + +"The Thrashers are the fellows, I believe, who must beat any man they +are appointed to attack; isn't that so?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"So that, if I was mentioned to you as a person to be assaulted, +although I had never done you any injury, you 'd not hesitate to waylay +me?" + +"No, sir, I wouldn't do that. I'd not touch yer honor." + +"Come, come; what do you mean? Why wouldn't you touch me?" + +"I' d rather not tell, av it was plazing to ye." + +"You must tell, sir; speak out! Why wouldn't you attack me?" + +"They say, sir," said Darby,--and as he spoke, his voice assumed a +peculiar lisp, meant to express great modesty,--"they say, sir, that +when a man has a big wart on his nose there, like yer honor, it's not +lucky to bate him, for that's the way the divil marks his own." + +This time the decorum of the court gave way entirely, and the unwashed +faces which filled the avenues and passages were all expanded in open +laughter; nor was it easy to restore order again amid the many marks of +approval and encouragement bestowed on Darby by his numerous admirers. + +"Remember where you are, sir," said the judge, severely. + +"Yes, my lord," said Darby, with an air of submission. "'T is the first +time I was ever in sich a situation as this. I 'm much more at my ease +when I 'm down in the dock there; it's what I 'm most used to, God help +me." + +The whining tone in which he delivered this mock lament on his +misfortunes occasioned another outbreak of the mob, who were threatened +with expulsion from the court if any future interruption took place. + +"You were, then, a member of every illegal society of the time, Mr. +Darby?" said the lawyer, returning to the examination. "Is it not so?" + +"Most of them, anyhow," was the cool reply. + +"You took an active part in the doings of the year '98 also?" + +"Throth I did,--mighty active. I walked from beyant Castlecomer one day +to Dublin to see a trial here. Be the same token, it was Mr. Curran made +a hare of yer honor that day. Begorrah I wonder ye ever held up yer head +after." + +Here a burst of laughter at the recollection seemed to escape Darby +so naturally, that its contagious effects were felt throughout the +assembly. + +"You are a wit, Mr. M'Keown, I fancy, eh?" + +"Bedad I 'm not, sir; very little of that same would have kept out of +this to-day." + +"But you came here to serve a friend,--a very old friend, he calls you." + +"Does he?" said Darby, with an energy of tone and manner very different +from what he had hitherto used. "Does Master Tom say that?" + +As the poor fellow's cheek flushed, and his eyes sparkled with proud +emotion, I could perceive that the lawyer's face underwent a change +equally rapid. A look of triumph at having at length discovered the +assailable point of the witness's temperament now passed over his pale +features, and gave them an expression of astonishing intelligence. + +"A very natural thing it is, Darby, that he should call you so. You were +companions at an early period,--at least of his life; fellow-travellers, +too, if I don't mistake?" + +Although these words were spoken in a tone of careless freedom, and +intended to encourage Darby to some expansion on the same theme, the +cunning fellow had recovered all his habitual self-possession, and +merely answered, if answer it could be called,-- + +"I was a poor man, sir, and lived by the pipes." + +The advocate and the witness exchanged looks at this moment, in which +their relative positions were palpably conveyed. Each seemed to say it +was a drawn battle; but the lawyer returned with vigor to the charge; +desiring Darby to mention the manner in which our first acquaintance +began, and how the intimacy was originally formed. + +He narrated with clearness and accuracy every step of our early +wanderings; and while never misstating a single fact, contrived +to exhibit my career as totally devoid of any participation in the +treasonable doings of the period. Indeed, he laid great stress on the +fact that my acquaintance with Charles de Meudon had withdrawn me from +all relations with the insurgent party, between whom and the French +allies feelings of open dislike and distrust existed. Of the scene at +the barrack his account varied in nothing from that I had already given; +nor was all the ingenuity of a long and intricate cross-examination able +to shake his testimony in the most minute particular. + +"Of course, then, you know Sir Montague Crofts? It is quite clear that +you cannot mistake a person with whom you had a struggle such as you +speak of." + +"Faix, I'd know his skin upon a bush," said Darby, "av he was like what +I remember him; but sure he may be changed since that. They tell me +I'm looking ould myself; and no wonder. Hunting kangaroos wears the +constitution terribly." + +"Look around the court, now, and say if he be here." + +Darby rose from his seat, and shading his eyes with his hand, took +a deliberate survey of the court. Though well knowing, from past +experience, in what part of the assembly the person he sought would +probably be, he seized the occasion to scrutinize the features of the +various persons, whom under no other pretence could he have examined. + +"It's not on the bench, sir, you need look for him," said the lawyer, +as M'Keown remained for a considerable time with his eyes bent in that +direction. + +"Bedad there's no knowing," rejoined Darby, doubtfully; "av he was +dressed up that way, I wouldn't know him from an old ram." + +He turned round as he said this, and gazed steadfastly towards the bar. +It was an anxious moment for me: should Darby make any mistake in the +identity of Crofts, his whole testimony would be so weakened in the +opinion of the jury as to be nearly valueless. I watched his eyes, +therefore, as they ranged over the crowded mass, with a palpitating +heart; and when at last his glance settled on a far part of the court, +very distant from that occupied by Crofts, I grew almost sick with +apprehension lest he should mistake another for him. + +"Well, sir," said the lawyer; "do you see him now?" + +"Arrah, it's humbugging me yez are," said Darby, roughly, while he threw +himself down into his chair in apparent ill temper. + +A loud burst of laughter broke from the bar at this sudden ebullition of +passion, so admirably feigned that none suspected its reality; and while +the sounds of mirth were subsiding, Darby dropped his head, and placed +his hand above his ear. "There it is, by gorra; there's no mistaking +that laugh, anyhow," cried he; "there's a screech in it might plaze an +owl." And with that he turned abruptly round and faced the bench where +Crofts was seated. "I heard it a while ago, but I couldn't say where. +That's the man," said he, pointing with his finger to Crofts, who seemed +actually to cower beneath his piercing glance. + +"Remember, sir, you are on your solemn oath. Will you swear that the +gentleman there is Sir Montague Crofts?" + +"I know nothing about Sir Montague," said Darby, composedly, while +rising he walked over towards the edge of the table where Crofts was +sitting, "but I'll swear that's the same Captain Crofts that I knocked +down while he was shortening his sword to run it through Master Burke; +and by the same token, he has a cut in the skull where he fell on the +fender." And before the other could prevent it, he stretched out his +hand, and placed it on the back of the crown of Crofts's head. "There it +is, just as I tould you." + +The sensation these words created in the court was most striking, +and even the old lawyer appeared overwhelmed at the united craft and +consistency of the piper. The examination was resumed; but Darby's +evidence tallied so accurately with my statement that its continuance +only weakened the case for the prosecution. + +As the sudden flash of the lightning will sometimes disclose what in the +long blaze of noonday has escaped the beholder, so will conviction +break unexpectedly upon the human mind from some slight but striking +circumstance which comes with the irresistible force of unpremeditated +truthfulness. From that moment it was clear the jury to a man were with +Darby. They paid implicit attention to all he said, and made notes of +every trivial fact he mentioned; while he, as if divining the impression +he had made, became rigorously cautious that not a particle of his +evidence could be shaken, nor the effect of his testimony weakened by +even a passing phrase of exaggeration. It was, indeed, a phenomenon +worth studying, to see this fellow, whose natural disposition was the +irrepressible love of drollery and recklessness,--whose whole heart +seemed bent on the indulgence of his wayward, careless humor,--suddenly +throw off every eccentricity of his character, and become a steady and +accurate witness, delivering his evidence carefully and cautiously, +and never suffering his own leanings to repartee, nor the badgering +allusions of his questioner, to draw him for a moment away from the +great object he had set before him; resisting every line, every bait, +the cunning lawyer threw out to seduce him into that land of fancy +so congenial to an Irishman's temperament, he was firm against +all temptation, and even endured that severest of all tests to the +forbearance of his country,--he suffered the laugh more than once to be +raised at his expense, without an effort to retort on his adversary. + +The examination lasted three hours; and at its conclusion, every fact +I stated had received confirmation from Darby's testimony, down to the +moment when we left the barrack together. + +"Now, M'Keown," said the lawyer, "I am about to call your recollection, +which is so wonderfully accurate that it can give you no trouble in +remembering, to a circumstance which immediately followed the affair." + +As he got thus far, Crofts leaned over and drew the counsel towards +him while he whispered some words rapidly in his ear. A brief dialogue +ensued between them; at the conclusion of which the lawyer turned round, +and addressing Darby, said,-- + +"You may go down, sir; I 've done with you." "Wait a moment," said the +young barrister on my side, who quickly perceived that the interruption +had its secret object. "My learned friend was about to ask you +concerning something which happened after you left the barrack; and +although he has changed his mind on the subject, we on this side would +be glad to hear what you have to say." + +Darby's eyes flashed with unwonted brilliancy; and I thought I caught +a glance of triumphant meaning towards Crofts, as he began his recital, +which was in substance nothing more than what the reader already knows. +When he came to the mention of Fortescue's name, however, Crofts, whose +excitement was increasing at each moment, lost all command over himself, +and cried out,-- + +"It's false! every word untrue! The man was dead at the time." + +The court rebuked the interruption, and Darby went on. + +"No, my lord; he was alive. But Mr. Crofts is not to blame, for he +believed he was dead; and, more than that, he thought he took the sure +way to make him so." + +These words produced the greatest excitement throughout the court; +and an animated discussion ensued, how far the testimony could go to +inculpate a party not accused. It was ruled, at last, the evidence +should be heard, as touching the case on trial, and not immediately as +regarded Crofts. And then Darby began a recital, of which I had never +heard a syllable before, nor had I conceived the slightest suspicion. + +The story, partly told in narrative form, partly elicited by +questioning, was briefly this. + +Daniel Fortescue was the son of a Roscommon gentleman of large fortune, +of whom also Crofts was the illegitimate child. The father, a man +of high Tory politics, had taken a most determined part against the +patriotic party in Ireland, to which his son Daniel had shown himself, +on more than one occasion, favorable. The consequence was, a breach of +affection between them; widened into an actual rupture, by the old man, +who was a widower, taking home to his house the illegitimate son, and +announcing to his household that he would leave him everything he could +in the world. + +To Daniel, the blow was all that he needed to precipitate his ruin. He +abandoned the university, where already he had distinguished himself, +and threw himself heart and soul into the movement of the "United +Irish" party. At first, high hopes of an independent nation,--a separate +kingdom, with its own train of interests, and its own sphere of power +and influence,--was the dream of those with whom he associated. But +as events rolled on it was found, that to mature their plans it was +necessary to connect themselves with the masses, by whose agency the +insurrectionary movement was to be effected; and in doing so, they +discovered, that although theories of liberty and independence, high +notions of pure government, may have charms for men of intellect and +intelligence, to the mob the price of a rebellion must be paid down +in the sterling coin of pillage and plunder,--or even, worse, the +triumphant dominion of the depraved and the base over the educated and +the worthy. + +Many who favored the patriotic cause, as it was called, became so +disgusted at the low associates and base intercourse the game of party +required, that they abandoned the field at once, leaving to others, less +scrupulous or more ardent, the path they could not stoop to follow. It +was probable that young Fortescue might have been among these, had he +been left to the guidance of his own judgment and inclination; for, as a +man of honor and intelligence, he could not help feeling shocked at the +demands made by those who were the spokesmen of the people. But this +course he was not permitted to take, owing to the influence of a man who +had succeeded in obtaining the most absolute power over him. + +This was a certain Maurice Mulcahy, a well-known member of the various +illegal clubs of the day, and originally a country schoolmaster. Mulcahy +it was who first infected Fortescue's mind with the poison of this +party,--now lending him volumes of the incendiary trash with which +the press teemed; now newspapers, whose articles were headed, "Orange +outrage on a harmless and unresisting peasantry!" or, "Another sacrifice +of the people to the bloody vengeance of the Saxon!" By these, his +youthful mind became interested in the fate of those he believed to be +treated with reckless cruelty and oppression; while, as he advanced in +years, his reason was appealed to by those great and spirit-stirring +addresses which Grattan and Curran were continually delivering, either +in the senate or at the bar, and wherein the most noble aspirations +after liberty were united with sentiments breathing love of country and +devoted patriotism. To connect the garbled and lying statements of a +debased newspaper press with the honorable hopes and noble conceptions +of men of mind and genius, was the fatal process of his political +education; and never was there a time when such a delusion was more +easy. + +Mulcahy, now stimulating the boyish ardor of a high-spirited youth, now +flattering his vanity by promises of the position one of his ancient +name and honored lineage must assume in the great national movement, +gradually became his directing genius, swaying every resolution and +ruling every determination of his mind. He never left his victim for a +moment; and while thus insuring the unbounded influence he exercised, he +gave proof of a seeming attachment, which Fortescue confidently believed +in. Mulcahy, too, never wanted for money; alleging that the leaders of +the plot knew the value of Fortescue's alliance, and were willing +to advance him any sums he needed, he supplied the means of every +extravagance a wild and careless youth indulged in, and thus riveted the +chain of his bondage to him. + +When the rebellion broke out, Fortescue, like many more, was +horror-struck at the conduct of his party. He witnessed hourly scenes +of cruelty and bloodshed at which his heart revolted, but to avow his +compassion for which would have cost him his life on the spot. He was +in the stream, however, and must go with the torrent; and what will not +stern necessity compel? Daily intimacy with the base-hearted and the +low, hourly association with crime, and perhaps more than either, +despair of success, broke him down completely, and with the blind +fatuity of one predestined to evil, he became careless what happened to +him, and indifferent to whatever fate was before him. + +Still, between him and his associates there lay a wide gulf. The tree, +withered and blighted as it was, still preserved some semblance of its +once beauty; and among that mass of bigotry and bloodshed, his nature +shone forth conspicuously as something of a different order of being. To +none was this superiority more insulting than to the parties themselves. +So long as the period of devising and planning the movement of an +insurrection lasts, the presence of a gentleman, or a man of birth +or rank, will be hailed with acclamation and delight. Let the hour of +acting arrive, however, and the scruples of an honorable mind, or the +repugnance of a high-spirited nature, will be treated as cowardice by +those who only recognized bravery in deeds of blood, and know no heroism +save when allied to cruelty. + +Fortescue became suspected by his party. Hints were circulated, and +rumors reached him, that he was watched; that it was no time for hanging +back. He who sacrificed everything for the cause to be thus accused! He +consulted Mulcahy; and to his utter discomfiture discovered that +even his old ally and adviser was not devoid of doubt regarding him. +Something must be done, and that speedily,--he cared not what. Life had +long ceased to interest him either by hope or fear. The only tie that +bound him to existence was the strange desire to be respected by those +his heart sickened at the thought of. + +An attack was at that time planned against the house and family of a +Wexford gentleman, whose determined opposition to the rebel movement had +excited all their hatred. Fortescue demanded to be the leader of that +expedition; and was immediately named to the post by those who were glad +to have the opportunity of testing his conduct by such an emergency. + +The attack took place at night,--a scene of the most fearful and +appalling cruelty, such as the historian yet records among the most +dreadful of that dreadful period. The house was burned to the ground, +and its inmates butchered, regardless of age or sex. In the effort to +save a female from the flames, Fortescue was struck down by one of his +party; while another nearly cleft his chest across with a cut of a large +knife. He fell, covered with blood, and lay seemingly dead. When his +party retreated, however, he summoned strength to creep under shelter of +a ditch, and lay there till near daybreak, when he was found by another +gang of the rebel faction, who knew nothing of the circumstances of his +wound, and carried him away to a place of safety. + +For some months he lay dangerously ill. Hectic fever, consequent on long +suffering, brought him to the very brink of the grave; and at last he +managed by stealth to reach Dublin, where a doctor well known to +the party resided, and under whose care he ultimately recovered, and +succeeded at last in taking a passage to America. Meanwhile his death +was currently believed, and Crofts was everywhere recognized as the heir +to the fortune. + +Mulcahy, of whom it is necessary to speak a few words, was soon after +apprehended on a charge of rebellion, and sentenced to transportation. +He appealed to many who had known him, as he said, in better times, +to speak to his character. Among others, Captain Crofts--so he then +was--was summoned. His evidence, however, was rather injurious than +favorable to the prisoner; and although not in any way influencing the +sentence, was believed by the populace to have mainly contributed to its +severity. + +Such was, in substance, the singular story which was now told before the +court,--told without any effort at concealment or reserve; and to the +proof of which M'Keown was willing to proceed at once. + +"This, my lord," said Darby, as he concluded, "is a good time and place +to give back to Mr. Crofts a trifling article I took from him the night +at the barracks. I thought it was the bank-notes I was getting; but it +turned out better, after all." + +With that he produced a strong black leather pocket-book, fastened by a +steel clasp. No sooner did Crofts behold it, than, with the spring of a +tiger, he leaped forward and endeavored to clutch it. But Darby was on +his guard, and immediately drew back his hand, calling out,-- + +"No, no, sir! I didn't keep it by me eight long years to give it up that +way. There, my lords," said he, as he handed it to the bench, "there's +his pocket-book, with plenty of notes in it from many a one well +known,--Maurice Mulcahy among the rest,--and you'll soon see who it was +first tempted Fortescue to ruin, and who paid the money for doing it." + +A burst of horror and astonishment broke from the assembled crowd as +Darby spoke. + +Then, in a loud, determined tone, "He is a perjurer!" screamed Crofts. "I +repeat it, my lord; Fortescue is dead." + +"Faix! and for a dead man he has a remarkable appetite," said Darby, +"and an elegant color in his face besides; for there he stands." + +And as he spoke, he pointed with his finger to a man who was leaning +with folded arms against one of the pillars that supported the gallery. + +Every eye was now turned in the direction towards him; while the young +barrister called out, "Is your name Daniel Fortescue?" + +But before any answer could follow, several among the lawyers, who +had known him in his college days, and felt attachment to him, had +surrounded and recognized him. + +"I am Daniel Fortescue, my lord," said the stranger. "Whatever may be +the consequences of the avowal, I say it here, before this court, +that every statement the witness has made regarding me is true to the +letter." + +A low, faint sound, heard throughout the stillness that followed these +words, now echoed throughout the court; and Crofts had fallen, fainting, +over the bench behind him. + +A scene of tumultuous excitement now ensued, for while Crofts's friends, +many of whom were present, assisted to carry him into the air, others +pressed eagerly forward to catch a sight of Fortescue, who had already +rivalled Darby himself in the estimation of the spectators. + +He was a tall, powerfully-built man, of about thirty-five or thirty-six, +dressed in the blue jacket and trousers of a sailor; but neither the +habitude of his profession nor the humble dress he wore could conceal +the striking evidence his air and bearing indicated of condition and +birth. As he mounted the witness table,--for it was finally agreed +that his testimony in disproof or corroboration of M'Keown should be +heard,--a murmur of approbation went round, partly at the daring step he +had thus ventured on taking, and partly excited by those personal gifts +which are ever certain to have their effect upon any crowded assembly. + +I need not enter into the details of his evidence, which was given in +a frank, straightforward manner, well suited to his appearance; never +concealing for a moment the cause he had himself embarked in, nor +assuming any favorable coloring for actions which ingenuity and the zeal +of party would have found subjects for encomium rather than censure. + +His narrative not only confirmed all that Darby asserted, but also +disclosed the atrocious scheme by which he had been first induced to +join the ranks of the disaffected party. This was the work of Crofts, +who knew and felt that Fortescue was the great barrier between himself +and a large fortune. For this purpose Mulcahy was hired; to this end the +whole long train of perfidy laid, which eventuated in his ruin: for +so artfully had the plot been devised, each day's occurrence rendered +retreat more difficult, until at last it became impossible. + +The reader is already aware of the catastrophe which concluded his +career in the rebel army. It only remains now to be told that he escaped +to America, where he entered as a sailor on board a merchantman; +and although his superior acquirements and conduct might have easily +bettered his fortune in his new walk in life, the dread of detection +never left his mind, and he preferred the hardships before the mast to +the vacillation of hope and fear a more conspicuous position would have +exposed him to. + +The vessel in which he served was wrecked off the coast of New Holland, +and he and a few others of the crew were taken up by an English ship on +her voyage outward. In a party sent on shore for water, Fortescue came +up with Darby, who had made his escape from the convict settlement, and +was wandering about the woods, almost dead of starvation, and scarcely +covered with clothing. His pitiful condition, but perhaps more still, +his native drollery, which even then was unextinguished, induced the +sailors to yield to Fortescue's proposal, and they smuggled him on +board in a water cask; and thus concealed, he made the entire voyage to +England, where he landed about a fortnight before the trial. Fearful of +being apprehended before the day, and determined at all hazards to give +his evidence, he lay hid till the time we have already seen, when he +suddenly came forward to my rescue. + +Mulcahy, who worked in the same gang with Darby, or, to use the piper's +grandiloquent expression,--for he burst out in this occasionally,--was +"in concatenated proximity to him," told the whole story of his own +baseness, and loudly inveighed against Crofts for deserting him in +his misfortunes. The pocket-book taken from Crofts by Darby amply +corroborated this statement. It contained, besides various memoranda +in the owner's handwriting, several letters from Mulcahy, detailing the +progress of the conspiracy: some were in acknowledgment of considerable +sums of money; others asking for supplies; but all confirmatory of the +black scheme by which Fortescue's destruction was compassed. + +Whatever might have been the sentiments of the crowded court regarding +the former life and opinions of Fortescue and the piper, it was clear +that now only one impression prevailed,--a general feeling of horror at +the complicated villany of Crofts, whose whole existence had been one +tissue of the basest treachery. + +The testimony was heard with attention throughout; no cross-examination +was entered on; and the judge, briefly adverting to the case which +was before the jury, and from whose immediate consideration subsequent +events had in a great measure withdrawn their minds, directed them to +deliver a verdict of "Not guilty." + +The words were re-echoed by the jury, who, man for man, exclaimed these +words aloud, amid the most deafening cheers from every side. + +As I walked from the dock, fatigued, worn out, and exhausted, a dozen +hands were stretched out to seize mine; but one powerful grasp caught my +arm, and a well-known voice called in my ear,-- + +"An' ye wor with Boney, Master Tom? Tare and 'ounds, didn't I know you'd +be a great man yet." + +At the same instant Fortescue came through the crowd towards me, with +his hands outstretched. + +"We should be friends, sir," said he, "for we both have suffered from a +common enemy. If I am at liberty to leave this--" + +"You are not, sir," interposed a deep voice behind. We turned and beheld +Major Barton. "The massacre at Kil-macshogue has yet to be atoned for." + +Fortescue's face grew actually livid at the mention of the word, and his +breathing became thick and short. + +"Here," continued Barton, "is the warrant for your committal. And you +also, Darby," said he, turning round; "we want your company once more in +Newgate." + +"Bedad, I suppose there's no use in sending an apology when friends is +so pressing," said he, buttoning his coat as coolly as possible; "but I +hope you 'll let the master come in to see me." + +"Mr. Burke shall be admitted at all times," said Barton, with an +obsequious civility I had never witnessed in him previously. + +"Faix, maybe you 'll not be for letting him out so aisy," said Darby, +dryly, for his notions of justice were tempered by a considerable dash +of suspicion. + +I had only time left to press my purse into the honest fellow's hand, +and salute Fortescue hastily, as they both were removed, under the +custody of Barton. And I now made my way through the crowd into the +hall, which opened a line for me as I went; a thousand welcomes meeting +me from those who felt as anxious about the result of the trial as if a +brother or a dear friend had been in peril. + +One face caught my eye as I passed; and partly from my own excitement, +partly from its expression being so different from its habitual +character, I could not recognize it as speedily as I ought to have done. +Again and again it appeared; and at last, as I approached the door into +the street, it was beside me. + +"If I might dare to express my congratulations," said a voice, weak +from the tremulous anxiety of the speaker, and the shame which, real or +affected, seemed to bow him down. + +"What," cried I, "Mr. Basset!" for it was the worthy man himself. + +"Yes, sir. Your father's old and confidential agent,--I might venture to +say, friend,--come to see the son of his first patron occupy the station +he has long merited." + +"A bad memory is the only touch of age I remark in you, sir," said I, +endeavoring to pass on, for I was unwilling at the moment of my escape +from a great difficulty to lose temper with so unworthy an object. + +"One moment, sir, just a moment," said he, in a low whisper. "You'll +want money, probably. The November rents are not paid up; but there's a +considerable balance to your credit. Will you take a hundred or two for +the present?" + +"Take money!--money from you!" said I, shrinking back. + +"Your own, sir; your own estate. Do you forget," said he, with a +miserable effort of a smile, "that you are Mr. Burke of Cromore, with a +clear rental of four thousand a year? We gained the Cluan Bog lawsuit, +sir," continued he. "'Twas I, sir, found the satisfaction for the bond. +Your brother said he owed it all to Tony Basset." + +The two last words were all that were needed to sum up the measure of my +disgust and I once more tried to get forward. + +"I know the property, sir, for thirty-eight years I was over it. Your +father and your brother always trusted me--" + +"Let me pass on, Mr. Basset," said I, calmly. "I have no desire to +become a greater object of mob curiosity. Pray let me pass on." + +"And for Darby M'Keown," whispered he. + +"What of him?" said I; for he had touched the most anxious chord of my +heart at that instant. + +"I'll have him free; he shall be at liberty in forty-eight hours for +you. I have the whole papers by me; and a statement to the privy council +will obtain his liberation." + +"Do this," said I, "and I 'll forgive more of your treatment of me than +I could on any other plea." + +"May I call on you this evening, or to-morrow morning, at your hotel? +Where do you stop, sir?" + +"This evening be it, if it hasten M'Keown's liberation. Remember, +however, Mr. Basset, I'll hold no converse with you on any other subject +till that be settled, and to my perfect satisfaction." + +"A bargain, sir," said he, with a grin of satisfaction; and dropping +back, he suffered me to proceed. + +Along the quays I went, and down Dame Street, accompanied by a great mob +of people, who thought in my acquittal they had gained a triumph. For +so it was; every case had its political feature, and seemed to be +intimately connected with the objects of one party or the other. +Partisan cheers,--the watchwords of faction,--were uttered as I went, +and I was made to suffer that least satisfactory of all conditions, +which bestows notoriety without fame, and popularity without merit. + +As I entered the hotel, I recognized many of the persons I had seen +there before; but their looks were no longer thrown towards me with the +impertinence they then assumed. On the contrary, a studied desire to +evince courtesy and politeness was evident. "How strange is it!" thought +I; "how differently does the whole world smile to the rich man and to +the poor!" Here were many who could in nowise derive advantage from my +altered condition,--as perfectly independent of me as I of them; and +yet even they showed that degree of deference in their manner which the +expectant bestows upon a patron. So it is, however. The position which +wealth confers is recognized by all; the individual who fills it is but +an attribute of the station. + +Life had, indeed, opened on me with a new and very different aspect; and +I felt, as I indulged in the daydreams which the sudden possession of +fortune excites, that to enjoy thoroughly the blessings of independence, +one must have experienced, as I had, the hard pressure of adversity. It +seemed to me that the long road of gloomy fate had at length reached its +turning point, and that I should now travel along a calmer and happier +path. Thoughts of the new career that lay before me were blended with +the memories of the past; hopes they were, but dashed with the shadows +which a blighted affection will throw over the whole stream of life. +Still that evening was one of happiness; not of that excited pleasure +derived from the attainment of a long coveted object, but the calmer +enjoyment felt in the safety of the haven by him who has experienced the +hurricane and the storm. + +With such thoughts I went to rest, and laid my head on my pillow in +thoughtfulness and peace. In my dreams my troubles still lingered. But +who regrets the anxious minutes of a vision which wakening thoughts +dispel? Are they not rather the mountain shadows that serve to brighten +the gleam of the sunlight in the plain? + +It was thus the morning broke for me, with all the ecstasy of danger +passed, and all the crowding hopes of a happy future. The hundred +speculations which in poverty I had formed for the comfort of the poor +and the humble might now be realized; and I fancied myself the centre of +a happy peasantry, confiding and contented. It would be hard, indeed, +to forget "the camp and the tented field" in the peaceful paths of a +country life. But simple duties are often as engrossing as those of a +higher order, and bring a reward not less grateful to the heart; and I +flattered myself to think my ambition reached not above them. + +The moments in which such daydreams are indulged are the very happiest +of a lifetime. The hopes which are based on the benefits we may render +to others are sources of elevation to ourselves; and such motives purify +the soul, and exalt the mind to a pitch far above the petty ambitions of +the world. + +To myself, and to my own enjoyments, wealth could contribute less than +to most men. The simple habits of a soldier's life satisfied every wish +of my mind. The luxuries which custom makes necessary to others I never +knew; and I formed my resolution not to wander from this path of humble, +inexpensive tastes, so that the stream of charity might flow the wider. + +These were my waking thoughts. Alas, how little do we ever realize of +such speculations! and how few glide down the stream of life unswayed by +the eddies and crosscurrents of fortune! The higher we build the temple +of our hopes, the more surely will it topple to its fall. Who shall say +that our greatest enjoyment is not in raising the pile, and our happiest +hours the full abandonment to those hopes our calmer reason never +ratified? + +As yet it had not occurred to me to think what position the world might +concede to one whose life had been passed like mine, nor did I bestow a +care upon a matter whereon so much of future happiness depended. These, +however, were considerations which could not be long averted. How they +came, and in what manner they were met must remain for a future chapter +of my history. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. HASTY RESOLUTION + +In my last chapter I brought my reader to that portion of my story +which formed the turning-point of my destiny. And here I might, perhaps, +conclude these brief memoirs of an early life, whose chief object was +to point out the results of a hasty and rash judgment, which, formed in +mere boyhood, exerted its influence throughout the entire of a lifetime. +Only one incident remains still to be told; and I shall not trespass on +the good-natured patience of my readers by any delay in the narrative. + +From being poor, houseless, and unknown, a sudden turn of fortune +had made me wealthy and conspicuous in station; the owner of a large +estate,--almost a lead-ing man in my native county. My influence was +sufficient to procure the liberation of M'Keown; and my interference in +his behalf mainly contributed to procure for Fortescue the royal pardon. +The world, as the phrase is, went with me; and the good luck which +attended every step I took and every plan I engaged in was become a +proverb among my neighbors. + +Let not any one suppose I was unmindful or ungrateful, if I confess, +that even with all these I was not happy. No: the tranquil mind, the +spirit at ease with itself, cannot exist where the sense of duty is not. +The impulse which swayed my boyish heart still moved the ambition of the +man. The pursuits I should have deemed the noblest and the purest seemed +to me uninteresting and ignoble; the associations I ought to have +felt the happiest and the highest appeared to me vulgar, and low, and +commonplace. I was disappointed in my early dream of liberty, and +had found tyranny where I looked for freedom, and intolerance where I +expected enlightenment; but if so, I recurred with tenfold enthusiasm to +the career of the soldier, whose glories were ever before me. That +noble path had not deceived me; far from it. Its wild and whirlwind +excitement, its hazardous enterprise, its ever-present dangers, were +stimulants I loved and gloried in. All the chances and changes of a +peaceful life were poor and mean compared to the hourly vicissitudes of +war. I knew not then, it is true, how much of enjoyment I derived from +forgetful ness; how many of my springs of happiness flowed from that +preoccupation which prevented my dwelling on the only passion that ever +stirred my heart,--my love for one whose love was hopeless. + +How thoroughly will the character of an early love tinge the whole of a +life! Our affections are like flowers,--they derive their sweetness and +their bloom from the soil in which they grow: some, budding in joy and +gladness, amid the tinkling plash of a glittering fountain, live on ever +bright and beautiful; others, struggling on amid thorns and wild +weeds, overshadowed by gloom, preserve their early impressions to the +last,--their very sweetness tells of sadness. + +To conquer the memory of this hopeless passion, I tried a hundred ways. +I endeavored, by giving myself up to the duties of a country gentleman, +to become absorbed in all the cares and pursuits which had such interest +for my neighbors. Failing in this, I became a sportsman; I kept horses +and dogs, and entered, with all the zest mere determination can impart, +upon that life of manly exertion, so full of pleasure to thousands. But +here again without succeeding. + +I went into society; but soon retired from it, on finding, that among +the class of my equals the prestige of my early life had still tracked +me. I was in their eyes a rebel, whose better fortune had saved him +from the fate of his companions. My youth had given no guarantee for my +manhood; and I was not trusted. Baffled in every endeavor to obliterate +my secret grief, I recurred to it now, as though privileged by fate, +to indulge a memory nothing could efface. I abandoned all the petty +appliances by which I sought to shut out the past, and gave myself up in +full abandonment to the luxury of my melancholy. + +Living entirely within the walls of my demesne, never seen by my +neighbors, not making nor receiving visits, I appeared to many a +heartless recluse, whose misanthropy sought indulgence in solitude; +others, less harshly, judged me as one whose unhappy entrance on life +had unfitted him for the station to which fortune had elevated him. By +both I was soon forgotten. + +The peasantry were less ungenerous, and more just. They saw in me one +who felt acutely for the privations they were suffering; yet never gave +them that cheap, delusive hope, that legislative changes will touch +social evils,--that the acts of a parliament will penetrate the thousand +tortuous windings of a poor man's destiny. They found in me a friend and +an adviser. They only-wondered at one thing,--how any man could feel for +the poor, and not hate the rich. So long had the struggle lasted between +affluence and misery, they could not understand a compromise. + +Bitter as their poverty had been, it never extinguished the poetry of +their lives. They were hungry and naked; but they held to their ancient +traditions, and they built on them great hopes for the future. The old +family names, the time-honored memories of place, the famous deeds +of ancestors, made an ideal existence powerful enough to exclude the +pressure of actual daily evils; and they argued from what had been to +what might be, with a persistency of hope it seemed almost cruel to +destroy. So deeply were these thoughts engrained into their natures, +they felt him but half their friend who ventured to despise them. The +relief of present poverty, the succor of actual suffering, became in +their eyes an effort of mere passing kindness. They looked to some great +amelioration of condition, some wondrous change, some restoration to an +imaginary standard of independence and comfort, which all the efforts +of common interference fell sadly short of; and thus they strained their +gaze to a government, a ruling power, for a boon undefined, unknown, and +illimitable. + +To expectations like these advice and slight assistance are as the mere +drop of water to the parched tongue of thirst; and so I found it. I +could neither encourage them in their hopes of such legislative changes +as would greatly ameliorate their condition, nor flatter them in the +delusion that none of their misfortunes were of home origin; and thus, +if they felt gratitude for many kindnesses, they reposed no confidence +in my opinion. The trading patriot, who promised much while he pocketed +their hard-earned savings; the rabid newspaper writer, who libelled +the Government and denounced the landlord,--were their standards of +sympathy; and he who fell short of either was not their friend. + +In a word, the social state of the people was rotten to its very core. +Their highest qualities, degraded by the combined force of poverty, +misrule, and superstition, had become sources of crime and misery. They +had suffered so long and so much, their patience was exhausted; and they +preferred the prospect of any violent convulsion which might change the +face of the land, whatever dangers it might come with, to a slow and +gradual improvement of condition, however safe and certain. + +To win their confidence at the only price they would accord it, I never +could consent to; and without it I was almost powerless for good. +Here again, therefore, did I find closed against me another avenue for +exertion; and the only one of all I could have felt a fitting sphere +for my labor. The violence of their own passionate natures, the headlong +impulses by which they suffered themselves to be swayed, left them no +power of judgment regarding those whose views were more moderate and +temperate. They could understand the high Tory landlord, whom they +invested with every attribute of tyranny, as their open, candid +opponent; they could see a warm friend in the violent mob-orator of the +day; but they recognized no trait of kindness in him who would rather +see them fed than flattered, and behold them in the enjoyment of comfort +sooner than in the ecstasy of triumph. + +From "Darby the Blast"--for he was now a member of my household--I +learned the light in which I was regarded by the people, and heard the +dissatisfaction they expressed that one who "sarved Boney" should not +be ready to head a rising, if need be. Thus was I in a false position +on every side. Mistrusted by all, because I would neither enter into the +exaggerations of party, nor become blind to the truth my senses revealed +before me, my sphere of utility was narrowed to the discharge of the +mere duties of common charity and benevolence, and my presence among my +tenantry no more productive of benefit than if I had left my purse as my +representative. + +Years rolled on, and in the noiseless track of time I forgot its flight. +I now had grown so wedded to the habits of my solitary life, that its +very monotony was a source of pleasure. I had intrenched myself within a +little circle of enjoyments, and among my books and in my walks my days +went pleasantly over. + +For a long time, I did not dare to read the daily papers, nor learn the +great events which agitated Europe. I tried to think that an interval of +repose would leave me indifferent to their mention; and so rigidly did I +abstain from indulging my curiosity, that the burning of Moscow, and the +commencement of the dreadful retreat which followed, was the first fact +I read of. + +From the moment I gave way, the passion for intelligence from France +became a perfect mania. Where were the different corps of the "Grand +Army"? where the Emperor himself? by what great stroke of genius would +he emerge from the difficulties around him, and deal one of his fatal +blows on the enemy?--were the questions which met me as I awoke, and +tortured me during the day. + +Each movement of that terrible retreat I followed in the gazettes with +an anxiety verging on insanity. I tracked the long journey on the map, +and as I counted towns and villages, dreary deserts of snow, and vast +rivers to be traversed, my heart grew faint to think how many a brave +soldier would never reach that fair France for whose glory he had shed +his best blood. Disaster followed disaster; and as the news reached +England, came accounts of those great defections which weakened the +force of the "Grand Army," and deranged the places formed for its +retiring movements. + +They who can recall to mind the time I speak of, will remember the +effect produced in England by the daily accounts from the seat of war; +how heavily fell the blows of that altered fortune which once rested on +the eagles of France; how each new bulletin announced another feature of +misfortune,--some shattered remnant of a great _corps d'armee_ cut off +by Cossacks,--some dreadful battle engaged against superior numbers, and +fought with desperation, not for victory, but the liberty to retreat. +Great names were mentioned among the slain, and the proudest chivalry of +Gaul left to perish on the far-off steppes of Russia. + +Such were the fearful tales men read of that terrible campaign; and the +joy in England was great, to hear that the most powerful of her enemies +had at length experienced the full bitterness of defeat. While men vied +with one another in stories of the misfortunes of the Emperor,--when +each post added another to the long catalogue of disasters to the "Grand +Army,"--I sat in my lonely house, in a remote part of Ireland, brooding +over the sad reverses of him who still formed my ideal of a hero. + +I thought how, amid the crumbling ruins of his splendid force, his great +soul would survive the crash that made all others despair; that each +new evil would suggest its remedy as it arose, and the mind that never +failed in expedient would shine out more brilliantly through the gloom +of darkening fortune than even it had done in the noonday splendor +of success. When all others could only see the tremendous energy of +despair, I thought I could recognize those glorious outbursts of heroism +by which a French army sought and won the favor of their Emperor. The +routed and straggling bodies which hurried along in seeming disorder, I +gloried to perceive could assume all the port and bearing of soldiers at +the approach of danger, and form their ranks at the wild "houra" of the +Cossack as steadily as in the proudest day of their prosperity. + +The retreat continued: the horrible suffering of a Russian winter added +to the carnage of a battle-tide, which flowed unceasingly from the +ruined walls of the Kremlin to the banks of the Vistula: the battle of +Borisow and the passage of the Berezina followed fast on each other. +And now we heard that the Emperor had surrendered the chief command +to Murat, and was hastening back to France with lightning speed; for +already the day of his evil fortune had thrown its shadow over the +capital. No longer reckoned by tens of thousands, that vast army had now +dwindled down to divisions of a few hundred men. The Old Guard scarce +exceeded one thousand; and of twenty entire regiments of cavalry, +Murat mustered a single squadron as a bodyguard. Crowds of wounded and +mutilated men dragged their weary limbs along over the hardened snow, +or through dense pine forests where no villages were to be met with,--a +fatuous determination to strive to reach France, the only impulse +surviving amid all their sufferings. + +With the defections of D'York and Massenbach, then began that new +feature of disaster which was so soon to burst forth with all the fell +fury of long pent-up hatred. The nationality of Germany--so long, so +cruelly insulted--now saw the day of retribution arrive. Misfortune +hastened misfortune, and defeat engendered treason in the ranks of the +Emperor's allies. Murat, too, the favorite of Napoleon, the king of his +creation, deserted him now, and fled ignominiously from the command of +the army. + +"The Elbe! the Elbe!" was now the cry amid the shattered ranks of that +army which but a year before saw no limit to its glorious path. The Elbe +was the only line remaining which promised a moment's repose from the +fatigues and privations of months long. Along that road the army could +halt, and stem the tide of pursuit, however hotly it pressed. The +Prussians had already united with the Russians; the defection of Austria +could not be long distant; Saxony was appealed to, as a member of the +German family, to join in arms against the Tyrant; and the wild "houra" +of the Cossack now blended with the loud "Vorwarts" of injured Prussia. + +"Where shall he seek succor now? What remains to him in this last +eventful struggle? How shall the Emperor call back to life the legions +by whose valor his great victories were gained, and Europe made a vassal +at the foot of his throne?" Such was the thought that never left me day +or night. Ever present before me was his calm brow, and his face paler, +but not less handsome, than its wont. I could recall his rapid glance; +the quick and hurried motion of his hand; his short and thick utterance, +as words of command fell from his lips; and his smile, as he heard some +intelligence with pleasure. + +I could not sleep,--scarcely could I eat. A feverish excitement burned +through my frame, and my parched tongue and hot hand told how the very +springs of health were dried up within me. I walked with hurried steps +from place to place; now muttering the words of some despatch, now +fancying that I was sent with orders for a movement of troops. As I +rode, I spurred my horse to a gallop, and in my heated imagination +believed I was in presence of the enemy, and preparing for the fray. +Great as my exhaustion frequently was, weariness brought no rest. Often +I returned home at evening, overcome by fatigue; but a sleepless night, +tortured with anxieties and harassed with doubts and fears, followed, +and I awoke to pursue the same path, till in my weakened frame and +hectic cheek the signs of illness could no longer be mistaken. + +Terrified at the ravages a few weeks had made in my health, and fearful +what secret malady was preying upon me, Darby, without asking any leave +from me, left the house one morning at daybreak, and returned with the +physician of the neighboring town. I was about to mount my horse, when I +saw them coming up the avenue, and immediately guessed the object of the +visit. A moment was enough to decide me as to the course to pursue; +for well knowing how disposed the world ever is to stamp the impress +of wandering intellect on any habit of mere eccentricity, I resolved to +receive the doctor as though I was glad of his coming, and consult with +him regarding my state. This would at least refute such a scandal, by +enlisting the physician among the allies of my cause. + +By good fortune, Dr. Clibborn was a man of shrewd common sense, as well +as a physician of no mean skill. + +In the brief conversation we held together, I perceived, that while he +paid all requisite attention to any detail which implied the existence +of malady, his questions were more pointedly directed to the possibility +of some mental cause of irritation,--the source of my ailment. I could +see, however, that his opinion inclined to the belief that the events of +the trial had left their indelible traces on my mind; which, inducing +me to adopt a life of isolation and retirement, had now produced the +effects he witnessed. + +I was not sorry at this mistake on his part. By suffering him to +indulge in this delusive impression, I saved myself all the trouble of +concealing my real feelings, which I had no desire to expose before him. +I permitted him, therefore, to reason with me on the groundless notions +he supposed I had conceived of the world's feeling regarding me, +and heard him patiently as he detailed the course of public duty, by +fulfilling which I should occupy my fitting place in society, and best +consult my own health and happiness. + +"There are," said he, "certain fixed impressions, which I would not so +combat. It was but yesterday, for instance, I yielded to the wish of +an old general officer, who has served upwards of half a century, and +desires once more to put himself at the head of his regiment. His +heart was bent on it. I saw that though he might consent to abandon his +purpose, I was not so sure his mind might bear the disappointment; for +the intellect will sometimes go astray in endeavoring to retrace its +steps. So I thought it better to concede what might cost more in the +refusal." + +The last words of the doctor remained in my head long after he took his +leave, and I could not avoid applying them to my own case. Was not _my_ +impression of this nature? Were not _my_ thoughts all centred on one +theme as fixedly as the officer's of whom he spoke? Could I, by any +effort of my reason or my will, control my wandering fancies, and call +them back to the dull realities amongst which I lived? + +These were ever recurring to me, and always with the same reply. It is +in vain to struggle against an impulse which has swallowed up all other +ambitions. My heart is among the glittering ranks and neighing squadrons +of France; I would be there once more; I would follow that career which +first stirred the proudest hopes I ever cherished. + +That same evening the mail brought the news that Eugene Beauharnais had +fallen back on Magdeburg, and sent repeated despatches to the Emperor, +entreating his immediate presence among the troops, whom nothing but +Napoleon himself in the midst of them could restore to their wonted +bravery and determination. The reply of Napoleon was briefly,-- + +"I am coming; and all who love me, follow me." + +How the words rang in my ears,--"_Tous ceux qui m'aiment!_" I heard +them in every rustling of the wind and motion of the leaves against the +window; they were whispered to my sense by every avenue of my brain; +and I sat no longer occupied in reading as usual, but with folded arms, +repeating word by word the brief sentence. + +It was midnight. All was still and silent through the house; no servant +stirred, and the very wind was hushed to a perfect calm. I was sitting +in my library, when the words I have repeated seemed spoken in a low, +clear voice beside me. I started up: the perspiration broke over my +forehead and fell upon my cheek with terror; for I knew I was alone, and +the fearful thought flashed on me,--this may be madness! For a second or +two the agony of the idea was almost insupportable. Then came a resolve +as sudden. I opened my desk, and took from it all the ready money I +possessed; I wrote a few hurried lines to my agent; and then, making my +way noiselessly to the stable, I saddled my horse and led him out. + +In two hours I was nearly twenty miles on my way to Dublin. Day was +breaking as I entered the capital. I made no delay there; but taking +fresh horses, started for Skerries, where I knew the fishermen of the +coast resorted. + +"One hundred pounds to the man who will land me on the coast of France +or Holland," said I to a group that were preparing their nets on the +shore. + +A look of incredulity was the only reply. A very few words, however, +settled the bargain. Ere half an hour I was on board. The wind +freshened, and we stood out to sea. + +"Let the breeze keep to this," said the skipper, "and we'll make the +voyage quickly." + +Both wind and tide were in our favor. We held down Channel rapidly; and +I saw the blue hills grow fainter and fainter, till the eye could but +detect a gray cloud on the horizon, which at last disappeared in the +bright sun of noon, and a wide waste of blue water lay on every side. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE LAST CAMPAIGN + +The snow, half melted with the heavy rains, lay still deeply on the +roads, and a dark, lowering sky stretched above, as I harried onwards, +with all the speed I could, towards the east of France. + +Already the Allies had passed the Rhine. Schwartzen-berg in the south, +Blucher in the east, and Bernadotte on the Flemish frontier, were +conveying their vast armies to bear down on him whom singly none had +dared to encounter. All France was in arms, and every step was turned +eastwards. Immense troops of conscripts, many scarce of the age of +boyhood, crowded the highways. The veterans themselves were enrolled +once more, and formed battalions for the defence of their native +land. Every town and village was a garrison. The deep-toned rolling +of ammunition wagons and the heavy tramp of horses sounded through +the nights long. War, terrible war, spoke from every object around. +Strongholds were strengthening, regiments brigading, cavalry organizing +on all sides. + +No longer, however, did I witness the wild enthusiasm which I so +well remembered among the soldiers of the army. Here were no glorious +outbreaks of that daring spirit which so marked the Frenchman, and made +him almost irresistible in arms. A sad and gloomy silence prevailed: +a look of fierce but hopeless determination was over all. They marched +like men going to death, but with the step and bearing of heroes. + +I entered the little town of Verviers. The day was breaking, but the +troops were under arms. The Emperor had but just taken his departure +for Chalons-sur-Marne. They told me of it as I changed horses,--not +with that fierce pride which a mere passing glance at the great Napoleon +would once have evoked; they spoke of him without emotion. I asked if he +were paler or thinner than his wont: they did not know. They said that +he travelled post, but that his staff were on horseback. From this I +gathered that he was either ill, or in that frame of mind in which he +preferred to be alone. While I was yet speaking, an officer of Engineers +came up to the carriage, and called out,-- + +"Unharness these horses, and bring them down to the barracks. These, +sir," said he, turning towards me, "are not times to admit of ceremony. +We have eighteen guns to move, and want cattle." + +"Enough, sir," said I. "I am not here to retard your movements, but if +I can, to forward them. Can I, as a volunteer, be of any service at this +moment?" + +"Have you served before? Of course you have, though. In what arm?" + +"As a Hussar of the Guard, for some years." + +"Come along with me; I 'll bring you to the general at once." + +Re-entering the inn, the officer preceded me up stairs, and after a +moment's delay, introduced me into the presence of General Letort, then +commanding a cavalry brigade. + +"I have heard your request, sir. Where is your commission? Have you got +it with you?" + +I handed it to him in silence. He examined it rapidly; and then turning +the reverse, read the few lines inscribed by the minister of war. + +"I could have given you a post this day, sir, this very hour," said +he, "but for a blunder of our commissariat people. There's a troop here +waiting for a re-mount, but the order has not come down from Paris; and +our officials here will not advance the money till it arrives, as if +these were times for such punctilio. They are to form part of General +Kellermann's force, which is sadly deficient. Remain here, however, and +perhaps by to-morrow--" + +"How much may the sum be, sir?" asked I, interrupting. + +The general almost started with surprise at the abruptness of my +question, and in a tone of half reproof answered,-- + +"The amount required is beside the matter, sir; unless," added he, +sarcastically, "you are disposed to advance it yourself." + +"Such was the object of my question," said I, calmly, and determining +not to notice the manner he had assumed. + +"_Parbleu!_" exclaimed he, "that is very different. Twenty thousand +francs, however, is a considerable sum." + +"I have as much, and something more, if need be, in my carriage,--if +English gold be no objection." + +"No, _pardie!_ that it is not," cried he, laughing; "I only wish we saw +more of it. Are you serious in all this?" + +The best reply to his question was to hasten down stairs and return with +two small canvas bags in my hands. + +"Here are one thousand guineas," said I, laying them on the table. + +While one of the general's aides-de-camp was counting and examining the +gold, I repeated at his request the circumstances which brought me once +again to France to serve under the banner of the Emperor. + +"And your name, sir," said he, as he seated himself to write, "is Thomas +Burke, ci-devant captain of the Eighth Hussars of the Guard. Well, I can +promise you the restoration of your old grade. Meanwhile, you must +take command of these fellows. They are mere partisan troops, hurriedly +raised, and ill organized; but I'll give you a letter to General +Damremont at Chalons, and he 'll attend to you." + +"It is not a position for myself I seek, General," said I. "Wherever I +can best serve the Emperor, there only I desire to be." + +"I have ventured to leave that point to General Damremont," said he, +smiling. "Your motives do not require much explanation. Let us to +breakfast now, and by noon we shall have everything in readiness for +your departure." + +Thus rapidly, and as it were by the merest accident, was I again become +a soldier of the Emperor; and that same day was once more at the head of +a squadron, on my way to Chalons. My troop were, indeed, very unlike +the splendid array of my old Hussars of the Guard. They were hurriedly +raised, and not over well equipped, but still they were stout-looking, +hardy peasants, who, whatever deficiency of drill they might display, I +knew well would exhibit no lack of courage before an enemy. + +On reaching Chalons, I found that General Damremont had left with the +staff for Vitry only a few hours before; and so I reported myself to the +officer commanding the town, and was ordered by him to join the cavalry +brigade then advancing on Vitry. + +Had I time at this moment, I could not help devoting some minutes to +an account of that strange and motley mass which then were brigaded +as Imperial cavalry. Dragoons of every class, heavy and +light-armed,--grenadiers a cheval and hussars, cuirassiers, carbineers, +and lancers,--were all, pell-mell, mixed up confusedly together, and +hurried onwards; some to join their respective corps if they could find +them, but all prepared to serve wherever their sabres might be +called for. It was confusion to the last degree; but a tumult without +enthusiasm or impulse. The superior officers, who were well acquainted +with the state of events, made no secret of their gloomy forebodings; +the juniors lacked energy in a cause where they saw no field for +advancement; and the soldiers, always prepared to imbibe their feelings +from their officers, seemed alike sad and dispirited. + +What a change was this from the wild and joyous spirit which once +animated every grade and class,--from the generous enthusiasm that +once warmed each bold heart, and made every soldier a hero! Alas! the +terrible consequences of long defeat were on all. The tide of battle +that rolled disastrously from the ruined walls of the Kremlin still +swept along towards the great Palace of the Tuileries. Germany had +witnessed the destruction of two mighty armies; the third and last was +now awaiting the eventful struggle on the very soil of their country. +The tide of fugitives, which preceded the retiring columns of Victor and +Ney, met the advancing bodies of the conscripts, and spread dismay and +consternation as they went. + +The dejection was but the shadow of the last approaching disaster. + +On the night of the 27th January, the cavalry brigade with which I was +received orders to march by the Forest of Bar on Brienne, where Bluecher +was stationed in no expectation of being attacked. The movement, +notwithstanding the heavy roads, was made with great rapidity; and by +noon on the following day we came up with the main body of the army in +full march against the enemy. + +Then once more did I recognize the old spirit of the army. Joyous +songs and gay cheers were heard from the different corps we passed. +The announcement of a speedy meeting with the Prussians had infused new +vigor among the troops. We were emerging from the deep shade of the wood +into a valley, where a light infantry regiment were bivouacked. Their +fires were formed in a wide circle, and the cooking went merrily on, +amid the pleasant song and jocund cries. + +Our own brief halt was just concluded, when the bugles sounded to resume +the march; and I stood for a moment admiring the merry gambols of +the infantry, when an air I well remembered was chanted forth in full +chorus. But my memory was not left long in doubt as to where and how +these sounds were first heard. The wild uproar at once recalled both, as +they sang out,-- + +"Hurrah for the Faubourg of St. Antoine!" + +No sooner did I hear the words, than I spurred my horse forward and rode +down towards them. + +"What regiment's yours, Comrade?" said I, to a fellow hurrying to the +ranks. + +"The Fifth, mon officier," said he, "Voltigeurs of the Line." + +"Have you a certain Francois, a maitre d'armes, still among you?" + +"Yes, that we have. There he is yonder, beating time to the roulade." + +I looked in the direction he pointed, and there stood my old friend. He +was advanced in front of a company, and with the air of a tambour-major +he seemed as if he was giving time to the melody. + +"Ah, _sacre_ conscripts that ye are!" cried he, as with his fist +clenched he gesticulated fiercely towards them; "can't ye keep the +measure? Once, now, and all together:-- + +"'Picardy first, and then--." + +"Halloo, Maitre Francois! can you remember an old friend?" + +The little man turned suddenly, and bringing his hand to the salute, +remained stiff and erect, as if on parade. + +"Connais pas, mon capitaine," was his answer, after a considerable +pause. + +"What! not know me!--me, whom you made one of your own gallant company, +calling me 'Burke of Ours'?" + +"Ah, _par la barbe de Saint Pierre!_ is this my dear comrade of the +Eighth? Why, where have you been? They said you left us forever and +aye." + +"I tried it, Francois; but it wouldn't do." + +"Mille bombes!" said he; "but you 're back in pleasant times,--to see +the Cossacks learning to drink champagne, and leave us to pay the score. +Come along, however; take your old place here. You are free to choose +now, and needn't be a dragoon any longer; not but that your old general +will be glad to see you again." + +"General d'Auvergne! Where is he now?" + +"With the light cavalry brigade, in front; I saw him pass here two hours +since." + +"And how looks he, Francois?" + +"A little stooped, or so, more than you knew him; but his seat in the +saddle seems just as firm. _Ventrebleu!_ if he 'd been a voltigeur, he +'d be a good man these ten years to come." + +Delighted to learn that I was so near my dearest and oldest friend +in the world, I shook Francois's hand, and parted; but not without a +pledge, that whenever I joined the infantry, the Fifth Voltigeurs of the +Line were to have the preference. + +As we advanced towards Brienne the distant thunder of large guns was +heard; which gradually grew louder and more sustained, and betokened +that the battle had already begun. The roads, blocked up with dense +masses of infantry and long trains of wagons, prevented our rapid +advance; and when we tried the fields at either side, the soil, cut up +with recent rains, made us sink to the very girths of our horses. Still, +order after order came for the troops to press forward, and every effort +was made to obey the command. + +It was five o'clock as we debouched into the plain, and beheld the +fields whereon the battle had been contested; for already the enemy were +retiring, and the French troops in eager pursuit. Behind, however, lay +the town of Brienne, still held by the Russians, but now little +better than a heap of smoking ruins, the tremendous fire of the French +artillery having reduced the place to ashes. Conspicuous above all rose +the dismantled walls of the ancient military college; the school where +Napoleon had learned his first lesson in war, where first he essayed +to point those guns which now with such fearful havoc he turned against +itself. What a strange, sad Subject of contemplation for him who now +gazed on it! On either side, the fire of the artillery continued till +nightfall; but the Russians still held the town. A few straggling shots +closed the combat; and darkness now spread over the wide plain, save +where the watchfires marked out the position of the French troops. + +A sudden flash of lurid flame, however, threw its gleam over the town, +and a wild cheer was heard rising above the clatter of musketry. It +was a surprise party of grenadiers, who had forced their way into the +grounds of the old chateau, where Bluecher held his headquarters. Louder +and louder grew the firing, and a red glare in the dark sky told how +the battle was raging. Up that steep street, at the top of which the +venerable chateau stood, poured the infantry columns in a run. The +struggle was short. The dull sound of the Russian drum soon proclaimed +a retreat; and a rocket darting through the black sky announced to the +Emperor that the position had been won. + +The next day the Emperor fixed his headquarters at the chateau, and +a battalion of the guard bivouacked in the park around it. I had sent +forward the letter to General Damremont, and was wondering when and +in what terms the reply might come, when the general himself rode up, +accompanied by a single aide-de-camp. + +"I have had the opportunity, sir, to speak of your conduct in the proper +quarter," said he, courteously; "and the result is, your appointment as +major of the Tenth Hussars, or, if you prefer it, the staff." + +"Wherever, sir, my humble services can best be employed. I have no other +wish." + +"Then take the regimental rank," said he; "your brigade will see enough +of hot work ere long. And now push forward to Mezieres, where you'll +find your regiment. They have received orders to march to-morrow, +early." + +I was not sorry to be relieved from the command of my irregular horse, +who went by the title of "brigands" in the army generally; though, if +the truth were to be told, the reproach on the score of honesty came ill +from those who conferred it. Still, it was a more gratifying position to +hold a rank in a regiment of regular cavalry, and one whose reputation +was second to none in the service. + +"I wish to present myself to the colonel in command, sir," said I, +addressing an officer, who with two or three others stood chatting at +the door of a cottage. + +"You 'll find him here, sir," said he, pointing to the hut. But, as he +spoke, the clank of a sabre was heard, and at the same instant a tall, +soldierlike figure stooped beneath the low doorway, and came forth. + +"The colonel of the Tenth, I presume?" said I, handing the despatch from +General Damremont. + +"What! my old college friend and companion!" cried the colonel, as he +stepped back in amazement. "Have I such good fortune as to see you in my +regiment?" + +"Can it be really so?" said I, in equal astonishment. "Are you Tascher?" + +"Yes, my dear friend; the same Tascher you used to disarm so easily +at college,--a colonel at last. But why are you not at the head of a +regiment long since? Oh! I forgot, though," said he, in some confusion; +"I heard all about it. But come in here; I've no better quarters to +offer you, but such as it is, make it yours." + +My old companion of the Polytechnique was, indeed, little altered by +time,--careless, inconsiderate, and good-hearted as ever. He told me +that he had only gained the command of the regiment a few weeks before; +"and," added he, "if matters mend not soon, I am scarcely like to hold +it much longer. The despatches just received tell that the Allies are +concentrating at Trannes; and if so, we shall have a battle against +overwhelming odds. No matter, Burke; you have got into a famous +corps,--they fight splendidly, and my excellent uncle, his Majesty, +loves to indulge their predilection." + +I passed the day with Tascher, chatting over our respective fortunes; +and in discussing the past and the future the greater part of the night +went over. Before dawn, however, we were on the march towards Chaumiere, +whither the army was directed, and the Emperor himself then stationed. + +It was the 1st of February, and the weather was dark, lowering, and +gloomy. A cold wind drove the snowdrift in fitful gusts before it, and +the deep roads made our progress slow and difficult. As our line +of advance, however, was not that by which the other divisions were +marching, it was already past noon before we knew that the enemy was but +three leagues distant. On advancing farther, we heard the faint sounds +of a cannonade; and then they grew louder and louder, till the whole air +seemed tremulous with the concussion. + +"A heavy fire, Colonel," said a veteran officer of the regiment. "I +should guess there are not less than eighty or a hundred guns engaged." + +"Press on, men! press on!" cried Tascher. "When his Majesty provides +such music, it's scarcely polite to be late." + +At a quick trot we came on, and about three o'clock debouched in the +plain behind Oudinot's battalions of reserve, which were formed in two +dense columns, about a hundred yards apart. + +"Hussars to the front!" cried an aide-de-camp, as he galloped past, and +waved his cap in the direction of the space between the columns. + +In separate squadrons we penetrated through the defile, and came out +on an open plain behind the centre of the first line. The ground was +sufficiently elevated here, so that I could overlook the front line; but +all I could see was a dense, heavy smoke, which intervened between the +two positions, in the midst of which, and directly in front, a village +lay. Towards this, three columns of infantry were converging, and around +the sounds of battle were raging. This was La Giberie: the hamlet formed +the key of the French position, and had been twice carried by, and twice +regained from, the Allies. As I looked, the supporting columns halted, +wheeled, and retired; while a tremendous shower of grape was poured +upon them from the village, which now seemed to have been retaken by the +Allies. + +"Cavalry to the front!" was now the order; and a force of six thousand +sabres advanced from between the battalions, and formed for attack. It +was Nansouty who led them, and his heavy cuirassiers were in the van; +and then came the grenadiers a cheval; ours was the third, in column. +As each regiment debouched, the word "Charge!" rang out, and forward we +went. The snow drifting straight against us, we could see nothing; nor +was I conscious of any check to our course till the shaking of the +vast column in front and then the opening of the squadrons denoted +resistance, when suddenly a flash flared out, and a hurricane of +cannon-shot tore through our dense files. Then I knew that we were +attacking a battery of guns,--and not till then. Mad cheers and cries +of wounded men burst forth upon the air, with the clashing din of sabres +and small-arms; the mass of cavalry appeared to heave and throb like +some great monster in its agony. The trumpet to retreat sounded, and we +galloped back to our lines, leaving above five hundred dead behind us, +on a field where I had not yet seen the enemy. + +Meanwhile the Russians were assembling a mighty force around the +village; for now the cannonade opened with tenfold vigor in front, +and fresh guns were called up to reply to the fire. Hitherto all was +shrouded in the blue smoke of the artillery and the dense flakes of the +snowdrift, when suddenly a storm of wind swept past, carrying with it +both sleet and smoke; and now, within less than five hundred yards, +we beheld the Allied armies in front of us. Two of the three villages, +which formed our advanced position, already had been carried; and +towards the third, La Bothiere, they were advancing quickly. + +Ney's corps, ordered up to its defence, rushed boldly on, and the +clattering musketry announced that they were engaged; while twelve guns +were moved up in full gallop to their support, and opened their fire at +once. Scarce had they done so, when a wild hurrah was heard; and like +a whirlwind, a vast mass of cavalry,--the Cossacks of the Don and the +Uhlans of the South, commingled and mixed,--bear down on the guns. +The struggle is for life or death; no quarter given. Ney recalls his +columns, and the guns are lost. + +"Who shall bring the Emperor the tidings?" said Tascher, as his voice +trembled with excitement. "I'd rather storm the battery single-handed +than do it." + +"He has seen worse than that already to-day," said an aide-de-camp at +our side. "He has seen Lahorie's squadrons of the Dragoons of the Guard +cut to pieces by the Russian horse." + +"The Guard! the Guard!" repeated Tascher, in accents where doubt and +despair were blended. + +"There goes another battalion to certain death!" muttered the +aide-de-camp, as he pointed to a column of grenadiers emerging from the +front line; "see,--I knew it well,--they are moving on La Bothiere. But +here comes the Emperor." + +Before I could detect the figure among the crowd, the staff tore rapidly +past, followed by a long train of cavalry moving towards the left. + +"His favorite stroke," said Tascher: "an infantry advance, and a +flank movement with cavalry." And as the words escaped him, we saw the +horsemen bearing down at top speed towards the village. + +But now we could look no longer; our brigade was ordered to support the +attack, and we advanced at a trot. The enemy saw the movement, and a +great mass of cavalry were thrown out to meet it. + +"Here they come!" was the cry repeated by three or four together, and +the earth shook as the squadrons came down. + +Our column dashed forward to meet them; when suddenly through the drift +we beheld a mass of fugitives, scattered and broken, approaching: they +were our own cavalry, routed in the attempt on the flank, now flying to +the rear, broken and disordered. + +Before we could cover their retreat, the enemy were upon us. The shock +was dreadful, and for some minutes carried all before it; but then +rallying, the brave horsemen of France closed up and faced the foe. How +vain all the efforts of the redoubted warrior of the Dnieper and the +Wolga against the stern soldier of Napoleon! Their sabres flashed like +lightning glances, and as fatally bore down on all before them; and as +the routed squadrons fell back, the wild cheers of "Vive l'Empereur!" +told that at least one great moment of success atoned for the +misfortunes of the day. + +"His Majesty saw your charge, Colonel," said a general officer to +Tascher as he rode back at the head of a squadron. "So gallant a thing +as that never goes unrewarded." + +Tascher's cheek flushed as he bowed in acknowledgment of the praise; but +I heard him mutter to himself the same instant, "Too late! too late!" +Fatal words they were,--the presage of the mishap they threatened! + +A great attack on La Rothiere was now preparing. It was to be made +by Napoleon's favorite manoeuvre of cavalry, artillery, and infantry +combined, each supporting and sustaining the other. Eighteen guns, +with three thousand sabres, and two columns of infantry numbering four +thousand each, were drawn up in readiness for the moment to move. Ney +received orders to lead them, and now they issued forth into the plain. + +Our own impatience at not being of the number was quickly merged in +intense anxiety for the result. It was a gorgeous thing, indeed, to see +that mighty mass unravelling itself,--the guns galloping madly to the +front, supported on either flank by cavalry; while, masked behind, +marched the black columns of infantry, their tall shakos nodding like +the tree-tops of a forest. The snow was now falling fast, and the +figures grew fainter and fainter, and all that remained within our view +was the tail of the columns, which were only disengaging themselves from +the lines. + +A deafening cannonade opened from the Allied artillery on the advance, +unreplied to by our guns, which were ordered not to fire until within +half range of the enemy. Suddenly a figure is seen emerging from the +heavy snowdrift at the full speed of his horse; another, and another, +follow him in quick succession. They make for the position of the +Emperor. "What can it be?" cries each, in horrible suspense; "see, the +columns have halted!" + +Dreadful tidings! The guns are embedded in the soft ground,--the horses +cannot stir them; one-half of the distance is scarcely won, and there +they are beneath the withering cannonade of the Allied guns, powerless +and immovable! Cavalry are dismounted, and the horses harnessed to the +teams: all in vain! the wheels sink deeper in the miry earth. And now +the enemy have found out the range, and their shot are sweeping through +the dense mass with frightful slaughter. Again the aides-de-camp hasten +to the rear for orders. But Ney can wait no longer; he launches his +cavalry at the foe, and orders up the infantry to follow. + +Meanwhile a great cloud of cavalry issues from the Allied lines, and +directs its course towards the flank of the column: the Emperor sees +the danger, and despatches one of his staff to prepare them to receive +cavalry. Too late! too late!--the snowdrift has concealed the advance, +and the wild horsemen of the desert ride down on the brave ranks. +Disorder and confusion ensue; the column breaks and scatters. The +lancers pursue the fugitives through the plain; and before the very eyes +of the Emperor, the Guard--his Guard--are sabred and routed. + +"What is to become of our cavalry?" is now the cry, for they have +advanced unsupported against the village. Dreadful moment of suspense! +None can see them; the guns lie deserted, alike by friend and foe. +Who dares approach them now? "They are cheering yonder," exclaimed an +officer: "I hear them again." + +"Hussars, to the front!" calls out Damremont,--"to your comrades' +rescue! Men, yonder!" and he points in the direction of the village. + +Like an eagle on the swoop, the swift squadrons skim the plain, and +mount the slope beyond it. The drift clears, and what a spectacle is +before us! The cavalry are dismounted; their horses, dead or dying, +cumber the ground; the men, sabre in hand, have attacked the village by +assault. Two of the enemy's guns are taken and turned against them, +and the walls are won in many places. An opening in the enclosure of a +farmyard admits our leading squadron, and in an instant we have taken +them in flank and rear. + +The Russians will neither retreat nor surrender, and the carnage is +awful; for though overpowered by numbers, they still continue the +slaughter, and deal death while dying. The chief farmhouse of the +village has been carried by our troops, but the enemy still holds the +garden: the low hedge offers a slight obstacle, and over it we dash, and +down upon them ride the gallant Tenth with cheers of victory. + +At this instant the crashing sound of cannon-shot among masonry is +heard. It is the Allied artillery, which, regardless of their own +troops, has opened on the village. Every discharge tells; the range is +at quarter distance, and whole files fall at every fire. The trumpet +sounds a retreat; and I am endeavoring to collect my scattered +followers, when my eye falls on the aigulet of a general officer among +the heap of dead; and at the same time I perceive that some old and +gallant officer has fallen sword in hand, for his long white hair is +strewn loosely across his face. + +I spring down from my horse and push back the snowy locks, and with +a shriek of horror I recognize the friend of my heart,--General +d'Auvergne. I lift him in my arms, and search for the wound. Alas! a +grapeshot had torn through his chest, and cut asunder that noble heart +whose every beat was honor. Though still warm, no ray of life remained: +the hand I had so often grasped in friendship, I wrung now in the last +energy of despair, and fell upon the corpse in the agony of my grief. + +The night was falling fast. All was still around me; none remained near; +the village was deserted. The deafening din of the cannonade continued, +and at times some straggling shot crashed through the crumbling walls, +and brought them thundering to the earth; but all had fled. By the pale +crescent of a new moon I dug a grave beneath the ruined wall of the +farmhouse. The labor was long and tedious; but my breaking heart took no +note of time. My task completed, I sat down beside the grave, and taking +his now cold hand in mine, pressed it to my lips. Oh, could I have +shared that narrow bed of clay, what rapture would it have brought to my +sorrowing soul! I lifted the body and laid it gently in the earth; and +as I arose, I found that something had entangled itself in my uniform, +and held me. It seemed a locket, which he wore by a ribbon round his +neck. I detached it from its place, and put it in my bosom. One lock of +the snowy hair I severed from his noble head, and then covered up the +grave. "Adieu forever!" I muttered, as I wandered from the spot. + +It was the death of a true D'Auvergne,--"on the field of battle!" + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. THE BRIDGE OF MONTEREAU + +Ere I left the village, a shower of shells was thrown into it from the +French lines, and in a few minutes the whole blazed up in a red flame, +and threw a wide glare over the battlefield. Spurring my horse to +his speed, I galloped onward, and now discovered that our troops were +retiring in all haste. The Allies had won the battle, and we were +falling back on Brienne. + +Leaving seventy-three guns in the hands of the enemy, above one thousand +prisoners, and six thousand killed in battle, Napoleon drew off his +shattered forces, and marched through the long darkness of a winter's +night. Thus ended the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube,--the most fatal for the +hopes of the Emperor since the dreadful day of Leipzic. + +From that hour Fortune seemed to frown on those whose arms she had so +often crowned with victory; and he himself, the mighty leader of so +many conquering hosts, stood at the window of the chateau at Brienne +the whole night long, dreading lest the enemy should be on his track. +He whose battles were wont to be the ovations of a conqueror, now beheld +with joy his masses retiring unpursued. + +Why should I dwell on a career of disaster, or linger on the expiring +moments of a mighty Empire? Of what avail now are the reinforcements +which arrived to our aid,--the veteran legions of the Peninsula? The cry +is ever, "Too late! too late!" Dreadful words, heard at every moment! +sad omens of an army devoted and despairing! + +From Brienne we retreat to Troyes; from thence to Bar-sur-Aube,--ever +nearer and nearer to that capital to which the Allies tend with wild +shouts of triumph. On the last day of February our headquarters are at +Nogent, not thirty leagues from Paris,--Nogent, with the great forest +of Fontainebleau on its left; and Meaux, the ancient bishopric of the +Monarchy, on its right; and behind that screen, Paris! + +Leaving Bourmont in command of the line which holds the Austrians in +check, the Emperor himself hastens to oppose Bluecher,--the most intrepid +and the most daring of all his enemies. A cross-march in the depth of +winter, with the ground covered with half-frozen snow, will bring him +on the flank of the Prussian army. It is dared! Dangers and difficulties +beset every step; the artillery are almost lost, the cavalry exhausted. +But the cry of "The enemy!" rouses every energy: they debouch on the +plain of Champ-Aubert, to fall on the moving column of the Russians +under Alsufief. Glorious stroke of fate! Victory again caresses the +spoiled child of fortune: the enemy is routed, and retires on Montmirail +and Chalons. The advanced army of the Prussians hear the cannonade, and +fall back to support the Allies on Montmirail. But the Emperor already +awaits them with the battalions of the Old Guard, and another great +battle ends in victory. Areola and Rivoli were again remembered, and +recalled by victories not less glorious; and once more hope returned to +the ranks it seemed to have quitted forever. Another dreadful blow is +aimed at Blucher's columns; Marmont attacks them at Vaux-Champs, and the +army of Silesia falls back beaten. + +And now the Emperor hastens towards Nogent, where he has left Bourmont +in front of the Austrians. "Too late! too late!" is again the cry,--the +columns of Oudinot and Victor are already in retreat. Schwartzenberg, +with a force triple their own, advances on the plains of the Seine; the +Cossacks bivouac in the forest of Fontainebleau. Staff-officers hurry +onward with the news that the Emperor is approaching; the victorious +army which had subdued Blucher is on the march, reinforced by the +veteran cavalry of Spain and the tried legions of the Peninsula. They +halt, and form in battle. The Allies arrest their steps at Nangis, and +again are beaten: Nangis becomes another name of glory to the ears of +Frenchmen. + +Let me rest one instant in this rapid recital of a week whose great +deeds not even Napoleon's life can show the equal of,--the last flash of +the lamp of glory ere it darkened forever. + +Three days had elapsed from the sad hour in which I laid my dearest +friend in his grave, ere I opened the locket I had taken from his +bosom. The wild work of war mingled its mad excitement in my brain with +thoughts of deep sorrow; and I lived in a kind of fevered dream, and +hurried from the affliction which beset me into the torrent of danger. + +The gambler who cares not to win rarely loses, so he that seeks death +in battle comes unscathed through every danger. Each day I threw myself +headlong into some post where escape seemed scarcely possible; but +recklessness has its own armor of safety. On the field of Montmirail I +was reported to the Emperor; and for an attack on the Austrian rearguard +at Melun made colonel of a cuirassier regiment on the field of battle. +Such promotions rained on every side: hundreds were falling each day; +many regiments were commanded by officers of twenty-three or twenty-four +years of age. Few expected to carry their new epaulettes beyond the +engagement they gained them in; none believed the Empire itself could +survive the struggle. Each played for a mighty stake; few cared to +outlive the game itself. The Emperor showered down favors on the heads +which each battlefield laid low. + +It was on the return from Melun I first opened the locket, which I +continued to wear around my neck. In the full expansion of a momentary +triumph to see myself at the head of a regiment, I thought of him who +would have participated in my pride. I was sitting in the doorway of a +little cabaret on the roadside, my squadrons picketed around me, for +a brief halt; and as my thoughts recurred to the brave D'Auvergne, I +withdrew the locket from my bosom. It was a small oval case of gold, +opening by a spring. I touched this, and as I did so, the locket sprang +open, and displayed before me a miniature of Marie de Meudon. Yes! +beautiful as I had seen her in the forest of Versailles: her dark hair +clustering around her noble brow,--and her eyes, so full of tender +loveliness, shadowed by their deep fringes,--were there as I remembered +them; the lips were half parted, as though the artist had caught the +speaking expression,--and as-I gazed, I could fancy that voice, so +musically sweet, still ringing in my ears. I could not look on it +enough: the features recalled the scenes when first I met her; and the +strong current of love, against which so long I struggled and contended, +flowed on with tenfold force once more. Should we ever meet again,--and +how? were the questions which rushed to my mind, and to which hope and +fear dictated the replies. + +The locket was a present from the Empress to the general,--at least, +so I interpreted an inscription on the back; and this--shall I confess +it?--brought pleasure to my heart. Like one whose bosom bore some +wondrous amulet, some charm against the approach of danger, I now rode +at the head of my gallant band. Life had grown dearer to me, without +death becoming more dreaded. Her image next my heart made me feel as if +I should combat beneath her very eyes, and I burned to acquit myself +as became one who loved her. A wild, half frantic joy animated me as I +went, and was caught by the gay companions around me. + +At midnight a despatch reached me, ordering me to hasten forward by a +forced march to Montereau, the bridge of which town was a post of the +greatest importance, and must be held against the Austrians till Victor +could come up. We lost not a moment. It was a calm frosty night, with a +bright moon, and we hastened along without halting. About an hour before +daybreak we were met by a cavalry patrol, who informed us that Gerard +and Victor had both arrived, but too late: Montereau was held by the +Wurtemberg troops, who garrisoned the village, and defended the bridge +with a strong force of artillery; twice the French troops had been +beaten back with tremendous loss, and all looked for the morrow to renew +the encounter. We continued our journey; and, as the sun was rising, +discovered, at a distance on the road beside the river, the mass of an +infantry column: it was the Emperor himself, come up with the Guard, to +attack the position. + +Already the preparations for a fierce assault were in progress. A +battery of twelve guns was posted on a height to command the bridge; +another, somewhat more distant, overlooked the village itself. Different +bodies of infantry and cavalry were disposed wherever shelter presented +itself, and ready for the command to move forward. The approach to the +bridge was by a wide road, which lay for some distance along the river +bank; and this was deeply channelled by the enemy's artillery, which, +stationed on and above the bridge, seemed to defy any attempt to +advance. + +Never, indeed, did an enterprise seem more full of danger. Every house +which looked on the bridge was crenelated for small-arms, and garrisoned +by sharpshooters,--the fierce Jager of Germany, whose rifles are the +boast of the Vaterland. Cannon bristled along the heights; their wide +mouths pointed to that devoted spot, already the grave of hundreds. +Withdrawn under cover of a steep hill, my regiment was halted, with two +other heavy cavalry corps, awaiting orders; and from the crest of the +ridge I could observe the first movements of the fight. + +As usual, a fierce cannonade was opened from either side; which, +directed mainly against the artillery itself, merely resulted in +dismantling a stray battery here and there, without further damage. At +last the hoarse roll of a drum was heard, and the head of an infantry +column was seen advancing up the road. They passed beneath a rock on +which a little group of officers were standing, and as they went a cheer +of "Vive l'Empereur!" broke from them. I strained my eyes towards +the place, for now I knew the Emperor himself was there. I could +not, however, detect him in the crowd, who all waved their hats in +encouragement to the troops. + +On they went, descending a steep declivity of the highroad to the +bridge. Suddenly the cannonade redoubles from the side of the enemy; +the shot whistles through the air, while ten thousand muskets peal forth +together. I rivet my eyes to watch the column. But what is my horror to +perceive that none appear upon the ridge! The masses move up; they +mount the ascent; they disappear behind it; and then are lost to sight +forever. Not one escapes the dreadful havoc of the guns, which from a +distance of less than two hundred yards enfilades the bridge. + +But still they moved up. I could hear, from where i lay, the commands +of the officers, as they gave the word to their companies: no fear nor +hesitation,--there they went to death; in less than fifteen minutes +twelve hundred fell, dead or wounded. And at last the signal to fall +back was given, and the shattered fragment of a column reeled back +behind the ridge. Again the cannonade opened, and increasing on both +sides, was maintained for above an hour without intermission. During +this, our guns did tremendous execution on the village, but without +effecting anything of importance respecting the bridge. + +The Grenadiers of the Guard had reached the scene of combat, by forced +marches, from Nangis; and after a brief time to recruit their strength, +were now ordered up. What a splendid force that massive column, +conspicuous by their scarlet shoulder-knots and tall shakos of black +bearskin! with what confidence they move! They halt beneath the rock. +The Emperor is there too. And see! the officer who stands beside him +descends from the height, and puts himself at the head of the column: +it is Guyot, the colonel of the battalion; he waves his plumed hat in +answer to the Emperor,--that salute is the last he shall ever give on +earth. + +The drums roll out; but the hoarse shout of "En avant!" drowns their +tumult. On they rush; they are over the height; they disappear down the +descent. And see! there they are on the bridge! "Vive la Garde!" shouted +ten thousand of their comrades, who watch them from the heights; "Vive +la Garde!" is echoed from the tall cliffs beyond the river. The column +moves on, and already reaches the middle of the bridge, when eighteen +guns throw their fire into it: the blue smoke rolls down the rocky +heights and settles on the bridge, broken here and there by flashes, +like the forked gleam of lightning; the cloud passes oyer; the bridge is +empty, save of dead and dying: the Grenadiers of the Guard are no more! + +"What heart is his who gives his fellow-men to death like this!" was my +exclamation as I witnessed this terrible struggle. + +"The Cuirassiers and Carbineers of the Guard to form by threes in column +of attack!" shouted an aide-de-camp, as he rode up to where I lay. And +no more thought had I of _his_ motives, who now opened the path of glory +to myself. + +The squadrons were arrayed under cover of the ridge; the shot and shells +from the enemy's batteries flew thickly over us,--a presage of the storm +we were about to meet. The order to mount was given; and as the men +sprang into their saddles, a group of horsemen galloped rapidly round +the angle of the cliff, and approached. One glance showed me it was the +Emperor and his staff. + +"Cuirassiers of the Guard," said he, as with raised chapeau he saluted +his brave followers, "I have ordered two battalions to carry that +bridge; they have failed. Let those who never fail advance to the storm. +Montereau shall be inscribed on your helmets, men, when I see you on +yonder heights. Go forward!" + +"Forward! forward!" shouted the mailed ranks, half maddened by the +exciting presence of Napoleon. + +The force was formed in four separate columns of attack: the First +Cuirassiers leading; followed by the Carbineers of the Guard; then my +own regiment; and lastly, the Fourth, the corps of poor Pioche. What +would I have given to know he was there! But there was not time for such +inquiry now. The squadrons were ready awaiting the moment to dash on. + +A loud detonation of nigh twenty guns shook the earth; and in the smoke +that rolled from them the bridge was concealed from view. A trumpet +sounded, and the cry of "Charge!" followed. The mass sprang forth. What +a cheer was theirs as they swept past! The cannonade opens again; +the whole ground trembles. The musketry follows; and the clatter of a +thousand sabres mingles with the war-cries of the combatants. It is but +brief,--the tumult is already subsiding. + +And now comes the order for the carbineers to move up; the cuirassiers +have been cut to pieces. A few, mangled and bleeding, have reeled back +behind the hill; but the regiment is gone! + +"Where are the troops of Wagram and Eylau?" said the Emperor, in +bitterness, as he saw the one broken squadron, sole remnant of a gallant +corps, reeling, bloodstained and dying, to the rear. "Where is that +cavalry that carried the Russian battery at Moskowa? You are not what +you once were!" + +This cruel taunt, at the very moment when the earth was steeped in the +blood of his brave soldiers, was heard in mournful silence. None spoke a +word, but with clenched lip and clasped hand sat waiting the command +to charge. It came; but no cheer followed. The carbineers dashed on, +prepared to die: what death so dreadful as the cold irony of Napoleon! + +"En avant! cuirassiers of the Tenth," called out the Emperor, as the +last squadrons of the carbineers went by, "support your comrades! Follow +up there, men of the Fourth! I must have that bridge." + +And now the whole line moved up. As we turned the cliff in full trot, +the scene of combat lay before us: the terrible bridge now actually +choked up with dead and wounded, the very battlements strewn with +corpses. In an instant the carbineers were upon it; and struggling +through the mass of carnage, they rode onward. Like men goaded to +despair, they pressed on, and actually reached the archway beyond, +which, defended by a strong gate, closed up the way. Whole files now +fell at every discharge; but others took their places, to fall as +rapidly beneath the murderous musketry. + +"A petard to the gate!" is now the cry,--"a petard, and the bridge is +won!" + +Quick as lightning, four sappers of the Guard rush across the road and +gain the bridge. They carry some thing between them, but soon are lost +in the dense masses of the horse. The enemy's fire redoubles; the bridge +crashes beneath the cannonade, when a loud shout is raised,-- + +"Let the cavalry fall back!" + +A cheer of triumph breaks from the town as they behold the retiring +squadrons; they know not that the petard is now attached to the gate, +and that the horsemen are merely withdrawn for the explosion. + +The bridge is cleared, and every eye is turned to watch the discharge +which shall break the strong door, and leave the passage open. But +unhappily the fuze has missed, and the great engine lies inert and +inactive. What is to be done? The cavalry cannot venture to approach the +spot, which at any moment may explode with ruin on every side; and thus +the bridge is rendered impregnable by our own fault. + +"Fatality upon fatality!" is the exclamation of Napoleon, as he heard +the tidings. "This to the man who puts a match to the fuze!" said he, as +he detaches the great cross of the Legion from his breast, and holds it +aloft. + +With one spring I jump from my saddle, and dash at the burning match a +gunner is holding near me. A rush is made by several others; but I am +fleetest of foot, and before they reach the road I am on the bridge. The +enemy has not seen me, and I am half-way across before a shot is aimed +at me. Even then a surprise seems to arrest their fire, for it is a +single ball whizzes past. I see the train; I kneel down; the fuze is +faint, and I stoop to blow it; and then my action is perceived, and +a shattering volley sweeps the bridge. The high projecting parapet +protects me, and I am unhurt. But the fuze will not take: horrible +moment of agonizing suspense,--the powder is clotted with blood, +and will not ignite! I remember that my pistols are in my belt, and +detaching one, I draw the charge, and scatter the fresh powder along the +line. My shelter still saves me, though the balls are crashing like hail +around me. It takes, it takes! the powder spits and flashes, and a loud +cry from my comrades bursts out, "Come back! come back!" + +Forgetting everything in the intense anxiety of the moment, I spring to +my legs; but scarce is my head above the parapet when a bullet strikes +me in the chest. I fall covered with blood. + +"Save him! save him!" is the cry of a thousand voices; and a rush is +made upon the bridge. The musketry opens on these brave fellows, and +they fall back wounded and discouraged. + +[Illustration: 504] + +Crouching beneath the parapet, I try to stanch my wound; but the blood +is gushing in torrents, my senses are reeling, the objects around grow +dimmer, the noise seems fainter. But suddenly I feel a hand upon my +neck, and at the same instant a flask is pressed to my lips. I drink, +and the wine rallies me; the bleeding is stopped. My eyes open again; +and dare I trust their evidence? Who is it that now shelters beneath the +parapet beside me? Minette, the vivandiere! her handsome face flushed, +her eyes wild with excitement, and her brown hair in great tangled +masses on her back and shoulders. + +"Minette, is it indeed thee?" said I, pressing her hand to my lips. + +"I knew you at the head of your regiment some days ago, and I thought we +should meet ere long. But lie still; we are safe here. The fire slackens +too; they have fallen back since the gate was forced." + +"Is the gate forced, Minette?" + +"Ay, the petard has done its work; but the columns are not come up. Lie +still till they pass." + +"Dear, dear girl! what a brave heart is thine!" said I, gazing on her +beautiful features, tenfold handsomer from the expression which her +heroism had lent them. + +"You would surely adventure as much for me," said she, half-timidly, as +she pressed her handkerchief against the wound, which still oozed blood. + +The action entangled her fingers in a ribbon. She tried to extricate +them; and the locket fell out, opening by accident at the same moment. +With a convulsive energy she clasped the miniature in both hands, and +riveted her eyes upon it. The look was wild as that of madness itself, +and her features grew stiff as she gazed, while the pallor of death +overspread them. It was scarce the action of a second; in another, she +flung back the picture from her and sprang to her feet. One glance +she gave me, fleeting as the lightning flash, but how full of storied +sorrow! + +The moment after she was in the middle of the bridge. She waved her cap +wildly above her head, and beckoned to the column to come on. A cheer +answered her. The mass rushed forward; the fire again pealed forth; a +shriek pierced the din of all the battle, and the leading files halt. +Four grenadiers fall back to the rear, carrying a body between them: +it is the corpse of Minette the vivandiere, who has received her +death-wound! + +[Illustration: 506] + +The same evening saw me the occupant of a bed in the ambulance of the +Guard. Dreadful as the suffering of my wound was, I carried a deeper one +within my heart. + +"The Emperor has given you his own cross of the Legion, sir," said the +surgeon, endeavoring to rally me from a dejection whose source he knew +not. + +"He has made him a general of brigade, too," said a voice behind him. + +It was General Letort who spoke; he had that moment come from the +Emperor with the tidings. I buried my head beneath my hands, and felt as +though my heart was bursting. + +"That was a gallant girl, that vivandiere," said the rough old general; +"she must have had a soldier's heart within that corsage. _Parbleu!_ I'd +rather not have another such in my brigade, though, after what happened +this evening." + +"What is it you speak of?" said I, faintly. + +"They gave her a military funeral this evening,--the Fourth Cuirassiers. +The Emperor gave his permission, and sent General Degeon of the staff +to be present. And when they placed her in the grave, one of the +soldiers,--a corporal, I believe,--kneeled down to kiss her before they +covered in the earth; and when he had done so, he lay slowly down on his +face on the grass. 'He has fainted,' said one of his comrades; and they +turned him on his back. _Morbleu!_ it was worse than that: he was stone +dead,--one of the very finest fellows of the regiment!" + +"Yes, yes! I know him," muttered I, endeavoring to smother my emotion. + +The general looked at me as if my mind was wandering, and briefly +added,-- + +"And so they laid them in the same grave, and the same fusillade gave +the last honors to both." + +"Your story has affected my patient overmuch, General," said the doctor; +"you must leave him to himself for some time." + + + +CHAPTER XL. FONTAINEBLEAU + +An order from Berthier, written at the command of the Emperor, admitted +me into the ancient Palace of Fontainebleau, where I lay for upwards +of two months under my wound. Twice had fever nearly brought me to +the grave; but youth and unimpaired health succored me, and I rallied +through all. A surgeon of the staff accompanied me, and by his kind +companionship, not less than by his skill, did I recover from an illness +where sorrow had made an iron inroad not less deep than disease. + +In my little chamber, which looked out upon the courtyard of the Palace, +I passed my days, thinking over the past and all its vicissitudes. Each +day we learned some intelligence either from the seat of war or from +Paris: defeat in one, treason and disaffection in the other, were +rapidly hastening the downfall of the mightiest Empire the genius of +man had ever constructed. Champ-Aubert, Montmirail, and Montereau, great +victories as they were, retarded not the current of events. "The week of +glory" brought not hope to a cause predestined to ruin. + +It was the latter end of March. For some days previous the surgeon had +left me to visit an outpost ambulance near Melun, and I was alone. My +strength, however, enabled me to sit up at my window; and even in this +slight pleasure my wearied senses found enjoyment, after the tedious +hours of a sickbed. The evening was calm, and for the season mild and +summerlike. The shrubs were putting forth their first leaves, and around +the marble fountains the spring flowers were already showing signs +of blossom. The setting sun made the tall shadows of the ancient +beech-trees stretch across the wide court, where all was still as at +midnight. No inhabitant of the Palace was about; not a servant moved, +not a footstep was heard. + +It was a moment of such perfect stillness as leads the mind to reverie; +and my thoughts wandered away to that distant time when gay cavaliers +and stately dames trod those spacious terraces,--when tales of chivalry +and love mingled with the plashing sounds of those bright fountains, and +the fair moon looked down on more lovely forms than even those graceful +marbles around. I fancied the time when the horn of the chasseur was +heard-echoing through those vast courts, its last notes lost in the +merry voices of the cortege round the monarch. And then I called up +the brilliant group, with caracoling steeds and gay housings, proudly +advancing up that great avenue to the royal entrance, and pictured the +ancient ceremonial that awaited his coming,--the descendant of a long +line of kings. The frank and kingly Francis, the valiant Henry the +Fourth, the "Grand Monarch" himself,--all passed in review before my +mind as once they lived, and moved, and spoke in that stately pile. + +The sun had set: the mingled shadows threw their gloom over the wide +court, and one wing of the Palace was in' deep shade, when suddenly I +heard the roll of wheels and the tramp of horses on the distant road. +I listened attentively. They were coming near; I could hear the tread of +many together; and my practised ear could detect the clank of dragoons, +as their sabres and sabretasches jingled against the horses' flanks. +"Some hurried news from the Emperor," thought I; "perhaps some marshal +wounded, and about to be conveyed to the Palace." The same instant the +guard at the distant entrance beat to arms, and an equipage drawn by +six horses dashed in at full gallop; a second followed as fast, with a +peloton of dragoons at the side. My anxiety increased. "What if it were +the Emperor himself!" thought I. But as the idea flashed across me, +it yielded at once on seeing that the carriages did not draw up at the +grand stair, but passed on to a low and private door at the distant wing +of the Palace. + +The bustle of the cortege arriving was but a moment's work. The +carriages moved rapidly away, the dragoons disappeared, and all was as +still as before, leaving me to ponder over the whole, and actually ask +myself could it have been reality? I opened my door to listen; but not a +sound awoke the echo of the long corridors. One could have fancied that +no living thing was beneath that wide roof, so silent was all around. + +A strange feeling of anxiety,--the dread of something undefined, I knew +not what, or whence coming,--was over me, and my nerves, long irritable +from illness, became now jarringly sensitive, and banished all thought +of sleep. Wild fancies and incoherent ideas crossed my mind, and made me +restless and uneasy. I felt, too, as if the night were unusually close +and sultry, and I opened my window to admit the air. Scarcely had I +drawn the curtain aside, when my eye rested on a long line of light, +that, issuing from a window on the ground-floor of the Palace, threw its +bright gleam far across the courtyard. + +It was in the same wing where the carriages drew up. It must be so; +some officer of rank, wounded in a late battle, was brought there. "Poor +fellow!" thought I; "what suffering may he be enduring amid all the +peace-fulness and calm of this tranquil spot! Who can it be?" was +the ever-recurring question to my mind; for my impression had already +strengthened itself to a conviction. + +The hours went on; the light shone steadily as at first, and the +stillness was unbroken. Wearied with thinking, and half forgetful of my +weakness, I tottered along the corridor, descended the grand stair, and +passed out into the court. How refreshing did the night air feel! how +sweet the fair odors of the spring, as, wafted by the motion of the +_jet d'eau_, they were diffused around! The first steps of recovery from +severe sickness have a strange thrill of youthfulness about them. Our +senses seem once more to revel in the simple enjoyments of early days, +and to feel that their greatest delight lies in the associations which +gave pleasure to childhood. Weaned from the world's contentions, we seem +to have been lifted for the time above the meaner cares and ambitions +of life, and love to linger a little longer in that ideal state of +happiness calm thoughts bestow; and thus the interval that brings back +health to the body restores freshness to the heart, and purified in +thought, we come forth hoping for better things, and striving for +them with all the generous ardor of early years. How happy was I as I +wandered in that garden! how full of gratitude to feel the current of +health once more come back in all my veins,--the sense of enjoyment +which flows from every object of the fair world restored to me, after so +many dangers and escapes! + +As I moved slowly through the terraced court, my eye was constantly +attracted to the small and starlike light which glimmered through +the darkness; and I turned to it at last, impelled by a feeling of +undefinable sympathy. Following a narrow path, I drew near to a little +garden, which once contained some rare flowers. They had been favorites +of poor Josephine in times past; but the hour was over in which that +gave them a claim to care and attention, and now they were wild grown +and tangled, and almost concealed the narrow walk which led to the +doorway. + +I reached this at length; and as I stood, the faint moonlight, slanting +beneath a cloud, fell upon a bright and glistening object almost at my +feet. I stepped back, and looked fixedly at it. It was the figure of +a man sleeping across the entrance of the porch. He was dressed +in Mameluke fashion; but his gay trappings and rich costume were +travel-stained and splashed. His unsheathed cimeter lay grasped in one +hand, and a Turkish pistol seemed to have fallen from the other. + +Even by the imperfect light I recognized Rustan, the favorite Mameluke +of the Emperor, who always slept at the door of his tent and his +chamber,--his chosen bodyguard. Napoleon must then be here; his equipage +it was which arrived so hurriedly; his the light which burned through +the stillness of the night. As these thoughts followed fast on one +another, I almost trembled to think how nearly I had ventured on his +presence, where none dared to approach unbidden. To retire quickly and +noiselessly was now my care. But my first step entangled my foot; I +stumbled. The noise awoke the sleeping Turk, and with a loud cry for the +guard he sprang to his feet. + +"La garde!" called he a second time, forgetting in his surprise that +none was there. But then with a spring he seized me by the arm, and as +his shining weapon gleamed above my head, demanded who I was, and for +what purpose there. + +The first words of my reply were scarcely uttered, when a small door was +opened within the vestibule, and the Emperor appeared. Late as was the +hour, he was dressed, and even wore his sword at his side. + +"What means this? Who are you, sir?" was the quick, sharp question he +addressed to me. + +A few words--the fewest in which I could convey it--told my story, and +expressed my sorrow, that in the sick man's fancy of a moonlight walk I +should have disturbed his Majesty. + +"I thought, Sire," added I, "that your Majesty was many a league distant +with the army--" + +"There is no army, sir," interrupted he, with a rapid gesture of his +hand; "to-morrow there will be no Emperor. Go, sir; go, while it is yet +the time. Offer your sword and your services where so many others, more +exalted than yourself, have done. This is the day of desertion; see that +you take advantage of it." + +"Had my name and rank been less humble, they would have assured your +Majesty how little I merited this reproach." + +"I am sorry to have offended you," replied he, in a voice of +inexpressible softness. "You led the assault at Montereau? I remember +you now. I should have given you your brigade, had I--" He stopped +here suddenly, while an expression of suffering passed across his pale +features; he rallied from it, however, in an instant, and resumed, "I +should have known you earlier; it is too late! Adieu!" + +He inclined his head slightly as he spoke, and extended his hand. I +pressed it fervently to my lips, and would have spoken, but I could not. +The moment after he was gone. + +[Illustration: BrownePartingScene ] + +It is too late! too late!--the same terrible words which were uttered +beneath the blackened walls of Moscow; repeated at every new disaster of +that dreadful retreat; now spoken by him whose fortune they predicted. +Too late!--the exclamation of the proud marshal, harassed by +unsuccessful efforts to avert the destiny he saw inevitable. Too +late!--the cry of the wearied soldier. Too late!--the fatal expression +of the Czar when the brave and faithful Macdonald urged the succession +of the King of Rome and the regency of the Empress. + +Wearied with a wakeful night, I fell into a slumber towards morning, +when I started suddenly at the roll of drums in the court beneath. In +an instant I was at my window. What was my astonishment to perceive that +the courtyard was filled with troops! The Grenadiers of the Guard were +ranged in order of battle, with several squadrons of the chasseurs and +the horse artillery; while a staff of general officers stood in +the midst, among whom I recognized Belliard, Montesquieu, and +Turenne,--great names, and worthy to be recorded for an act of faithful +devotion. The Duc de Bassano was there too, in deep mourning; his pale +and careworn face attesting the grief within his heart. + +The roll of the drums continued; the deep, unbroken murmur of the salute +went on from one end of the line to the other. It ceased; and ere I +could question the reason, the various staff-officers became uncovered, +and stood in attitudes of respectful attention, and the Emperor +himself slowly, step by step, descended the wide stair of the "Cheval +Blanc,"--as the grand terrace was styled,--and advanced towards the +troops. At the same instant the whole line presented arms, and the drums +beat the salute. They ceased, and Napoleon raised his hand to command +silence, and throughout that crowded mass not a whisper was heard. + +I could perceive that he was speaking, but the words did not reach me. +Eloquent and burning words they were, and to be recorded in history +to the remotest ages. I now saw that he had finished, as General Petit +sprang forward with the eagle of the First Regiment of the Guards, and +presented it to him. The Emperor pressed it fervently to his lips, +and then threw his arms round Petit's neck; while suddenly disengaging +himself, he took the tattered flag that waved above him, and kissed it +twice. Unable to bear up any longer, the worn, hard-featured veterans +sobbed aloud like children, and turned away their faces to conceal their +emotion. No cry of "Vive l'Empereur!" resounded now through those ranks +where each had willingly shed his heart's blood for him. Sorrow had +usurped the place of enthusiasm, and they stood overwhelmed by grief. + +A tall and soldierlike figure, with head uncovered, approached the +Emperor, and said a few words. Napoleon waved his hand towards the +troops, and from the ranks many rushed towards him, and fell on their +knees before him. He passed his hand across his face and turned away. My +eyes grew dim; a misty vapor shut out every object, and I felt as though +the very lids were bursting. The great tramp of horses startled me, and +then came the roll of wheels. I looked up: an equipage was passing from +the gate, a peloton of dragoons escorted it; a second followed at full +speed. The colonels formed their men; the word to march was given; the +drums beat out; the grenadiers moved on; the chasseurs succeeded; and +last the artillery rolled heavily up. The court was deserted; not a man +remained: all, all were gone! The Empire was ended; and the Emperor, the +mighty genius who created it, on his way to exile! + + + +CHAPTER XLI. THE CONCLUSION + +France never appeared to less advantage in the eyes of Europe than at +the period I speak of. Scarcely had the proud star of Napoleon set, when +the whole current of popular favor flowed along with those whom, but a +few days before, they accounted their greatest enemies. The Russians and +the Prussians, whom they lampooned and derided, they now flattered and +fawned on. They deemed no adulation servile enough to lay at the feet +of their conquerors,--not esteeming the exaltation of their victors +sufficient, unless purchased at the sacrifice of their own honor as a +nation. + +The struggle was no longer who should be first in glory, but who +foremost in desertion of him and his fortunes whose word had made +them. The marshals he had created, the generals he had decorated, the +ministers and princes he had endowed with wealth and territory, now +turned from him in his hour of misfortune, to court the favor of one +against whom every act of their former lives was directed. + +These men, whose very titles recalled the fields of glory to which he +led them, now hastened to the Tuileries to proffer an allegiance to a +monarch they neither loved nor respected. Sad and humiliating spectacle! +The long pent-up hatred of the Royalists found a natural vent in this +moment of triumphant success. Chateaubriand, Constant, and Madame de +Stael led the way to those declarations of the press which denounced +Napoleon as the greatest of earthly tyrants; and inveighed even against +his greatness and his genius, as though malevolence could produce +oblivion. + +All Paris was in a ferment of excitement,--not the troubled agitation of +a people whose capital owned the presence of a conquering army, but the +tumultuous joy of a nation intoxicated with pleasure. Fetes and +balls, gay processions and public demonstrations of rejoicing, met one +everywhere; and ingenuity was taxed to invent flatteries for the +very nations whom, but a week past, they scoffed at as barbarians and +Scythians. + +Sickened and disgusted with the fickleness of mankind, I knew not where +to turn. My wound had brought on a low, lingering fever, accompanied +by extreme debility, increased in all likelihood by the harassing +reflections every object around suggested. I could not venture abroad +without meeting some evidence of that exuberant triumph by which +treachery hopes to cover its own baseness; besides, the reputation of +being a Napoleonist was now a mark for insult and indignity from those +who never dared to avow an opinion until the tide of fortune had turned +in their favor. The white cockade had replaced the tricolor; every +emblem of the Empire was abolished; and that uniform, to wear which +was once a mark of honorable distinction, was now become a signal for +insult. + +I was returning one evening from a solitary ramble in the neighborhood +of Paris,--for, by some strange fatality, I could not tear myself away +from the scenes to which the most eventful portions of my life were +attached,--and at length reached the Boulevard Montmartre, just as +the leading squadrons of a cavalry regiment were advancing up the wide +thoroughfare. I had hitherto avoided every occasion of witnessing +any military display which should recall the past; but now the rapid +gathering of the crowd to see the soldiers pass prevented my escape, and +I was obliged to wait patiently until the cortege should move forward. + +They came on in dense column,--the brave Chasseurs of the Guard, the +bronzed warriors of Jena and Wigram; but to my eyes they seemed sterner +and sadder than their wont, and heeded not the loud "vivas" of the +mob around them. Where were their eagles? Alas! the white banner that +floated over their heads was a poor substitute for the proud ensign +they had so often followed to victory. And here weie the dragoons,--old +Kellermann's brave troopers; their proud glances were changed to a +mournful gaze upon that crowd whose cheers they once felt proud of: and +there, the artillery, that glorious corps which he loved so well,--did +not the roll of their guns sound sorrowfully on the ear! + +They passed! And then came on a strange cortege of mounted +cavaliers,--old and withered men, in uniforms of quaint antique fashion, +their chapeaux decorated with great cockades of white ribbon, and their +sword-knots garnished with similar ornaments; the order of St. Louis +glittered on each breast, and in their bearing you might read the air of +men who were enjoying a long-wished-for and long-expected triumph. These +were the old seigneurs of the Monarchy; and truly they were not wanting +in that look of nobility their ancient blood bestowed. Their features +were proud; their glance elated; their very port and bearing spoke that +consciousness of superiority, to crush which had cost all the horrors +and bloodshed of a terrible Revolution. How strange! it seemed as if +many of their faces were familiar to me,--I knew them well; but where, +and how, my memory could not trace. Yes, now I could recall it: they +were the frequenters of the old "Pension of the Rue de Mi-Careme,"--the +same men I had seen in their day of adversity, bearing up with noble +pride against the ills of fortune. There they were, revelling in the +long-sought-after restoration of their former state. Were they not more +worthy of admiration in their hour of patient and faithful watching, +than in this the period of their triumph? + +The pressure of the crowd obliged the cavalcade to halt. And now the air +resounded with the cries of "Vive le Roi!"--the long-forgotten cheer +of loyalty. Thousands re-echoed the shout, and the horsemen waved their +hats in exultation. "Vive le Roi!" cried the mob, as though the voices +had not called "Vive l'Empereur!" but yesterday. + +"Down with the Napoleonist,--down with him!" screamed a savage-looking +fellow, who, jammed up in the crowd, pointed towards me, as I stood a +mere spectator of the scene. + +"Cry 'Vive le Roi!' at once," whispered a voice near me, "or the +consequences may be serious. The mob is ungovernable at a moment like +this." + +A dozen voices shouted out at the same time, "Down with him! down with +him!" + +"Off with your hat, sir!" said a rude-looking fellow beside me, as he +raised his hand to remove it. + +"At your peril!" said I, as I clenched my hand, and prepared to strike +him down the moment he should touch me. + +The words were not well uttered, when the crowd closed on me, and a +hundred arms were stretched out to attack me. In vain all my efforts to +resist. My hat was torn from my head, and assailed on every side, I was +dragged into the middle of the street, amid wild cries of vengeance and +taunting insults. It was then, as I lay overcome by numbers, that a loud +cry to fall back issued from the cavalcade, and a horseman, sword in +hand, dashed upon the mob, slashing on every side as he went, mounted +on a high-mettled horse. He cleared the dense mass with the speed of +lightning, and drove back my assailants. + +[Illustration: BrowneBeauvais341] + +"Catch my horse's mane," said he, hurriedly. "Hold fast for a few +seconds, and you are safe." + +Following the advice, I held firmly by the long mane of his charger, +while, clearing away the mob on either side, he protected me by his +drawn sabre above my head. + +"Safe this time!" said he, as we arrived within the ranks. And then +turning round, so as to face me, added, "Safe! and my debt acquitted. +You saved my life once; and though the peril seemed less imminent now, +trust me, yours had not escaped the fury of that multitude without me." + +"What! Henri de Beauvais! Do we meet again?" + +"Yes; but with altered fortune, Burke. Our king, as the words of our +Garde Ecossaise song says,--our king 'has got his own again.' The day +of loyalty has again dawned on France, and a grateful people may carry +their enthusiasm for the Restoration, even as far as vengeance on their +opponents, and yet not merit much reproach. But no more of this. We can +be friends now; or if not, it must be your fault." + +"I am not too proud, De Beauvais, either to accept or acknowledge a +favor at your hands." + +"Then we are friends," said he, joyfully. "And in the name of +friendship, let me beg of you to place this _cordon_ in your hat." And +so saying, he detached the cockade of white ribbon he wore from his own, +and held it towards me. "Well, then, at least remove the tricolor; it +can but expose you to insult. Remember, Burke, its day is over." + +"I am not likely to forget it," replied I, sadly. + +"Monsieur le Colonel, his royal highness wishes to speak with you," said +an aide-de-camp, riding up beside De Beauvais's horse. + +"Take care of this gentleman for me," said De Beauvais, pointing to me; +and then, wheeling round his horse, he galloped at full speed to the +rear. + +"I will spare you all trouble on my account, sir," said I. "My way lies +yonder, and at present I see no obstacle to my pursuing it." + +"Let me at least send an escort with you." + +I thanked him and declined the offer; and leaving the ranks of the +procession, mingled with the crowd, and in a few minutes after reached +my hotel without further molestation. The hour was come, I saw plainly, +in which I must leave France. Not only was every tie which bound me to +that land severed, but to remain was only to oppose myself singly to +the downward current of popular opinion which now threatened to overturn +every landmark and vestige of the Empire. Up to this moment, I never +confessed to my heart with what secret hope I had prolonged each day of +my stay,--how I cherished within me the expectation that I should once +again, though but for an instant, see her who lived in all my thoughts, +and, unknown to my self, formed the mainspring of all my actions! + +This hope only became confessed when about to leave me forever. + +As I busied myself in the preparations for departure, a note arrived +from De Beauvais, stating that he desired particularly to see and confer +with me that same evening, and requesting me on no account to be from +home, as his business was most pressing. I felt little curiosity to +know to what he might allude, and saw him enter my room some hours later +without a single particle of anxiety as to his communication. + +"I am come, Burke," said he, after a few commonplaces had been exchanged +between us,--"I am come, Burke, on a mission which I hope you will +believe the sincerest regard for you has prompted me to undertake, and +which, whatever objections it may meet with from you, none can arise, I +am certain, on the score of his fidelity who now makes this proposition +to you. To be brief: the Count d'Artois has sent me to offer you your +grade and rank in the army of his Majesty Louis the Eighteenth. Your +last gazette was as colonel; but there is a rumor you should have +received your appointment as general of brigade. There will be little +difficulty in arranging your brevet on that understanding; for your +services, brief as they were, have not been unnoticed. Marshal Ney +himself bears testimony to your conduct at Montereau; and your name +twice occurs on the list of the minister of war for promotion. +Strange claims these, you will say, to recompense from the rightful +sovereign of France, gained as they were in the service of the Usurper! +But it is the prerogative of legitimacy to be great and noble-minded, +and to recognize true desert wherever it occurs. Come, what say you? +Does this proposal meet your wishes?" + +"If to surpass my expectations, and flatter my pride, were to convince +my reason, and change my estimation of what is loyal and true, I should +say, 'Yes, De Beauvais; the proposition does meet my wishes.' But not +so. I wore these epaulettes first in my admiration of him whose fortunes +I have followed to the last. My pride, my glory, were to be his soldier; +that can be no longer, and the sword I drew in his cause shall never be +unsheathed in another's." + +"Are you ignorant that such arguments apply with equal force to all +those great men who have, within these few weeks past, sworn allegiance +to his Majesty? What say you to the list of marshals, not one of whom +has refused the graciously offered favor of his Majesty? Are Ney, Soult, +Augereau, Macdonald, and Marmont nothing as examples?" + +"I will not say so, De Beauvais; but this I will say, they had had both +more respect and esteem from me had they done otherwise. If they were +true to the Emperor, they can scarce be loyal to the King." + +"Can you not distinguish between the forced services exacted by a tyrant +and the noble duty rendered to a rightful sovereign?" + +"I can better estimate the fascinations which lead men to follow a hero, +than to be the parade-soldier around the gilded gates of a palace." + +De Beauvais's cheek flashed scarlet, and his voice was agitated, as he +replied,-- + +"The nobles of France, sir, have shown themselves as high in deeds of +chivalry and heroism as they have ever been in the accomplishments of +true-born gentlemen." + +"Pardon me, De Beauvais! I meant no imputation of them and their +motives. There is every reason why you and your gallant companions +should enjoy the favors of that crown your efforts have placed upon the +head of the King of France. Your true and fitting station is around the +throne your bravery and devotion have restored. But as for us,--we +who have fought and marched, have perilled limb and life, to raise +the fortune and elevate the glory of him who was the enemy of that +sovereign,--how can we be participators in the triumph we labored to +avert, and rejoice in a consummation we would have died rather than +witness?" + +"But it has come; the fates have decided against you. The cause you +would serve is not merely unfortunate,--it is extinct; the Empire has +left no banner behind it. Come, then, and rally round one whose boast it +is to number among its followers the high-born and the noble,--to assert +the supremacy of rank and worth above the claim of the base and low." + +"I cannot; I must not." + +"At least, you will wait on the Comte d'Artois. You must see his royal +highness, and thank him for his gracious intentions." + +"I know what that means, De Beauvais; I have heard that few can resist +the graceful fascinations of the prince's manner. I shall certainly not +fear to encounter them, however dangerous to my principles." + +"But not to refuse his royal highness?" said he, quickly. "I trust you +will not do that." + +"You would not have me yield to the flattery of a prince's notice what I +refuse to the solicitations of a friend, would you?" + +"And such is your intention,--your fixed intention?" + +"Undoubtedly it is." + +De Beauvais turned away impatiently, and leaned on the window for some +minutes. Then, after a pause, and in a slow and measured voice, added,-- + +"You are known to the Court, Burke, by other channels than those I have +mentioned. Your prospects of advancement would be most brilliant, if you +accept this offer: I scarcely know to what they may not aspire. Reflect +for a moment or two. There is no desertion,--no falling off here. +Remember that the Empire was a vision, and like a dream it has passed +away. Where there is no cause, there can be no fealty." + +"It is but a sorry memory, De Beauvais, that only retains while there +are benefits to receive; mine is a more tenacious one." + +"Then my mission is ended," cried he, taking up his hat. "I may mention +to his royal highness that you intend returning to England; that you +are indisposed to service at present. It is unnecessary to state more +accurately the views you entertain?" + +"I leave the matter completely to your discretion." + +"Adieu, then. Our roads lie widely apart, Burke; and I for one regret +it deeply. It only remains that I should give you this note; which I +promised to deliver into your hands in the event of your declining to +accept the prince's offer." + +He blushed deeply, as he placed a small sealed note in my fingers; and +as if anxious to get away, pressed my hand hurriedly, and left the room. + +My curiosity to learn the contents of the billet made me tear it open at +once; but it was not before I had perused it several times that I could +credit the lines before me. They were but few, and ran thus:-- + + Dear Sir,--May I request the honor of a visit from you this + evening at the Hotel de Grammont? + + Truly yours, + + Marie d'Auvergne, nee De Meudon. + + Colonel Burke. + +How did I read these lines over again and again!--now interpreting them +as messengers of future hope; now fearing they might exclude every ray +of it forever. One solution recurred to me at every moment, and tortured +me to the very soul. Her family had all been Royalists. The mere +accidents of youth had thrown her brother into the army, and herself +into the Court of the Empire, where personal devotion and attachment to +the Empress had retained her. What if she should exert her influence to +induce me to accept the prince's offer? How could I resist a request, +perhaps an entreaty, from her? The more I reflected over it, the more +firmly this opinion gained ground with me, and the more deeply did I +grieve over a position environed by such difficulty; and ardently as I +longed for the moment of meeting her once more, the desire was tempered +by a fear that the meeting should be our last. + +The eventful moment of my destiny arrived, and found me at the door of +the Hotel de Grammont. A valet in waiting for my arrival conducted me to +a _salon_, saying the countess would appear in a few moments. + +What an anxious interval was that! I tried to occupy myself with +the objects around, and distract my attention from the approaching +interview; but every sound startled me, and I turned at each instant +towards the door by which I expected her to enter. + +The time appeared to drag heavily on,--minutes became like hours; and +yet no one appeared. My impatience had reached its climax, when I heard +my name spoken in a low soft voice. I turned, and she was before me. + +She was dressed in deep mourning, and looked paler, perhaps thinner, +than I had ever seen her,--but not less beautiful. Whether prompted by +her own feelings at the moment, or called up by my unconsciously fixed +look, she blushed deeply as our eyes met. + +"I was about to leave France, Colonel," said she, as soon as we were +seated, "when I heard from my cousin, De Beauvais, that you were here, +and delayed my departure to have the opportunity of seeing you." + +She paused here, and drew a deep breath to continue; but leaning her +head on her hand, she seemed to have fallen into a reverie for some +minutes, from which she started suddenly, by saying,-- + +"His royal highness has offered you your grade in the service, I +understand?" + +"Yes, Madame; so my friend De Beauvais informs me." + +"And you have refused,--is it not so?" + +"Even so, Madame." + +"How is this, sir? Are you so weary of a soldier's life, that you would +leave it thus early?" + +"This was not the reason, Madame." + +"You loved the Emperor, sir," said she, hastily, and with a tone of +almost passionate eagerness, "even as I loved my dear, kind mistress; +and you felt allegiance to be too sacred a thing to be bartered at a +moment's notice. Is this the true explanation?" + +"I am proud to say, you have read my motives; such were they." + +"Why are there not many more to act thus?" cried she, vehemently. "Why +do not the great names _he_ made glorious, become greater by fidelity +than ever they were by heroism? There was one, sir, who, had he lived, +had given this example to the world." + +"True, most true, Madame. But was not his fate happier than to have +survived for this?" + +A long pause, unbroken by a word on either side, followed; when at last +she said,-- + +"I had left with De Beauvais some few relics of my dear brother, hoping +you would accept them for his sake. General d'Auvergne's sword,--the +same he wore at Jena,--he desired might be conveyed to you when you left +the service. These, and this ring," said she, endeavoring to withdraw a +rich brilliant from her finger, "are the few souvenirs I would ask you +to keep for their sakes, and for mine. You mean to return to England, +sir?" + +"Yes, Madame; that is, I had intended,--I know not now whither I shall +go. Country has few ties for one like me." + +"I, too, must be a wanderer," said she, half musingly, while still +she endeavored to remove the ring from her finger. "I find," said she, +smiling, "I must give you another keepsake; this will not leave me." + +"Give it me, then, where it is," said I. "Yes, Marie! the devotion of a +heart, wholly yours, should not go unrewarded. To you I owe all that +my life has known of happiness,--to memory of you, every high and noble +hope. Let me not, after years of such affection, lose the guiding star +of my existence,--all that I have lived for, all that I love!" + +These words, poured forth with all the passionate energy which a last +hope inspires, were followed by a story of my long-concealed love. I +know not how incoherently the tale was told; I cannot say how often +I interrupted my own recital by some appeal to the past,--some +half-uttered hope that she had seen the passion which burned within me. +I can but remember the bursting feeling of my bosom, as she placed her +hand in mine, and said,-- + +"It is yours!" + +These words ended the story of a life whose trials were many, and +encountered at an age in which few have braved the world's cares. +The lessons I had learned, however, were acquired in that +school,--adversity,--where few are taught in vain; and if the morning of +my life broke in clouds and shadow, the noon has been not less peaceful +and bright. And the evening, as it draws near, comes with an aspect of +calm tranquillity, ample enough to recompense every vicissitude of those +early days when the waves of fortune were roughest. + + + + +A PARTING WORD. + + + Dear Friends,--Time has hallowed the custom of a word at + parting, and I am unwilling to relinquish the privilege. In + the tale I have just concluded, my endeavor was to portray, + with as little aid from fiction as might be, some lights and + shadows of the most wonderful and eventful period of modern + history,--the empire of Napoleon. The character I selected + for my hero was not all imaginary, neither were many of the + scenes, which bear less apparent proofs of reality. The + subject was one long meditated on before undertaken; but as + the work proceeded, I felt at some places, the difficulty of + creating interest for persons, and incidents removed both by + time and country from my reader; and at others, my own + inadequacy to an effort, which mere zeal could never + accomplish. These causes induced me to deviate from the plan + I originally set down for my guidance; and combined with + failing health, have rendered what might have been a matter + of interest and amusement to the writer, a task of labor and + anxiety. + + It is the first time I have had to ask my reader's + indulgence on such grounds; nor should I now allude to it, + save as affording the only apology I can render for the many + defects in a story, which, in defiance of me, took its + coloring from my own mind at the period, rather from the + reflex of the events I related. + + The moral of my tale is simple,--the fatal influence crude + and uncertain notions of liberty will exercise over a + career, which, under happier direction of its energies, had + won honor and distinction, and the impolicy of the effort, + to substitute an adopted for a natural allegiance. + + My estimate of Napoleon may seem to some to partake of + exaggeration; but I have carefully distinguished between the + Hero and the Emperor, and have not suffered my unqualified + admiration of the one to carry me on to any blind devotion + of the other. + + Having begun this catalogue of excuses and explanations, I + know not where to stop. So, once more asking forgiveness for + all the errors of these volumes, I beg to subscribe myself, + in great respect and esteem, + + Your humble and obedient servant, + + Harry Lorrequer. + + Templeogue House, + + August 26th, 1844. + + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume II (of II), by +Charles James Lever + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM BURKE II *** + +***** This file should be named 31902.txt or 31902.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/9/0/31902/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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