ll the wild pleasures of soldiering rose once more to my mind, and
I thought over old comrades who doubtless were now earning the high
rewards of their bravery in the great career of glory. And as I did so,
my own image confronted me in the glass, as with long lank hair, and
a great bolster of a white cravat, I stood before it. What a
contrast!--how unlike the smart hussar, with curling locks and fierce
moustache! Was I as much changed in heart as in looks? Had my spirit
died out within me? Would the proud notes of the bugle or the trumpet
fall meaningless on my ears, or the hoarse cry of 'Charge!' send no
bursting fulness to my temples? Ay, even these coarse representations
stirred the blood in my veins, and my step grew firmer as I walked the
room.

In a passionate burst of enthusiasm, I tore off my slouched hat and
hurled it from me. It felt like the badge of some ignoble slavery, and
I determined to endure it no longer. The noise of the act called up a
voice from the inner room, and a man, to all appearance suddenly roused
from sleep, stood at the door. He was evidently young, but poverty,
dissipation, and raggedness made the question of his age a difficult
one to solve. A light-coloured moustache and beard covered all the
lower part of his face, and his long blonde hair fell heavily over his
shoulders.

'Well,' cried he, half angrily, 'what's the matter; are you so impatient
that you must smash the furniture?'

Although the words were spoken as correctly as I have written them,
they were uttered with a foreign accent; and, hazarding the stroke, I
answered him in French by apologising for the noise.

'What! a Frenchman,' exclaimed he, 'and in that dress! what can that
mean?'

'If you'll shut your door, and cut off pursuit of me, I'll tell you
everything,' said I, 'for I hear the voices of people coming down that
street in front.'

'I'll do better,' said he quickly; 'I'll upset the bridge, and they
cannot come over.'

'That's done already,' replied I; 'I shoved it into the stream as I
passed.'

He looked at me steadily for a moment without speaking, and then
approaching close to me, said, '_Parbleu!_ the act was very unlike your
costume!' At the same time he shut the door, and drew a strong bar
across it. This done, he turned to me once more--'Now for it: who are
you, and what has happened to you?'

'As to what I am,' replied I, imitating his own abruptness, 'my dress
would almost save the trouble of exp