uthorities at
Paris), and thither he would go.

A formal report in his favor was drawn up on August twentieth. On the
thirtieth he was completely reinstated, or rather his record was
entirely sponged out and consigned, as was hoped, to oblivion; for his
captain's commission was dated back to February sixth, 1792, the day
on which his promotion would have occurred in due course if he had
been present in full standing with his regiment. His arrears for that
rank were to be paid in full. Such success was intoxicating. Monge,
the great mathematician, had been his master at the military school in
Paris, and was now minister of the navy. True to his nature, with the
carelessness of an adventurer and the effrontery of a gambler, the
newly fledged captain promptly put in an application for a position as
lieutenant-colonel of artillery in the sea service. The authorities
must have thought the petition a joke, for the paper was pigeonholed,
and has been found marked S. R., that is, _sans reponse_--without
reply. Probably it was written in earnest, the motive being possibly
an invincible distaste for the regiment in which he had been
disgraced, which was still in command of a colonel who was not
disposed to leniency.

An easy excuse for shirking duty and returning to the old habits of a
Corsican agitator was at hand. The events of August tenth settled the
fate of all monarchical institutions, even those which were partly
charitable. Among other royal foundations suppressed by the Assembly
on August eighteenth was that of St. Cyr, formally styled the
Establishment of St. Louis. The date fixed for closing was just
subsequent to Buonaparte's promotion, and the pupils were then to be
dismissed. Each beneficiary was to receive a mileage of one livre for
every league she had to traverse. Three hundred and fifty-two was the
sum due to Elisa. Some one must escort an unprotected girl on the long
journey; no one was so suitable as her elder brother and natural
protector. Accordingly, on September first, the brother and sister
appeared before the proper authorities to apply for the traveling
allowance of the latter. Whatever other accomplishments Mlle. de
Buonaparte had learned at the school of St. Louis, she was still as
deficient in writing and spelling as her brother. The formal
requisitions written by both are still extant; they would infuriate
any conscientious teacher in a primary school. Nor did they suffice:
the school authorities