ll and great, with which the present history teems. Brought up
in the imperial school, accustomed to deal with men as a dictator, and
full of contempt for "civilians," Montcornet did not trouble himself to
wear gloves when it came to putting a rascal of a land-steward out of
doors. Civil life and its precautions were things unknown to the
soldier already embittered by his loss of rank. He humiliated Gaubertin
ruthlessly, though the latter drew the harsh treatment upon himself by a
cynical reply which roused Montcornet's anger.

"You are living off my land," said the general, with jesting severity.

"Do you think I can live off the sky?" returned Gaubertin, with a sneer.

"Out of my sight, blackguard! I dismiss you!" cried the general,
striking him with his whip,--blows which the steward always denied
having received, for they were given behind closed doors.

"I shall not go without my release in full," said Gaubertin, coldly,
keeping at a distance from the enraged soldier.

"We will see what is thought of you in a police court," replied
Montcornet, shrugging his shoulders.

Hearing the threat, Gaubertin looked at the general and smiled. The
smile had the effect of relaxing Montcornet's arms as though the sinews
had been cut. We must explain that smile.

For the last two years, Gaubertin's brother-in-law, a man named Gendrin,
long a justice of the municipal court of Ville-aux-Fayes, had become the
president of that court through the influence of the Comte de Soulanges.
The latter was made peer of France in 1814, and remained faithful to
the Bourbons during the Hundred-Days, therefore the Keeper of the Seals
readily granted an appointment at his request. This relationship gave
Gaubertin a certain importance in the country. The president of the
court of a little town is, relatively, a greater personage than the
president of one of the royal courts of a great city, who has various
equals, such as generals, bishops, and prefects; whereas the judge
of the court of a small town has none,--the attorney-general and the
sub-prefect being removable at will. Young Soudry, a companion of
Gaubertin's son in Paris as well as at Les Aigues, had just been
appointed assistant attorney in the capital of the department. Before
the elder Soudry, a quartermaster in the artillery, became a brigadier
of gendarmes, he had been wounded in a skirmish while defending Monsieur
de Soulanges, then adjutant-general. At the time of the creation o