is not enough to have got out of that.
I have absolutely nothing in the world, no home, no resources. Beggar by
birth, adventurer by fortune, I have enlisted, and have consumed my pay;
I hoped for plunder, and here we are in full flight! What am I to do?
Go and drown myself? No, certainly a cannon-ball would be as good as
that. But can't I profit by this chance, and obtain a decent position by
turning to my own advantage this curious resemblance, and making some use
of this man whom Fate has thrown in my way, and who has but a short time
to live?"

Arguing thus, he bent over the prostrate man with a cynical laugh: one
might have thought he was Satan watching the departure of a soul too
utterly lost to escape him.

"Alas! alas!" cried the sufferer; "may God have mercy on me! I feel my
end is near."

"Bah! comrade, drive away these dismal thoughts. Your leg pains
you--well they will cut it off! Think only of the other one, and trust
in Providence!"

"Water, a drop of water, for Heaven's sake!" The sufferer was in a high
fever. The would-be nurse looked round and saw a jug of water, towards
which the dying man extended a trembling hand. A truly infernal idea
entered his mind. He poured some water into a gourd which hung from his
belt, held it to the lips of the wounded man, and then withdrew it.

"Oh! I thirst-that water! . . . For pity's sake, give me some!"

"Yes, but on one condition you must tell me your whole history."

"Yes . . . but give me water!"

His tormentor allowed him to swallow a mouthful, then overwhelmed him
with questions as to his family, his friends and fortune, and compelled
him to answer by keeping before his eyes the water which alone could
relieve the fever which devoured him. After this often interrupted
interrogation, the sufferer sank back exhausted, and almost insensible.
But, not yet satisfied, his companion conceived the idea of reviving him
with a few drops of brandy, which quickly brought back the fever, and
excited his brain sufficiently to enable him to answer fresh questions.
The doses of spirit were doubled several times, at the risk of ending the
unhappy man's days then and there: Almost delirious, his head feeling as
if on fire, his sufferings gave way to a feverish excitement, which took
him back to other places and other times: he began to recall the days of
his youth and the country where he lived. But his tongue was still
fettered by a kind of reserve: