horse, and I knew well that Count Stein was on
its back.

For an instant the nine horsemen had halted and surveyed us. Now they
put spurs to their horses, and with a yell of triumph they galloped down
the road. They had recognised that their prey was in their power.

At that swift advance all doubt had vanished. "By heavens, Sire, it is
indeed the Prussians!" cried Soult.

Lobau and Bertrand ran about the road like two frightened hens. The
sergeant of Chasseurs drew his sabre with a volley of curses. The
coachman and the valet cried and wrung their hands. Napoleon stood
with a frozen face, one foot on the step of the carriage. And I--ah, my
friends, I was magnificent! What words can I use to do justice to my own
bearing at that supreme instant of my life? So coldly alert, so deadly
cool, so clear in brain and ready in hand. He had called me a numskull
and a buffoon. How quick and how noble was my revenge! When his own wits
failed him, it was Etienne Gerard who supplied the want.

To fight was absurd; to fly was ridiculous. The Emperor was stout, and
weary to death. At the best he was never a good rider. How could he fly
from these, the picked men of an army? The best horseman in Prussia was
among them. But I was the best horseman in France. I, and only I,
could hold my own with them. If they were on my track instead of the
Emperor's, all might still be well. These were the thoughts which
flashed so swiftly through my mind that in an instant I had sprung from
the first idea to the final conclusion. Another instant carried me from
the final conclusion to prompt and vigorous action. I rushed to the side
of the Emperor, who stood petrified, with the carriage between him and
our enemies. "Your coat, Sire! your hat!" I cried. I dragged them of
him.

Never had he been so hustled in his life. In an instant I had them on
and had thrust him into the carriage. The next I had sprung on to his
famous white Arab and had ridden clear of the group upon the road.

You have already divined my plan; but you may well ask how could I hope
to pass myself off as the Emperor.

My figure is as you still see it, and his was never beautiful, for he
was both short and stout. But a man's height is not remarked when he is
in the saddle, and for the rest one had but to sit forward on the horse
and round one's back and carry oneself like a sack of flour. I wore the
little cocked hat and the loose grey coat with the silver star which was
known