aid he, quickly, and with more seriousness of
manner; "it is seldom I have been betrayed into such a passionate warmth
as this. I hope I have not offended you. This change of circumstance
will make none in our friendship. I knew it, my dear boy. And now let us
turn from such tiresome topics. Where, think you, have I been spending
the evening? But how could you ever guess? Well, at the Odeon, attending
Mademoiselle Pierrot, and a very pretty friend of hers,--one of our
vivandieres, who happens to be in the brigade with mademoiselle's
brother, and dined there to-day. She only arrived in Paris this morning;
and, by Jove! there are some handsome faces in our gay _salons_ would
scarcely stand the rivalry with hers. I must show you the fair Minette."

"Minette!" stammered I, while a sickly sensation--a fear of some unknown
misfortune to the poor girl--almost stopped my utterance. "I know her;
she belongs to the Fourth Cuirassiers."

"Ah, you know her? Who would have suspected my quiet friend of such an
acquaintance? And so, you never hinted this to me. _Ma foi!_ I 'd have
thought twice about throwing up my commission if I had seen her half
an hour earlier. Come, tell me all you know of her. Where does she come
from?"

"Of her history I am totally ignorant; I can only tell you that her
character is without a stain or reproach, in circumstances where few, if
any save herself, ever walked scathless; that on more than one occasion
she has displayed heroism worthy of the best among us."

"Oh dear, oh dear, how disappointed I am! Indeed, I half feared as much:
she is a regular vivandiere of the melodrame,--virtuous, high-minded,
and intrepid. You, of course, believe all this,--don't be angry,
Burke,--but I don't; and the reason is I can't,--the gods have left
me incredulous from the cradle. I have a rooted obstinacy about me,
perfectly irreclaimable. Thus, I fancy Napoleon to be a Corsican; a
modern marshal to be a promoted sergeant; a judge of the upper court to
be a public prosecutor; and a vivandiere of the _grande armee_--But I'll
not offend,--don't be afraid, my poor fellow,--even at the risk of the
rivalry. Upon my life, I 'm glad to see you have a heart susceptible
of any little tenderness. But you cannot blame me if I 'm weary of this
eternal travesty of character which goes on amongst us. Why will our
Republican and _sans culotte_ friends try courtly airs and graces, while
our real aristocracy stoop to the affected coar