s in me struck my
companions, on which they often rallied me, but which I strove in
vain to conquer. It was true that at certain times my loneliness and
isolation came coldly on my heart; when one by one I saw others claimed
by their friends, and hurrying away to some happy home, where some fond
sister threw her arm around a brother's neck, or some doting mother
clasped her son close to her bosom and kissed his brow, a tear would
find its way down my cheek, and I would hasten to my room, and locking
the door, sit down alone to think, till my sad heart grew weary, or my
sterner nature rose within me, and by an effort over myself, I turned to
my studies and forgot all else.

Meanwhile I made rapid progress; the unbroken tenor of my thoughts gave
me a decided advantage over the others, and long before the regular
period arrived, the day for my final examination was appointed.

What a lasting impression do some passages of early life leave behind
them! Even yet,--and how many years are past!--how well do I remember
all the hopes and fears that stirred my heart as the day drew near!
how each morning at sunrise I rose to pore over some of the books which
formed the subjects of examination: how, when the gray dawn was only
breaking, have I bent over the pages of Vauban and the calculations of
Carnot! and with what a sinking spirit have I often found that a night
seemed to have erased all the fruit of a long day's labor, and that the
gain of my hard-worked intellect had escaped me,--and then again, like
magic, the lost thought would come back, my brain grow clear, and
all the indistinct and shadowy conceptions assume a firm and tangible
reality which I felt like power! At such times as these my spirits rose,
my heart beat high, a joyous feeling throbbed in every pulse, and an
exhilaration almost maddening elevated me, and there was nothing I would
not have dared, no danger I would not have confronted. Such were the
attractions of my boyish days, and such the temperament they bequeathed
to my manhood.

It was on the 16th of June, the anniversary of Marengo, when the drum
beat to arms in the court of the Polytechnique; and soon after the
scholars were seen assembling in haste from various quarters, anxious to
learn if their prayer had been acceded to,--which asked permission for
them to visit the Invalides, the usual indulgence on the anniversary of
any great victory.

As we flocked into the court we were struck by seeing an