you and mek our report, and ver' happy to see you look well. Citoyens,
Vive la Republique!--Hail to the Citizen General!"

"Vive la Republique! Vive le General!" cried the three citizens behind
him.

"Citizens, you are very welcome," answered the General, gravely, as he
descended the steps and took each of them by the hand. "Citizens, allow
me to introduce to you my old friend, Citizen David Ritchie--"

"Milles diables!" cried the Citizen St. Gre, seizing me by the hand,
"c'est mon cher ami, Monsieur Reetchie. Ver' happy you have this honor,
Monsieur;" and snatching his wide-brimmed military cocked hat from his
head he made me a smiling, sweeping bow.

"What!" cried the General to me, "you know the Sieur de St. Gre, Davy?"

"He is my guest once in Louisiane, mon general," Monsieur Auguste
explained; "my family knows him."

"You know the Sieur de St. Gre, Davy?" said the General again.

"Yes, I know him," I answered, I fear with some brevity.

"Podden me," said Auguste, "I am now Citizen Captain de St. Gre. And
you are also embark in the glorious cause--Ah, I am happy," he added,
embracing me with a winning glance.

I was relieved from the embarrassment of denying the impeachment by
reason of being introduced to the other notables, to Citizen Captain
Sullivan, who wore an undress uniform consisting of a cotton butternut
hunting shirt. He had charge on the Bear Grass of building the boats for
the expedition, and was likewise a prominent member of that august
body, the Jacobin Society of Lexington. Next came Citizen Quartermaster
Depeau, now of Knob Licks, Kentucky, sometime of New Orleans. The
Citizen Quartermaster wore his hair long in the backwoods fashion; he
had a keen, pale face and sunken eyes.

"Ver' glad mek you known to me, Citizen Reetchie."

The fourth gentleman was likewise French, and called Gignoux. The
Citizen Gignoux made some sort of an impression on me which I did not
stop to analyze. He was a small man, with a little round hand that
wriggled out of my grasp; he had a big French nose, bright eyes
that popped a little and gave him the habit of looking sidewise, and
grizzled, chestnut eyebrows over them. He had a thin-lipped mouth and a
round chin.

"Citizen Reetchie, is it? I laik to know citizen's name glorified by
gran' cause. Reetchie?"

"Will you enter, citizens?" said the General.

I do not know why I followed them unless it were to satisfy a
devil-prompted curiosity as to how Augu