against you, and in any case you must go; therefore arrange
all my papers, put everything to rights, and be ready to return with the
orderly.'

'You'll give me a good character, _mon capitaine_,' said I, trembling
more than ever--'you'll say what you can for me, I'm sure.'

'Willingly, if the general or chief were here,' replied he; 'but that's
not so. General Moreau is at Strasbourg. It is General Regnier that is
in command of the army, and unless specially applied to, I could not
venture upon the liberty of obtruding my opinion upon him.'

'Is he so severe, sir?' asked I timidly.

'The general is a good disciplinarian,' said he cautiously, while he
motioned with his hand towards the door, and accepting the hint, I
retired.

It was evening when I re-entered Kehl, under an escort of two of my own
regiment, and was conducted to the 'Salle de Police.' At the door stood
my old corporal, whose malicious grin, as I alighted, revealed the whole
story of my arrest; and I now knew the charge that would be preferred
against me--a heavier there could not be made--was, 'disobedience in the
field.' I slept very little that night, and when I did close my eyes, it
was to awake with a sudden start, and believe myself in presence of
the court-martial, or listening to my sentence, as read out by the
president. Towards day, however, I sank into a heavy, deep slumber, from
which I was aroused by the reveille of the barracks.

I had barely time to dress when I was summoned before the 'Tribunale
Militaire'--a sort of permanent court-martial, whose sittings were held
in one of the churches of the town. Not even all the terror of my own
precarious position could overcome the effect of old prejudices in my
mind, as I saw myself led up the dim aisle of the church towards the
altar rails, within which, around a large table, were seated a number of
officers, whose manner and bearing evinced but little reverence for the
sacred character of the spot.

Stationed in a group of poor wretches whose wan looks and anxious
glances told that they were prisoners like myself, I had time to see
what was going forward around me. The president, who alone wore his hat,
read from a sort of list before him the name of a prisoner and that of
the witnesses in the cause. In an instant they were all drawn up and
sworn. A few questions followed, rapidly put, and almost as rapidly
replied to. The prisoner was called on then for his defence: if this
occupied man