o
reproach from Lannes. On the other hand, if Ney was still a day or two's
march away, it was almost certain that I should be murdered by the
peasants of the mountains or by fugitive soldiers. What was more, I had
to travel alone, for my two brave hussars had orders to return to
Taragona when we had found the infantry detachment. No matter; I
determined to push on; but then came the difficulty of finding a mount.
There was no farm or village in this deserted place where I could
procure a horse. That which I was riding was dead lame; and even if the
hussars had been able, without incurring severe punishment, to lend me
one of theirs, theirs were much fatigued. The horse that had belonged to
the officer of chasseurs had received a bullet in the thigh during the
fighting. There was only the peasant's mule left. This was a handsome
beast, and, according to the laws of war, belonged to the two hussars,
who, no doubt, reckoned on selling her when they got back to the army.
Still the good fellows made no demur about lending her to me, and put my
saddle on her back. But the infernal beast, more accustomed to the pack
than to the saddle, was so restive that directly I tried to get her away
from the group of horses and make her go alone she fell to kicking,
until I had to choose between being sent over a precipice and
dismounting.

So I decided to set out on foot. After I had taken farewell of the
infantry officer, this excellent young man, M. Tassin by name--he had
been a friend of my poor brother Felix at the military school--came
running after me, and said that he could not bear to let me thus expose
myself all alone, and that though he had no orders, and his men were raw
recruits, with little experience in war, he must send one with me, so
that I might at least have a musket and some cartridges in case of an
attack. We agreed that I should send the man back with Ney's corps; and
I went off, with the soldier accompanying me. He was a slow-speaking
Norman, with plenty of slyness under an appearance of good nature. The
Normans are for the most part brave, as I learnt when I commanded the
23rd Chasseurs, where I had five or six hundred of them. Still, in order
to know how far I could rely on my follower, I chatted with him as we
went along, and asked if he would stand his ground if we were attacked.
He said neither yes nor no, but answered, 'Well, sir, we shall see.'
Whence I inferred that when the moment of danger arrived my new