nize true desert wherever it occurs. Come, what say you?
Does this proposal meet your wishes?"

"If to surpass my expectations, and flatter my pride, were to convince
my reason, and change my estimation of what is loyal and true, I should
say, 'Yes, De Beauvais; the proposition does meet my wishes.' But not
so. I wore these epaulettes first in my admiration of him whose fortunes
I have followed to the last. My pride, my glory, were to be his soldier;
that can be no longer, and the sword I drew in his cause shall never be
unsheathed in another's."

"Are you ignorant that such arguments apply with equal force to all
those great men who have, within these few weeks past, sworn allegiance
to his Majesty? What say you to the list of marshals, not one of whom
has refused the graciously offered favor of his Majesty? Are Ney, Soult,
Augereau, Macdonald, and Marmont nothing as examples?"

"I will not say so, De Beauvais; but this I will say, they had had both
more respect and esteem from me had they done otherwise. If they were
true to the Emperor, they can scarce be loyal to the King."

"Can you not distinguish between the forced services exacted by a tyrant
and the noble duty rendered to a rightful sovereign?"

"I can better estimate the fascinations which lead men to follow a hero,
than to be the parade-soldier around the gilded gates of a palace."

De Beauvais's cheek flashed scarlet, and his voice was agitated, as he
replied,--

"The nobles of France, sir, have shown themselves as high in deeds of
chivalry and heroism as they have ever been in the accomplishments of
true-born gentlemen."

"Pardon me, De Beauvais! I meant no imputation of them and their
motives. There is every reason why you and your gallant companions
should enjoy the favors of that crown your efforts have placed upon the
head of the King of France. Your true and fitting station is around the
throne your bravery and devotion have restored. But as for us,--we
who have fought and marched, have perilled limb and life, to raise
the fortune and elevate the glory of him who was the enemy of that
sovereign,--how can we be participators in the triumph we labored to
avert, and rejoice in a consummation we would have died rather than
witness?"

"But it has come; the fates have decided against you. The cause you
would serve is not merely unfortunate,--it is extinct; the Empire has
left no banner behind it. Come, then, and rally round one whose boast it
is t