would have me ride on a _caisson_ in the rear; whereas I wished to be in
the advance, where my advice might have been useful. The charge of the
Arabs was very sudden; the three men who were with the _caisson_ were
sabred, and I was in the arms of a chieftain, who was wheeling round his
horse to make off with me when a ball took him in the neck, and he fell
with me. I disengaged myself, seized the horse by the bridle, and
prevented its escape; and I also took possession of the Arab's pistols
and scimitar.'

"'Indeed!'

"'My husband sold the horse the next day to one of our generals, who
forgot to pay for it after my husband was killed. As for the scimitar
and pistols, they were stolen from me that night: but what can you
expect?--our army is brave, but a little demoralised. The next day we
arrived before Constantine, and we had to defile before the enemy's
guns. At one portion of the road, men and horses were tumbled over by
their fire; the _caisson_ that I was riding upon was upset by a ball,
and thrown down the ravine, dragging the horses after it. I lay among
the horses' legs--they kicking furiously; it was a miracle that my life
was preserved: as it was----'

"'You broke your nose,' interrupted I.

"'No, sir, indeed I did not. I only received a kick on the arm, which
obliged me to carry it in a sling for some days. The weather became very
bad; we had few tents, and they were not able to resist the storms of
rain and wind. We wrapped ourselves up how we could and sat in deep
pools of water, and the Arabs attacked us before we could open the fire
of our batteries; we were in such a pickle that, had the bad weather
lasted, we must have retreated; and happy would those have been who
could have once more found themselves safe in the camp of Mzez Ammar. I
don't think that I ever suffered so much as I did at that time--the
weather had even overcome the natural gallantry of our nation; and so
far from receiving any attention, the general remark to me was, "What
the devil do _you_ do here?" This to be said to a pretty woman!'

"'It was not till the 10th that we could manage to open the fire of our
batteries. It was mud, mud, and mud again; the men and horses were
covered with mud up to their necks--the feathers of the staff were
covered with mud--every ball which was fired by the enemy sent up
showers of mud; even the face of the Duc de Nemours was disfigured with
it. I must say that our batteries were well situated, al