Part 4 (1/2)

Now to return to the elder He arrived at my father's quarters, and what did we see? A fine fellow, very well turned out it is true, but with his shako tipped over one ear, his sabre trailing on the ground, his red face slashed by an i, which, stiffened by wax, curled up into his ears, two big plaits of hair, braided fro down to his chest, and with all this an air! An air of rakishness which was increased by his speech, which was rattled out in a sort of Franco-Alsatian patois This last did not surprise iment of Bercheny, which in earlier days recruited only Geriven in Gerenerally used by the officers andthe Rhine My father was however exceedingly surprised by the style and manner of my proposed mentor

I learned later that he had hesitated to putreminded him that Colonel Picart had described him as the best NCOin the squadron, he decided to try it So off I ith Pertelay, who, taking me by the arm without ceremony, came to my room, showed me how to pack my kit into my valise, and conducted me to a small barracks, situated in a former monastery, and now occupied by a squadron of the 1st Hussars

My mentor made me saddle and unsaddle the pretty little horse which ht ivingdecided that he had explained to o for dinner My father, ished iven us extra money to meet the expense

Pertelay took me to a small inn, which was crammed with Hussars, Grenadiers and soldiers of every sort We were served with a meal, and on the table was placed an enormous bottle of red wine of the lassful We clinked glasses Myit to my lips, for I had never drunk undiluted wine and I found the sreeable I admitted this tosoale of laughter swept through the roo myself to taste this wine, and as I did not dare to ask for water, I dined without a drink

A soldier's apprenticeshi+p has always been hard going It was particularly so at the time of which I write I had, therefore, so I found unbearable was the requireulations allotted only one bed for two soldiers NCOs alone were allowed to have a bed each On the first night which I spent in the barracks, I had already gone to ainly Hussar, who arrived an hour after the others, approached it, and seeing that it was occupied, he unhooked a lantern and stuck it under ot undressed As I watched hiet in beside hly, ”Shove over, conscript!”

And got into the bed, taking up three-quarters of it, and began to snore loudly I was unable to sleep a wink, largely because of the revolting odour arising froe which my comrade had placed under the bolster, to raise his head I could not think what this could be, so to find out, I slid ently toward this object and found it to be a leather apron inated with cobbler's hich shoemakers use to treat their thread My aiot dressed, and went to the stables where I bedded down on a heap of straw The next day I told Pertelay of my misadventure, and he reported it to the sub-lieutenant co the platoon He was a well-educated man named Leisteinschneider (in German, a stone-worker) as later killed in action He understood how painful it must be for me to have to sleep with a boote forwhich pleased reat relaxation in the general turn-out of troops, the 1st Hussars had kept theirs exactly as it hen they were Bercheny's Hussars; so except for the physical differences imposed by nature, all troopers had to resei-tails, but long plaited tresses which hung from their temples and turned-up i-tail and tresses Now, as I had none of these things, ht a false pig-tail and tresses, which were attached to row since my enlistot used to theave me the appearance of a seasoned trooper It was a different matter when it cairl, and as a hairless face would have spoiled the ranks of the squadron, Pertelay, as was the custom of Bercheny, took a pot of black wax, and with his thu moustache, which covered my upper lip and reached almost to, my eyes The shakos of the tiuard duty, or during an inspection, when one has to re hotly onto my face, sucked the moisture out of the wax of which my moustache was reeable manner However, I did not blink I was a Hussar! A word that had for ed in a military career, I understood very well that ulations

My father and part of his division were still in Nice, e heard of the events of the 18th Brumaire, the overthrow of the Directorate and the establishment of the Consulate My father had too ret its downfall, but he feared that, intoxicated by power, General Bonaparte, after re-establishi+ng order in France, would not restrict himself to the modest title of consul, and he predicted to us that in a short ti My father was mistaken only in the title, four years later Napoleon s about the future,been in Paris on the 18th Bruht well have opposed the actions of General Bonaparte, but in the ar the enemy, he was content to adopt the passive obedience of the soldier He even rejected proposals, which were enerals and colonels, to march on Paris at the head of their troops ”Who,” he said to them, ”will defend our frontiers if we abandon theainst foreigners, we add the calamity of civil strife?” By these wise observations he calmed down the hot-heads; but he was, nonetheless, very disturbed by the coup which had just taken place: he adored his country and would have greatly preferred that it could have been saved without being submitted to the yoke of a dictator

I have said thatme enlist as a lowly Hussar had been to rid me of the sied by my short acquaintance with the world of Paris The result exceeded his expectations, for living a as a an to hoith the wolves, and for fear that I ht be mocked for my timidity, I becah for me to be accepted into a sort of brotherhood, which under the name of the clique, had members in all the squadrons the 1st Hussars

The clique was ues, but, at the saiainst all opposition, particularly in the face of the enenised one another by a notch cut into the ht hand row of the pelisse and dolman The officers were aware of the existence of the clique, but as its worst crimes were limited to the adroit theft of chickens or sheep, or some trick played on the local inhabitants, and as the Jokers were always at the forefront in any action, they turned a blind eye I was young and feckless, and I longed desperately to belong to this raffish society, which I thought would raise st my comrades; but it was in vain that I frequented the salle-d'armes to practice swordsmanshi+p and the use of the pistol and carbine, and that I dug ot in round and tipped arded me as a child and refused to admit me to their society However, an unforeseen event led toaccepted unaniuria and spread out on a front of ht of which was in the Gulf of Spezzia, beyond Genoa, and the left at Nice and Var, that is to say on the frontier of France We had, therefore, the sea at our backs, and we faced Piedmont, which was occupied by the Austrian army, from which ere separated by that branch of the Apennines which runs from Var to Gavi: a bad position, in which the ar cut in thich, in fact, happened so been ordered to concentrate his division at Savona, a sues towards France from Genoa, set up his headquarters in the bishop's palace The infantry was spread out ahbourhood to keep watch on the valleys froed the roads which led to Piedmont The 1st Hussars, who had come from Nice to Savona, were encamped on a plain known as the Madona The outposts of the eneues from us, on the forward slopes of the Apennines, whose sus enjoyed the mildest of clihtful if the rations had been more plentiful; but there was at that tilish warshi+ps, so the arht by detach the Corniche, or by s the coast These precarious supplies were scarcely enough to provide, from day to day, sufficient food to support the troops; but, happily, the country produced plenty of wine, which enabled thenation

One fine day I alking along the beach with mygarden planted with orange and lemon trees, under which were tables at which sat soldiers of all kinds He suggested that ent there, and although I had never overcoreed, simply to please him

In those days the cavalryman's belt did not have a hook, so that ent on foot, it was necessary to hold up the scabbard of the sabre with one's left hand, and one could allow the end to trail on the ground This , so of course I had to adopt this way of doing things Thus it happened that as ent into this garden, the end of my scabbard caunner, as sprawled on his chair with his legs sticking out The horse artillery had been for of the revolutionary wars from e of the occasion to get rid of theirartillery, as it was then called, were known for their dash, but also for their love of quarreling

The one whose foot the end of my scabbard had touched, shouted to s too , whenme with his elbohispered, ”Tell hiunner ”Come and lift it up then!”

”That will be easy!” he replied Then, at another whisper from Pertelay, ”I'd like to see you do it!” I said On these words, the gunner, or this Goliath, for he was at least six feet tall, sat up straight with a threatening air But unners ere in the garden caathered beside Pertelay andat once; I thought there was going to be a general melee

However as the Hussars were in a majority of at least two to one, they took the unners realised that if they started soiant washis foot with my scabbard, I had in no way insulted hi the tumult, however, a true, had offered nation I had pushed hireed that this lad and I should fight a duel with our sabres

We left the garden, followed by all the assistants, and found ourselves by the edge of the sea, on fine solid sand, ready for battle Pertelay knew that I was quite a good swordsave me some words of advice on how I should attack my adversary, and fastened the hilt of e handkerchief, which he rolled roundNot only because of his own conclusions about this barbarous custom, but also, I believe, because in his youth, when he was a uard, he had acted as second for a comrade of whom he was very fond, and as killed in a duel over the most trivial matter However that may be, when my father took co in swordplay and bring theh the trumpeter and I both knew of this order, we had, nevertheless, taken off our dolmans and taken up our sabres I hadit, and ere about to begin our combat when I saw the trumpeter duck to one side, pick up his dolman and make off at top speed

”Coward!Runaway!” I shouted, and was about to, pursue hiraspedsoonist had cleared off, followed by all the assistants, includinginto the distance, as fast as their legs could carry theht before the General

There I was! Disar very sheepish, followed iven my name, as they led me to the Bishop's palace where my father was installed He was at that moment with General Suchet, who had come to Savona to confer with hiallery which overlooked the courtyard The police put me up before General Marbot, without any idea that I was his son The sergeant explained why I had been arrested Thendown, after which adeant, ”Take this Hussar to the citadel” I left without saying a word, and without General Suchet, who did not knowthat the scene he had just witnessed had taken place between a father and his son It was not until the next day that he learned the truth, and he has often spoken to hter, about the episode

Onsituated near the harbour, I was locked into a big rooh hich faced toward the sea I recovered slowly froht The reprimand which I had received seemed todisobeyed the General than I was at having upset h

In the evening, an old ex-soldier of the Genoan force broughtof water, a piece of ration bread, and a bale of straw, on which I lay doithout being able to eat I could not go to sleep; at first because I was too upset, and later because of the arrival of soe rats, which ran aboutin the dark, a prey to my sad reflections, when, at about ten o'clock, I heard the bolts ofdrawn and I saw Spire, my father's old and faithful servant He told me that after my despatch to the citadel, Capt Gault, Col Menard, and all my father's officers had asked hireed, and had sent him, Spire, to find overnor of the fort I was taken before the governor, General Buget, an excellent man, who had lost an arm in battle He knew me and was very fond oflecture, to which I listened patiently, but which -off froe to face this and decided to evade it, if that were possible

At last ere let out of the gates of the citadel The night was dark, and Spire went in front with a lantern As alked through the narroisting streets, the good fellow, delighted to be bringing me back, recounted all the comforts which would await me at headquarters ”But,” he said, ”you -off from your father” This last remark put an end to er cool off, I decided it would be better not to appear before him for a few days and that I would return to my bivouac at Madona I could easily have slipped aithout playing any trick on poor Spire; but fearing that he ave it a kick which sent it flying ten paces fro for his lantern, shouted, ”Ah! You little blighter! I shall tell your father!”

After wandering for some time in the deserted streets, I found at last the road to Madona, and ht I was in prison As soon as one of theht of the fires, I was surrounded and questioned There was ot away from Spire The members of the clique were so satisfied with my behaviour that they decided unani an expedition to go, that very night, to the gates of Dego and steal a herd of cattle which belonged to the Austrian army The French Generals and even the corps conore these raids, which, in the absence of regular rations, the soldiers carried out beyond the advance posts in order to obtain food In each regi bands ereasse ruse and audacity to lay hands on them