down in the gap, and thus filling up the breach by his own body,
shouted, "March on!"

And through a storm of shot, not one of which touched the prostrate officer,
the troop passed in safety.

Since leaving the military college, Servadac, with the exception
of his two campaigns in the Soudan and Japan, had been always
stationed in Algeria. He had now a staff appointment at Mostaganem,
and had lately been entrusted with some topographical work
on the coast between Tenes and the Shelif. It was a matter of
little consequence to him that the gourbi, in which of necessity
he was quartered, was uncomfortable and ill-contrived; he loved
the open air, and the independence of his life suited him well.
Sometimes he would wander on foot upon the sandy shore,
and sometimes he would enjoy a ride along the summit of the cliff;
altogether being in no hurry at all to bring his task to an end.
His occupation, moreover, was not so engrossing but that he could
find leisure for taking a short railway journey once or twice
a week; so that he was ever and again putting in an appearance
at the general's receptions at Oran, and at the fetes given
by the governor at Algiers.

It was on one of these occasions that he had first met Madame de L----,
the lady to whom he was desirous of dedicating the rondo, the first four
lines of which had just seen the light. She was a colonel's widow,
young and handsome, very reserved, not to say haughty in her manner,
and either indifferent or impervious to the admiration which she inspired.
Captain Servadac had not yet ventured to declare his attachment;
of rivals he was well aware he had not a few, and amongst these not