st womanly softness, smiled upon me.

[Illlustration: C'etait bien fait, mon enfant 223]

"C'etait bien fait, mon enfant," said he, "tres bien fait; and if you
have lost a coat by the struggle, why I must even see if I can't give
you another to replace it. Monsieur Legrange, what is the character of
this boy in the school? Is he diligent, zealous, and well-conducted!"

"All of the three. General," said the chef, bowing obsequiously.

"Let him have his brevet,--to date from to-day. Who are his friends?"

A whispered answer replied to this inquiry.

"Indeed!" said the first speaker; "reason the more we should take care
of him. Monsieur," continued he, turning towards me, "to-morrow you
shall have your epaulettes. Never forget how you gained them; and
remember ever that every grade in the service is within the reach of a
brave man who does his duty."

So saying, he passed on, while, overcome by emotion, I could not speak
or move.

"There, he is much better now," said a soft voice near me; "you see his
color is coming back."

I looked up, and there were two ladies standing beside me. The elder was
tall and elegantly formed; her figure, which in itself most graceful,
looked to its full advantage by the splendor of her dress; there was an
air of stateliness in her manner, which had seemed hauteur were it
not for a look of most benevolent softness that played about her mouth
whenever she spoke. The younger, who might in years have seemed her
daughter, was in every respect unlike her: she was slight and delicately
formed; her complexion and her black eyes, shaded by a long dark fringe,
bespoke the Provencal; her features were beautifully regular, and when
at rest completely Greek in their character, but each moment some
chance word, some passing thought, implanted a new expression, and the
ever-varying look of her flashing eyes and full round lips played between
a smile and that arch spirit that essentially belongs to the fair
daughters of the South. It was not until my fixed gaze had brought a
deep blush to her cheek, that I felt how ardently I had been looking at
her.

"Yes, yes," said she, hurriedly, "he's quite well now;" and at the same
moment she made a gesture of impatience to pass on. But the elder held
her arm close within her own, as she whispered, with something of half
malice, "But stay, Marie; I should like to hear his name. Ah," cried
she, starting in affected surprise, "how flushed you are! there must