ridged over by common danger. All men are equal before hunger, cold,
and fatigue. One morning, Leblanc, at the head of ten men, rescued
Fougas from the hands of the Cossacks; then Fougas sabred a half dozen
stragglers who were trying to steal Leblanc's cloak. Eight days later,
Leblanc pulled his friend out of a hut which the peasants had set on
fire; and Fougas, in turn, fished Leblanc out of the Beresina. The list
of their dangers and their mutual services is too long for me to give
entire. To finish off, the Colonel, at Koenigsberg, passed three weeks
at the bedside of the lieutenant, who was attacked with fever and ague.
There is no doubt that this tender care saved his life. This reciprocal
devotion had formed between them bonds so strong that a separation of
forty-six years could not break them.

Fougas, alone in a great saloon, was buried in the recollections of that
good old time, when an usher asked him to remove his gloves, and go into
the cabinet of the Emperor.

Respect for the powers that be, which is the very foundation of my
character, does not permit me to bring august personages upon the scene.
But Fougas' correspondence belongs to contemporaneous history, and here
is the letter which he wrote to Clementine on returning to his hotel:

"PARIS (what am I saying?)--HEAVEN, _Aug._ 21, 1859.

"MY SWEET ANGEL: I am intoxicated with joy, gratitude,
and admiration. I have seen him, I have spoken to him;
he gave me his hand, he made me be seated. He is a great
prince; he will be the master of the world. He gave me
the medal of St. Helena, and the Cross of an Officer.
Little Leblanc, an old friend and a true heart,
conducted me into his presence; he is Marshal of France,
too, and a Duke of the new empire! As for promotion,
there's no more need of speculation on that head. A
prisoner of war in Prussia and in a triple coffin, I
return with my rank; so says the military law. But in
less than three months I shall be a
brigadier-general--that's certain; he deigned to promise
it to me himself. What a man! A god on earth! No more
conceited than he of Wagram and Moscow, and, like him,
the father of the soldier. He wanted to give me money
from his private purse to replace my equipments. I
answered, 'No, sire; I have a claim to recover at
Dantzic; if it is paid, I shall be rich; if the debt is
denied, my pay will suffice for me.' There