l except the
great mortar battery. This I pointed out to Damremont when he passed me,
and he was very savage. Great men don't like to be told of their faults;
however, he lost his life three days afterwards from not taking my
advice. He was going down the hill with Rulhieres when I said to him,
'Mon General, you expose yourself too much; that which is duty in a
subaltern is a fault in a general.' He very politely told me to go to
where he may chance to be himself now; for a cannon-ball struck him a
few seconds afterwards, and he was killed on the spot. General Perregaux
was severely wounded almost at the same time. For four days the fighting
was awful; battery answered to battery night and day: while from every
quarter of the compass we were exposed to the fierce attacks of the Arab
cavalry. The commander of our army sent a flag of truce to their town,
commanding them to surrender; and, what do you think was the reply?--"If
you want powder, we'll supply you; if you are without bread, we will
send it to you: but as long as there is one good Mussulman left alive
you do not enter the town."--Was not that grand? The very reply, when
made known to the troops, filled them with admiration of their enemy,
and they swore by their colours that if ever they overpowered them they
would give them no quarter.

"'In two days, General Vallee, to whom the command fell upon the death
of Damremont, considered the breach sufficiently wide for the assault,
and we every hour expected that the order would be given. It came at
last. My poor husband was in the second column which mounted. Strange to
say, he was very melancholy on that morning, and appeared to have a
presentiment of what was to take place. "Coralie," said he to me, as he
was scraping the mud off his trousers with his pocket-knife, "if I fall,
you will do well. I leave you as a legacy to General Vallee--he will
appreciate you. Do not forget to let him know my testamentary
dispositions."

"'I promised I would not. The drums beat. He kissed me on both cheeks.
"Go, my Philippe," said I; "go to glory." He did; for a mine was sprung,
and he with many others was blown to atoms. I had watched the advance of
the column, and was able to distinguish the form of my dear Philippe
when the explosion with the vast column of smoke took place. When it
cleared away, I could see the wounded in every direction hastening back;
but my husband was not among them. In the meantime the other columns
en