and amused glance, but the fear of death
and the honourable man's fear of cowardice.

But if true courage consists in going out to meet an odious danger from
which our body, soul, and heart recoil together, General D'Hubert had
the opportunity to practise it for the first time in his life. He had
charged exultingly at batteries and at infantry squares, and ridden with
messages through a hail of bullets without thinking anything about
it. His business now was to sneak out unheard, at break of day, to
an obscure and revolting death. General D'Hubert never hesitated. He
carried two pistols in a leather bag which he slung over his shoulder.
Before he had crossed the garden his mouth was dry again. He picked two
oranges. It was only after shutting the gate after him that he felt a
slight faintness.

He staggered on, disregarding it, and after going a few yards regained
the command of his legs. In the colourless and pellucid dawn the wood
of pines detached its columns of trunks and its dark green canopy very
clearly against the rocks of the grey hillside. He kept his eyes fixed
on it steadily, and sucked at an orange as he walked. That temperamental
good-humoured coolness in the face of danger which had made him an
officer liked by his men and appreciated by his superiors was gradually
asserting itself. It was like going into battle. Arriving at the edge of
the wood he sat down on a boulder, holding the other orange in his hand,
and reproached himself for coming so ridiculously early on the ground.
Before very long, however, he heard the swishing of bushes, footsteps
on the hard ground, and the sounds of a disjointed, loud conversation. A
voice somewhere behind him said boastfully, "He's game for my bag."

He thought to himself, "Here they are. What's this about game? Are they
talking of me?" And becoming aware of the other orange in his hand, he
thought further, "These are very good oranges. Leonie's own tree. I may
just as well eat this orange now instead of flinging it away."

Emerging from a wilderness of rocks and bushes, General Feraud and his
seconds discovered General D'Hubert engaged in peeling the orange. They
stood still, waiting till he looked up. Then the seconds raised their
hats, while General Feraud, putting his hands behind his back, walked
aside a little way.

"I am compelled to ask one of you, messieurs, to act for me. I have
brought no friends. Will you?"

The one-eyed cuirassier said judicially, "Th