r could he distrust their willingness to
sacrifice anything--nay, all--to national glory. Suffering and misery,
wounds, ghastly and dreadful, were on every side; and yet not one word
of pity, not a look of compassion was there. These men were, in _their_
eyes, far too highly placed for sympathy; theirs was that path to which
all aspired, and their trophies were their own worn frames and mangled
bodies. And then how they brightened up as the Emperor would draw near!
how even the faintest would strive to catch his eye and gaze with parted
lips on him as he spoke, as though drinking in his very words,--the balm
to their bruised hearts,--and the faint cry of "l'Empereur! l'Empereur!"
passed like a murmur along the line.

Not until the last wagon had defiled before him did the Emperor leave
the ground. It was then nearly dark, and already the lamps were lighted
along the quays, and the windows of the Palace displayed the brilliant
lustre of the preparations for a grand dinner to the marshals.

As we moved slowly along in close order, I found myself among a group
of officers of the Emperor's staffs eagerly discussing the day and its
events.

"I am sorry for Duchesne," said one; "with all his impertinences--and
he had enough of them--he was a brave fellow, and a glorious leader at a
moment of difficulty."

"Well, well, the Emperor has perhaps forgiven him by this time; and
it is not likely he would mar the happiness of a day like this by
disgracing an officer of the _elite_."

"You are wrong, my friend; his Majesty is not sorry for the occasion
which can prove that he knows as well how to punish as to reward.
Duchesne's fate is sealed. You are not old enough to remember, as I can,
the morning at Lonado, where the same _ardre du jour_ conferred a mark
of honor on one brother, and condemned another to be shot."

"And was this, indeed, the case?"

"Ay, was it. Many can tell you of it, as well as myself. They were both
in the same regiment--the fifteenth demi-brigade of light infantry. They
held a chateau at Salo against the enemy for eight hours, when at length
the elder, who commanded at the front, capitulated and laid down his
arms; the younger refused to comply, and continued to fight. They were
reinforced an hour afterwards, and the Austrians beaten off. The day
after they were both tried, and the result was as I have told you; the
utmost favor the younger could obtain was, not to witness the execution
of his brother.