"I dress but once in
eight days [Sunday parade?]; I sleep but little since my illness; it
is incredible. I retire at ten, and rise at four in the morning. I
take but one meal a day, at three; that is good for my health."

More bad news came from Corsica. The starving patriot fell seriously
ill, and for a time his life hung in the balance. On August eighth he
was at last sufficiently restored to travel, and applied for a
six-months' furlough, to begin immediately. Under the regulations, in
spite of his previous leaves and irregularities, he was this year
entitled to such a vacation, but not before October. His plea that the
winter was unfavorable for the voyage to Corsica was characteristic,
for it was neither altogether true nor altogether false. He was
feverish and ill, excited by news of turmoils at home, and wished to
be on the scene of action; this would have been a true and sufficient
ground for his request. It was likewise true, however, that his chance
for a smooth passage was better in August than in October, and this
evident fact, though probably irrelevant, might move the authorities.
Their answer was favorable, and on September sixteenth he left
Auxonne.

In the interval occurred a mutiny in the regiment. The pay of the men
was far in arrears, and they demanded a division of the surplus which
had accumulated from the various regimental grants, and which was
managed by the officers for the benefit of their own mess. The
officers were compelled to yield, so far had revolutionary license
supplanted royal and military authority. Of course a general orgy
followed. It seems to have been during these days that the scheme of
Corsican liberation which brought him finally into the field of
politics took shape in Napoleon's mind. Fesch had returned to Corsica,
and had long kept his nephew thoroughly informed of the situation. By
the anarchy prevailing all about him in France, and beginning to
prevail in Corsica, his eyes were opened to the possibilities of the
Revolution for one who knew how to take advantage of the changed
order.

The appearance of Buonaparte in his twentieth year was not in general
noteworthy. His head was shapely, but not uncommon in size, although
disproportionate to the frame which bore it. His forehead was wide and
of medium height; on each side long chestnut hair--lanky as we may
suppose from his own account of his personal habits--fell in stiff,
flat locks over his lean cheeks. His eyes were