a devastating fire, which did
not slacken before ten that night.

The remains of the Austrian army regained their camp at Alessandria. The
French army bivouacked near the bridge. The day had cost the Austrian
army four thousand five hundred men killed, six thousand wounded, five
thousand prisoners, besides twelve flags and thirty cannon.

Never did fortune show herself under two such opposite aspects as
on that day. At two in the afternoon, the day spelt defeat and its
disastrous consequences to Bonaparte; at five, it was Italy reconquered
and the throne of France in prospect.

That night the First Consul wrote the following letter to Madame de
Montrevel:

MADAME--I have to-day won my greatest victory; but
it has cost me the two halves of my heart, Desaix and
Roland.

Do not grieve, madame; your son did not care to live,
and he could not have died more gloriously.

BONAPARTE.

Many futile efforts were made to recover the body of the young
aide-de-camp: like Romulus, he had vanished in a whirlwind.

None ever knew why he had pursued death with such eager longing.

THE END

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