adopted it as much from necessity as choice; I followed it more
from habit than either."

"But you cannot be insensible to the greatness of your country, nor her
success in arms."

"Nor am I; but these things are a small ingredient in patriotism. You,
the stranger, share with us all our triumphs in the field. But the
inherent features of a nation,--the distinctive traits of which every
son of the soil feels proud,--where are they now? What is France to me
more than to you? One half my kindred are exiled; of those who remain,
many regard me as a renegade. Their properties confiscated, themselves
suspected, what tie binds them to this country? You are not more an
alien here than I am."

"And yet, Duchesne, you shed your blood freely for this same cause you
condemn. You charged the Pratzen, some days ago, with four squadrons,
against a whole column of Russian cavalry."

"Ay, and would again to-morrow, boy. Had you been a gambler, I need n't
have told you that it is the game, not the stake, that interests the
real gamester. But come, do not fancy I want to make you a convert to
these tiresome theories of mine. What say you to the pretty Mademoiselle
Pauline? Did you admire her much?"

"She is unquestionably very handsome; but, if I must confess it, her
manner towards me was too ungracious to make me loud in her praise."

"I like that, I vow," said Duchesne; "that saucy air has an
indescribable charm for me. I don't know if it is not the very thing
which pleases me most about her. She has been spoiled by flattery and
admiration; for her beauty and her fortune are prizes in the great
wheel. And that she is aware of the fact is nothing wonderful,
considering that she hears it repeated every evening of her life, by
every-rank in the service, from a marshal of France down to--a captain
in the _chasseurs a cheval_," said he, laughing.

"Who, probably, was one of the last to tell her so," said I, looking at
him slyly.

"What have we here?" said he, suddenly, without paying any attention to
my remark, as he again took up the "Moniteur." "'It is rumored that the
Russian Prince, Drobretski, was dangerously wounded this morning in an
affair of honor. The names of the other party and the seconds are
still unknown; but the efforts of the police, stimulated by the express
command of the Emperor, will, it is to be hoped, succeed in discovering
them ere long.'"

"Is not that the name of your Russian friend of last night, Duches