three occurrences which previously he had been
unable to explain to himself, or even to guess at their meaning by any
exercise of ingenuity. The first of these was the singular ignorance
in which he had been kept of the death of his parents by the
government officials in the East, and the very evident suppression of
the letters which, as his uncle informed him, had been dispatched to
summon him with all speed homeward.

The second was the pertinacity with which he had been thrust forward,
time after time, on the most desperate and deadly duty--a pertinacity
so striking, that, eager as the young soldier was, and greedy of any
chance of winning honor, it had not failed to strike him that _he_ was
frequently _ordered_ on duty of a nature which, under ordinary
circumstances, is performed by volunteers.

Occurrences of this kind are soon remarked in armies, and it had early
become a current remark in the camp that to serve in Raoul's company
was a sure passport either to promotion or to the other world. But to
such an extent was this carried, that when time after time that
company had been decimated, even the bravest of the brave experienced
an involuntary sinking of the heart when informed that they were
transferred or even promoted into those fatal ranks.

Nor was this all, for twice it had occurred, once when he was a
captain in command of a company, and again when he had a whole
regiment under his orders as its colonel, that his superiors, after
detaching him on duty so desperate that it might almost be regarded as
a forlorn hope, had entirely neglected either to support or recall
him, but had left him exposed to almost inevitable destruction.

In the first instance, not a man whether officer or private of his
company had escaped, with the exception of himself. And he was found,
when all was supposed to be over, in the last ditch of the redoubt
which he had been ordered to defend to the uttermost, after it had
been retaken, with his colors wrapped around his breast, still
breathing a little, although so cruelly wounded that his life was long
despaired of, and was only saved at last by the vigor and purity of an
unblemished and unbroken constitution. On the second occasion, he had
been suffered to contend alone for three entire days with but a
single battalion against a whole oriental army; but then, that which
had been intended to destroy him had won him deathless fame, for by a
degree of skill in handling his littl