St Ives | Page 8

'who
might be your daughter, and who was giving alms to me and some
others of us mendicants. If the Emperor'--saluting-- 'if my Emperor
could hear you, he would pluck off the Cross from your gross body. I
cannot do that; I cannot take away what His Majesty has given; but one
thing I promise you--I promise you, Goguelat, you shall be dead
to-night.'
I had borne so much from him in the past, I believe he thought there
was no end to my forbearance, and he was at first amazed. But I have
the pleasure to think that some of my expressions had pierced through
his thick hide; and besides, the brute was truly a hero of valour, and
loved fighting for itself. Whatever the cause, at least, he had soon
pulled himself together, and took the thing (to do him justice)
handsomely.
'And I promise you, by the devil's horns, that you shall have the
chance!' said he, and pledged me again; and again I did him scrupulous
honour.
The news of this defiance spread from prisoner to prisoner with the
speed of wings; every face was seen to be illuminated like those of the
spectators at a horse-race; and indeed you must first have tasted the
active life of a soldier, and then mouldered for a while in the tedium of
a jail, in order to understand, perhaps even to excuse, the delight of our
companions. Goguelat and I slept in the same squad, which greatly

simplified the business; and a committee of honour was accordingly
formed of our shed-mates. They chose for president a sergeant-major in
the 4th Dragoons, a greybeard of the army, an excellent military subject,
and a good man. He took the most serious view of his functions, visited
us both, and reported our replies to the committee. Mine was of a
decent firmness. I told him the young lady of whom Goguelat had
spoken had on several occasions given me alms. I reminded him that, if
we were now reduced to hold out our hands and sell pill-boxes for
charity, it was something very new for soldiers of the Empire. We had
all seen bandits standing at a corner of a wood truckling for copper
halfpence, and after their benefactors were gone spitting out injuries
and curses. 'But,' said I, 'I trust that none of us will fall so low. As a
Frenchman and a soldier, I owe that young child gratitude, and am
bound to protect her character, and to support that of the army. You are
my elder and my superior: tell me if I am not right.'
He was a quiet-mannered old fellow, and patted me with three fingers
on the back. 'C'est bien, mon enfant,' says he, and returned to his
committee.
Goguelat was no more accommodating than myself. 'I do not like
apologies nor those that make them,' was his only answer. And there
remained nothing but to arrange the details of the meeting. So far as
regards place and time we had no choice; we must settle the dispute at
night, in the dark, after a round had passed by, and in the open middle
of the shed under which we slept. The question of arms was more
obscure. We had a good many tools, indeed, which we employed in the
manufacture of our toys; but they were none of them suited for a single
combat between civilised men, and, being nondescript, it was found
extremely hard to equalise the chances of the combatants. At length a
pair of scissors was unscrewed; and a couple of tough wands being
found in a corner of the courtyard, one blade of the scissors was lashed
solidly to each with resined twine--the twine coming I know not
whence, but the resin from the green pillars of the shed, which still
sweated from the axe. It was a strange thing to feel in one's hand this
weapon, which was no heavier than a riding-rod, and which it was
difficult to suppose would prove more dangerous. A general oath was
administered and taken, that no one should interfere in the duel nor
(suppose it to result seriously) betray the name of the survivor. And

with that, all being then ready, we composed ourselves to await the
moment.
The evening fell cloudy; not a star was to be seen when the first round
of the night passed through our shed and wound off along the ramparts;
and as we took our places, we could still hear, over the murmurs of the
surrounding city, the sentries challenging its further passage. Leclos,
the sergeant-major, set us in our stations, engaged our wands, and left
us. To avoid blood-stained clothing, my adversary and I had stripped to
the shoes; and the chill of the night enveloped our