he, in some confusion;
"I heard all about it. But come in here; I've no better quarters to
offer you, but such as it is, make it yours."

My old companion of the Polytechnique was, indeed, little altered by
time,--careless, inconsiderate, and good-hearted as ever. He told me
that he had only gained the command of the regiment a few weeks before;
"and," added he, "if matters mend not soon, I am scarcely like to hold
it much longer. The despatches just received tell that the Allies are
concentrating at Trannes; and if so, we shall have a battle against
overwhelming odds. No matter, Burke; you have got into a famous
corps,--they fight splendidly, and my excellent uncle, his Majesty,
loves to indulge their predilection."

I passed the day with Tascher, chatting over our respective fortunes;
and in discussing the past and the future the greater part of the night
went over. Before dawn, however, we were on the march towards Chaumiere,
whither the army was directed, and the Emperor himself then stationed.

It was the 1st of February, and the weather was dark, lowering, and
gloomy. A cold wind drove the snowdrift in fitful gusts before it, and
the deep roads made our progress slow and difficult. As our line
of advance, however, was not that by which the other divisions were
marching, it was already past noon before we knew that the enemy was but
three leagues distant. On advancing farther, we heard the faint sounds
of a cannonade; and then they grew louder and louder, till the whole air
seemed tremulous with the concussion.

"A heavy fire, Colonel," said a veteran officer of the regiment. "I
should guess there are not less than eighty or a hundred guns engaged."

"Press on, men! press on!" cried Tascher. "When his Majesty provides
such music, it's scarcely polite to be late."

At a quick trot we came on, and about three o'clock debouched in the
plain behind Oudinot's battalions of reserve, which were formed in two
dense columns, about a hundred yards apart.

"Hussars to the front!" cried an aide-de-camp, as he galloped past, and
waved his cap in the direction of the space between the columns.

In separate squadrons we penetrated through the defile, and came out
on an open plain behind the centre of the first line. The ground was
sufficiently elevated here, so that I could overlook the front line; but
all I could see was a dense, heavy smoke, which intervened between the
two positions, in the midst of which, and directl