he stroke of a Mameluke sabre at Chebrheis.'

"'What! the fellow who killed an Austrian prisoner after Marengo? Why, I
thought thee dead.'

"'Better for me I had been!' said I. 'You would n't read my petition.
('Yes, you may frown away, General,' said I to Duroc, who kept glowering
at me like a tiger.) I began life at the tambour; I have come down to it
again. You can't bring me lower, _parbleu!_

"The Emperor whispered something to the Empress, who turned round
towards me and laughed; and then he made a sign for me to withdraw.
Before I had got a dozen paces from the box, an aide-de-camp overtook
me.

"'Francois,' said he, 'you are to appear before the medical commission
to-morrow; and if their report be favorable, you are to have your old
grade of maitre d'armes.'

"And so it was. Not only was I restored, but they even placed me in the
same regiment I served in during the campaigns of Egypt and Italy. The
corps, however, was greatly changed since I knew it before; and so
I asked the Emperor to appoint me to a voltigeur battalion, where
discipline is not so rigid, and pleasant comrades are somewhat more
plentiful. I had my wish, gentlemen. And now, with your permission,
we'll drink the 'Faubourg St. Antoine,' the cradle of our arm of the
service."

In repeating Maitre Francois's tale, I could only wish it might have
one half the success with my reader it met with from his comrades of the
bivouac. This, however, I cannot look for, and must leave it and him to
their fortunes, and now turn to follow the course of my own.

Francois was not the only one who felt surprised at my being able to
resist the pleasures of a voltigeurs life; and my companion the corporal
looked upon my determination to join the hussar brigade as one of those
extraordinary instances of duty predominating over inclination. "Not,"
said he, "but there may be brave fellows and good soldiers among the
dragoons; though having a horse to ride is a sore drawback on a man's
courage. And when one has felt the confidence of standing face to face,
and foot to foot, with the enemy, I cannot see how he can ever bring
himself to fight in any other fashion."

"A man can accustom himself to anything, Corporal," said an old,
hardy-looking soldier, who sat smoking with the most profound air of
thoughtful reflection. "I remember being in the 'dromedary brigade' at
Cairo. Few of us could keep our seats at first; and when we fell off,
it was often hard enough t