t
yourself before a

Feldzeugmeister of the Imperial Army? Have they not
taught you even the commonest rules of discipline? Have
they left you in the native barbarism of your own savage
country, that you dare, against my orders, present yourself
before me?' "'I thought the claim of kindred--' began
I.

"'What know I of kindred, sirrah? What have kith and kin
availed _me?_ I have stood alone in the world. It was not to
kindred I owed my life on the field of Rosbach; nor was it
a relative stanched my bleeding wounds at Wagram!'

"'The name of Dalton--'

"'I have won a prouder one, sir, and would not be reminded
by you from what I 've started. Where 's your character-
certificate?'

"'I have not brought it with me, Herr General. I scarcely
thought it would be the first question my father's uncle would
put to me.'

'"There was prudence in the omission, too, sir,' said he,
not heeding my remark. 'But I have it here.' And he drew
from a portfolio on the table a small slip of paper, and
read: '"Cadet Dalton, second company of the third
battalion, Franz Carl Regiment.----Smart on service, and
quick in discipline, but forward and petulant with those
above him in rank. Disposed to pride himself on birth and
fortune, and not sufficiently submissive to orders. Twice in
arrest, once, Kurzgeschlossen." A creditable character, sir!
Twice in arrest and once in irons! And with this you claim
kindred with a count of the empire, and an imperial field-
marshal! On the fifth of last month you entertained a party
at dinner at the Wilde Man,--most of them men of high rank
and large fortune. On the eighteenth you drove through Maria
Tell with a team of four horses, and passed the drawbridge
and the moat in full gallop. So late as Wednesday last you
hoisted a green flag on the steeple of the village church,
on pretence of honoring your father's birthday. I know each
incident of your career, sir, and have watched you with
shame and regret. Tell your father, when you write to him,
that all the favor of my august master would not endure the
test of two such proteges. And now, back to your
quarters.'

"He motioned me to retire with a gesture, and I fell back,
almost glad at any cost to escape. I had just reach