compagnie d'elite_, as it was called,
was selected to carry to the Senate the glorious spoils of
victory,--forty-five standards taken on the field of Austerlitz, and now
destined to grace the Palace of the Luxembourg.

I had scarcely seated myself to the humble supper of my bivouac, when an
orderly came to command me to General d'Auvergne's quarters. The little
sitting-room he occupied, in a peasant hut, was so filled with officers
that it was some time before I could approach him; and my impatience
was not lessened by more than once hearing my name mentioned aloud,--a
circumstance not a little trying to a young man in the presence of his
superiors in station.

"But here he is," said the general, beckoning to me to come forward.
"Burke, his Majesty has most graciously permitted me to include your
name in the _compagnie d'elite_,--a testimony of his satisfaction you've
every reason to be proud of. And just at the moment I was about to
communicate the fact to you, I have received a message from Marshal
Murat, requesting that I may permit you to serve on his own staff."

"Yes, Captain," said an officer in the uniform of a colonel,--it was the
first time I had been addressed by my new title, and I cannot express
what a thrill of pleasure the word gave me,--"Marshal Murat witnessed
with pleasure the alacrity and steadiness of your conduct on the 2d, and
has sent me with an offer which I fancy few officers would not deem a
flattering one."

"Unquestionably it is, Colonel," said General d'Auvergne; "nay, more, I
will say I regard it as the making of a young man's fortune, thus early
in his career to have attracted such high notice. But I must be passive
here; Captain Burke shall decide for himself."

"In that case, sir, I shall cause you but little delay, if you will
still permit me to serve on your own staff."

"But stay, my boy, do not be rash in this affair. I will not insult your
better feeling by dwelling on the little power I possess, and the very
great enjoyed by Marshal Murat, of serving your interests; but I
must say, that with him, and on his personal staff, opportunities of
distinction--"

"And here I must interpose," said the colonel, smiling courteously:
"with no officer in this army can a man expect to see service, in its
boldest and most heroic colors, rather than with General d'Auvergne."

"I know it,--I feel it, too; and with him, if he will allow me--"

"Enough, my dear boy," said the old man, grasp