ral Bonaparte, into Italy on that
first and most marvelous of the campaigns of the great Captain. He had
seen service in Egypt and had been present with the First Consul at the
decisive battle at Marengo. Into his hand as a non-commissioned
officer thereafter the newly made Emperor had delivered the Eagle.
Naturally, he experienced toward it almost the feeling of a father for
his child.

Every other man there was associated in some way with that imperial
emblem, their regimental standard. As has been said, it was not the
flag for which they cared; flags were of perishable silk or cloth; they
could be and often were destroyed in battle. They could be replaced.
Some regiments stripped the colors from the poles before they went into
action. It was the Eagle that was precious and to be defended. It was
the Eagle that was in their hearts almost eternal.

It was to receive their Eagle again that these officers and men had
been summoned. They did not know that definitely yet, but some whisper
of it had been in the air. They were on the _qui vive_ for the
developments of the evening and full of restless excitement. When the
great door was at last thrown open and the Senior Captain caught sight
of the tall, lean figure of his commander, he instantly came to
attention and said sharply:

"Gentlemen, attention. The Major Commanding."

To be sure, Lestoype no longer occupied that position. His place had
been taken by the Marquis d'Aumenier, but in the mind of the Senior
Captain and of the others the old Major still was supreme and he said
the words quite naturally.

The talking ceased at once, the well-drilled officers and men stood at
attention, their hands raised in salute. Major Lestoype in full
uniform, his breast bright with all his medals and orders--and it was
observable that everybody else had adorned himself with every
decoration he possessed, even those that had become illegal and
valueless, forbidden even, after the fall of the Empire--entered the
room, acknowledged the salutes and bowed ceremoniously to the officers
assembled. He was followed by a tall slender young man on this
occasion dressed again in the uniform of the regiment.

And yet there was a difference between this stranger and the other
officers. While from the uniforms of the other officers had been
carefully removed everything which in the least degree suggested the
Empire, no such deletion had taken place with the equipment of the
you