weeks, doubtless
contributed also to restore tone and vigour to a constitution which
my dissolute career, however mad and reckless, had not been long
enough seriously to impair. When weary of my lonesome attic, I would
start through the nearest barrier, avoiding the streets and districts
where I might encounter former acquaintances, and take long walks in
the environs of Paris, returning with an appetite that gave a relish
even to the tough and unsavoury viands of a cheap _traiteur_.

"It chanced, upon a certain day, when striding along the road to
Orleans, that I met a regiment of hussars changing their quarters
from that town to Paris. The morning sun shone brightly on their
accoutrements; the hoofs of their well-groomed horses rang upon the
frosty road; the men, closely wrapped in their warm pelisses, looked
cheerful, in good case, and in high spirits at the prospect of a
sojourn in the capital. I seated myself upon a gate to see them pass,
and could not avoid making a comparison between my position and that
of a private dragoon, which resulted considerably to my disadvantage.
I was not then so well aware as I have since become, of all the
hardships and disagreeables of a soldier's life; and it appeared to me
that these fellows, well clothed, well mounted, and with their daily
wants provided for, were perfect kings compared to a useless,
homeless, destitute being like myself. Their profession was an
honourable one; their regiment was their home; they had comrades and
friends; and their duty as soldiers properly done, none could reproach
or oppress them. The column marched by, and was succeeded by the
rear-guard, half-a-dozen smart, sunburned hussars, with carbine
on thigh; one of whom sang, in a mellow tenor voice, and with
considerable taste, the well-known soldier's song out of _La Dame
Blanche_. In their turn they disappeared behind a bend of the road;
but the spirited burthen of the ditty still reached my ears after
they were lost to my view--

'Ah, quel plaisir! ah, quel plaisir!
Ah, quel plaisir d'etre soldat!'

I repeated to myself, as the last notes died in the distance, and
jumping off the gate, I turned my steps towards Paris, my mind
strongly inclining to the sabre and worsted lace.

"My half-formed resolution gathered strength from reflection, and on
reaching Paris I proceeded straight to the Champ de Mars. The
spectacle that there met my eyes was of a nature to encourage my
inclination to