of good nature, and a
reckless, careless easiness of disposition, always attractive to very
young men. His reputation for courage, of which he had given signal
proofs, elevated him in my esteem; and, ere long, all my misgivings
about him, in regard of certain blemishes, gave way before my admiration
of his heroic bearing, and a readiness to confront peril, wherever to
be found.

I had made him the confidant of my own history, of which I told him
every thing, save the passages which related to the Pere Michel. These I
either entirely glossed over, or touched so lightly as to render
unimportant: a dread of ridicule restraining me from any mention of
those earlier scenes of my life, which were alone of all those I should
have avowed with pride. Perhaps it was from mere accident--perhaps some
secret shame to conceal my forlorn and destitute condition may have had
its share in the motive; but, for some cause or other, I gave him to
understand that my acquaintance with Colonel Mahon had dated back to a
much earlier period than a few days before, and, the impression once
made, a sense of false shame led me to support it.

"Mahon can be a good friend to you," said Eugene; "he stands well with
all parties. The Convention trust him, the sansculottes are afraid of
him, and the few men of family whom the guillotine has left look up to
him as one of their stanchest adherents. Depend upon it, therefore, your
promotion is safe enough, even if there were not a field open for every
man who seeks the path to eminence. The great point, however, is to get
service with the army of Italy. These campaigns here are as barren and
profitless as the soil they are fought over; but, in the south, Maurice,
in the land of dark eyes and tresses, under the blue skies, or beneath
the trelliced vines, there are rewards of victory more glorious than a
grateful country, as they call it, ever bestowed. Never forget, my boy,
that you or I have no Cause! It is to us a matter of indifference what
party triumphs, or who is uppermost. The government may change
to-morrow, and the day after, and so on for a month long, and yet _we_
remain just as we were. Monarchy, Commonwealth, Democracy--what you
will--may rule the hour, but the sous-lieutenant is but the servant who
changes his master. Now, in revenge for all this, we have one
compensation, which is, to 'live for the day.' To make the most of that
brief hour of sunshine granted us, and to taste of every pleas