and I was
promised that I should not be called upon to fight against my own
countrymen, I thought it better to carry a French musket than to rot in
a French prison."

"And you have carried it well," the marshal said. "Had you not done so
you would not have won your stripes among the men of the Grenadiers of
the Rhone, where every man has again and again shown that he is a hero.
Carry out your brave comrade's idea, lads. We all want comforting, and
my own heart will beat quicker to-morrow as I ride along and hear your
marching song, and I shall say to myself, 'God bless the brave
Grenadiers of the Rhone;' I trust that others will follow your example.
What is your name, sergeant?"

"Julian Wyatt, General."

"Put it down in my note-book," Ney said to one of his staff.
"Good-night, comrades, you have done me good. By the way, a hundred
yards to your left I marked a dead horse as I came along; it may help
your suppers." Then, amid a cheer from the soldiers, Ney moved on with
his staff.

It was not many minutes before portions of the horse were cooking over
the fire.

"I feel another man already," one of the younger sergeants laughed, as
they ate their meal. "Jules is right; good spirits are everything."

"Bear that in mind to-morrow, Antoine," another said. "It is easy enough
to be cheerful when one is warm and has got some meat, even though it
be only horse-flesh and mightily tough at that, between your teeth; but
it is harder to be so after sixteen hours of marching and fighting."

"Well, we will try anyhow, Jacques."

Another quarter of an hour and the circle broke up, the non-commissioned
officers going off to the companies to which they belonged.

Wood being plentiful, great fires were kept blazing all night, and round
each was told what Julian had said, the commendation Ney had given the
regiment, and his warm approval of the plan. As soon as the order was
given to march in the morning, and Julian started one of their old
marching songs, it was taken up from end to end of the column, to the
astonishment of the officers and of the men of other regiments within
hearing. The effect upon the men themselves was electrical. The dogged
look of determination with which they had before plodded along was
supplanted by an air of gaiety. They marched along in time to the music
with a step that was almost elastic. Not since they had crossed the
Niemen had the song been heard; occasionally a singer was silent for a
minut