surely,
surely, there is some mistake in your statement. Permit me to observe
that the action of the first of June took place five hundred years after
your time, and--"

"Perhaps I am confusing my dates," said the old gentleman, with a faint
blush. "You say I am mixing up the transactions of my time on earth
with the story of my successors? It may be so. We take no count of a few
centuries more or less in our dwelling by the darkling Stygian river.
Of late, there came amongst us a good knight, Messire de Cambronne, who
fought against you English in the country of Flanders, being captain of
the guard of my Lord the King of France, in a famous battle where
you English would have been utterly routed but for the succor of the
Prussian heathen. This Messire de Cambronne, when bidden to yield by you
of England, answered this, 'The guard dies but never surrenders;' and
fought a long time afterwards, as became a good knight. In our wars with
you of England it may have pleased the Fates to give you the greater
success, but on our side, also, there has been no lack of brave deeds
performed by brave men."

"King Edward may have been the victor, sir, as being the strongest, but
you are the hero of the siege of Calais!" cried Mr. Sterne. "Your
story is sacred, and your name has been blessed for five hundred years.
Wherever men speak of patriotism and sacrifice, Eustace of Saint Pierre
shall be beloved and remembered. I prostrate myself before the bare
feet which stood before King Edward. What collar of chivalry is to be
compared to that glorious order which you wear? Think, sir, how out of
the myriad millions of our race, you, and some few more, stand forth as
exemplars of duty and honor. Fortunati nimium!"

"Sir," said the old gentleman, "I did but my duty at a painful moment;
and 'tis matter of wonder to me that men talk still, and glorify such
a trifling matter. By our Lady's grace, in the fair kingdom of France,
there are scores of thousands of men, gentle and simple, who would do as
I did. Does not every sentinel at his post, does not every archer in the
front of battle, brave it, and die where his captain bids him? Who am I
that I should be chosen out of all France to be an example of fortitude?
I braved no tortures, though these I trust I would have endured with a
good heart. I was subject to threats only. Who was the Roman knight of
whom the Latin clerk Horatius tells?"

"A Latin clerk? Faith, I forget my Latin," says Mr