. The first lieutenant came
up the side, and to Maitland's eager and blunt question, "Have you got
him?" he answered in the affirmative. After the lieutenant came
Savary, followed by Marshal Bertrand, who bowed and fell back a pace
on the gangway to await the ascent of their master. And now came the
little great man himself, wrapped up in his gray greatcoat buttoned to
the chin, three-cocked hat and Hussar boots, without any sword, I
suppose as emblematical of his changed condition. Maitland received
him with every mark of respect, as far as look and deportment could
indicate; but he was _not_ received with the respect due to a crowned
head, which was afterwards insidiously thrown out against Maitland. So
far from that, the captain, on Napoleon's addressing him, only moved
his hat, as to a general officer, and remained covered while the
Emperor spoke to him. His expressions were brief, I believe only
reiterating what he had stated the day previous in his letter to the
Prince Regent, "That he placed himself under the protection of the
British nation, and under that of the British commander as the
representative of his sovereign." The captain again moved his hat, and
turned to conduct the Emperor to the cabin. As he passed through the
officers assembled on the quarter-deck, he repeatedly bowed slightly
to us, and smiled. What an ineffable beauty there was in that smile,
his teeth were finely set, and as white as ivory, and his mouth had a
charm about it that I have never seen in any other human countenance.
I marked his fine robust figure as he followed Captain Maitland into
the cabin, and, boy as I was, I said to myself, "Now have I a tale for
futurity."

* * * * *

I shall never forget that morning we made Ushant. I had come on deck
at four in the morning to take the morning watch, and the washing of
decks had just begun, when, to my astonishment, I saw the Emperor come
out of the cabin at that early hour, and make for the poop-ladder. Had
I known what human misery is as well as I do now, when I have myself
experienced the most cruel injustice and persecution on a lesser
scale, the restlessness of Napoleon, or his being unable to close an
eye, would have in no way surprised me. If a petty care can break our
sleep, what must have been _his_ feeling who had lost the fairest
empire on the face of the globe; nay, who had lost a world? From the
wetness of the decks, he was in danger of fallin