abusson), at whose feet the hat fell, picked it up, and came
out from the front ranks to offer it to his Majesty. "Thanks, Captain,"
said the Emperor, still engaged in quieting his horse. "In what
regiment?"--"Sire?" asked the officer. The Emperor, then regarding him
more attentively, and perceiving his mistake, said to him, smiling, "Ah,
that is so, monsieur; in the Guard."

The new captain received the commission which he owed to his presence of
mind, but which he had in fact well earned by his bravery and devotion to
duty.

At another review, his Majesty perceived in the ranks of a regiment of
the line an old soldier, whose arms were decorated with three chevrons.
He recognized him instantly as having seen him in the army of Italy, and
approaching him, said, "Well, my brave fellow, why have you not the
cross? You do not look like a bad fellow."--"Sire," replied the old
soldier, with sorrowful gravity, "I have three times been put on the list
for the cross."--"You shall not be disappointed a fourth time," replied
the Emperor; and he ordered Marshal Berthier to place on the list, for
the next promotion, the brave soldier, who was soon made a chevalier of
the Legion of Honor.

CHAPTER XXI.

Pope Pius VII. had left Rome early in November, 1804; and his Holiness,
accompanied by General Menou, administrator of Piedmont, arrived at Mont
Cenis, on the morning of Nov. 15. The road of Mont Cenis had been
surveyed and smoothed, and all dangerous points made secure by barriers.
The Holy Father was received by M. Poitevin-Maissemy, prefect of Mont
Blanc, and after a short visit to the hospice, crossed the mountain in a
sedan chair, escorted by an immense crowd, who knelt to receive his
blessing as he passed.

Nov. 17 his Holiness resumed his carriage, in which he made the remainder
of the journey, accompanied in the same manner. The Emperor went to meet
the Holy Father, and met him on the road to Nemours in the forest of
Fontainebleau. The Emperor dismounted from his horse, and the two
sovereigns returned to Fontainebleau in the same carriage. It is said
that neither took precedence over the other, and that, in order to avoid
this, they both entered the carriage at the same instant, his Majesty by
the door on the right, and his Holiness by that on the left.

I do not know whether it is true that the Emperor used devices and
stratagems in order to avoid compromising his dignity, but I do know that
it would have been i