nion, "that Davoust cannot hold the
bridge of Goding, and must fall back before the Russian column; and
that Napoleon has invited Alexander to a conference here to gain time to
reinforce Davoust."

"Exactly; but the Czar is too wily an enemy for that to succeed; and
probably hence the delay, which appears to irritate him now."

The supposition, more plausible than most of those I heard before, was
still contradicted by the account of the Emperor Alexander's retreat;
and again was I at a loss to reconcile these discrepancies, when I
beheld Napoleon, with his glass to his eye, motion with his hand for
Berthier to come forward. I turned towards the road, and now could
distinguish in the distance a dark object moving towards us. A few
minutes after the sun shone out, and I remarked the glitter of arms,
stretching in a long line; while my companion, with the aid of a glass,
called out,--

"I see them plainly; they are lancers. The escort are Hungarians, and
there's a _caleche_, with four horses in front."

The Emperor stood motionless, his arms folded on his breast, and his
head a little leaned forward, exactly as I have seen him represented in
so many pictures and statues. His eyes were thrown downwards; and as he
stirred the blazing wood with his foot, one could easily perceive how
intensely his mind was occupied with deep thought.

The clattering sound of cavalry now turned my attention to another
quarter; and I saw, exactly in front of us, and about five hundred paces
off, a regiment of Hungarian Hussars, and some squadrons of Hulans drawn
up. I had little time to mark their gorgeous equipment and splendid
uniform, for already the _caleche_ had drawn up at the roadside, and
Prince John of Lichtenstein, descending, took off his chapeau, and
offered his arm to assist another to alight. Slowly, and, as it seemed,
with effort, a tall thin figure, in the white uniform of the Austrian
Guard, stepped from the carriage to the ground. The same instant the
officers of the staff fell back, and I saw Napoleon advance with
open arms to embrace him. The Austrian emperor--for it was Francis
himself--seemed scarcely able to control the emotion he felt at this
moment; and we could see that his head rested for several seconds on
Napoleon's shoulder. And what a moment must that have been! How deeply
must the pride of the descendant of the Caesars have felt the humiliation
which made him thus a suppliant before one he deemed a mere Cor