!_ sir, you speak confidently," replied he, in an accent of pride
totally different from his former tone. "And yet I have heard of persons
just as confident, too, who afterwards confessed they had been mistaken.
But perhaps it seems less strange to you that a sous-lieutenant of
artillery should rule the destinies of France, than that the King of the
country should resume the throne of his ancestors."

"Take care, De Beauvais, with whom you speak. I warn you; and be assured
I 'll not be trifled with. One word more, and I put you under arrest."

"Not here, surely," replied he, in a low and searching voice,--"not
here. Let us walk out into the park. Let it be in the great alley, or on
the terrace yonder; or, better still, let the capture take place in the
wood; but do not let your loyalty violate the hospitality of your home."

"Forgive me, I pray; I knew not what I said. You tempted me sorely,
though. Think but for a moment, De Beauvais, how I stand here, and let
your own heart judge me. I am an alien,--a friendless stranger. There
lives not one in all the length and breadth of France who would raise
a finger, or speak one word, to save me were my head in peril. My
sword and my fidelity are all my hope; that both should remain pure and
unblemished is all my wish. The grade I have I owe to him--"

"Great cause for gratitude, truly!" he broke in. "The chief _eleve_ of
the Polytechnique is made a sous-lieutenant of cavalry, with functions
of a sergeant of the gendarmerie, with orders to stop all travellers,
and search their pockets. Shame on it! It was not thus the rightful
sovereigns of France regarded those who wore their epaulettes; not thus
did they esteem the soldier's part. Think, for a second, what you are,
and then reflect what you might be. Cold and unimpassioned as you call
yourself, I know your heart better. There lives not one who treasures a
higher ambition in his breast than you. Ah! your eyes sparkle already.
Think, then, I say, what a career opens before you, if you have courage
to embrace it. It 's a great game that enables a man to spring from
sous-lieutenant to colonel of a regiment. Come, Burke! I can have no
reason, save your welfare, to press these considerations on you. What
are you writing there?"

"A report to the Prefet de Police. I see now, however late it is, the
unworthiness of the part I 've acted, in remaining in a service where I
've listened to statements such as these. I shall ask to have