"Yes, sir," I answered. "My fellow-officers, whom I never saw
until last night, will not be content unless they catch another
glimpse of me the first thing this morning."

"Au revoir, then," said Marshal Lannes, as he passed upon his
way.

I hurried through the shattered door of the convent.

When I reached the roofless house in which we had held the
consultation the night before, I threw of my gown and I put on
the busby and sabre which I had left there.

Then, a Hussar once more, I hurried onward to the grove which was
our rendezvous. My brain was still reeling from the concussion
of the powder, and I was exhausted by the many emotions which had
shaken me during that terrible night. It is like a dream, all
that walk in the first dim grey light of dawn, with the
smouldering camp-fires around me and the buzz of the waking army.
Bugles and drums in every direction were mustering the infantry,
for the explosion and the shouting had told their own tale. I
strode onward until, as I entered the little clump of cork oaks
behind the horse lines, I saw my twelve comrades waiting in a
group, their sabres at their sides. They looked at me curiously
as I approached. Perhaps with my powder- blackened face and my
blood-stained hands I seemed a different Gerard to the young
captain whom they had made game of the night before.

"Good morning, gentlemen," said I. "I regret exceedingly if I