ce. Then Napoleon fell
back on a last resource; he did as he had been wont to do on the
battlefield: he went to his foes instead of letting them come to him.
Talk of troubles! No words could ever make you understand the misery of
those who loved him for his own sake."

"But where is his snuff-box?" asked La Fosseuse.

"It is in a box at Grenoble," the commandant replied.

"I will go over to see it, if you will let me. To think that you have
something in your possession that his fingers have touched!... Had he a
well-shaped hand?"

"Very."

"Can it be true that he is dead? Come, tell me the real truth?"

"Yes, my dear child, he is dead; there is no doubt about it."

"I was such a little girl in 1815. I was not tall enough to see anything
but his hat, and even so I was nearly crushed to death in the crowd at
Grenoble."

"Your coffee and cream is very nice indeed," said Genestas. "Well,
Adrien, how do you like this country? Will you come here to see
mademoiselle?"

The boy made no answer; he seemed afraid to look at La Fosseuse.
Benassis never took his eyes off Adrien; he appeared to be reading the
lad's very soul.

"Of course he will come to see her," said Benassis. "But let us go home
again, I have a pretty long round to make, and I shall want a horse.
I daresay you and Jacquotte will manage to get on together whilst I am
away."

"Will you not come with us?" said Genestas to La Fosseuse.

"Willingly," she answered; "I have a lot of things to take over for Mme.
Jacquotte."

They started out for the doctor's house. Her visitors had raised La
Fosseuse's spirits; she led the way along narrow tracks, through the
loneliest parts of the hills.

"You have told us nothing about yourself, Monsieur l'Officier," she
said. "I should have liked to hear you tell us about some adventure in
the wars. I liked what you told us about Napoleon very much, but it made
me feel sad.... If you would be so very kind----"

"Quite right!" Benassis exclaimed. "You ought to tell us about some
thrilling adventure during our walk. Come, now, something really
interesting like that business of the beam in Beresina!"

"So few of my recollections are worth telling," said Genestas. "Some
people come in for all kinds of adventures, but I have never managed to
be the hero of any story. Oh! stop a bit though, a funny thing did once
happen to me. I was with the Grand Army in 1805, and so, of course, I
was at Austerlitz. There was a great de