shipping in the Tagus.

He said nothing of the mission upon which he had sent our
comrade, and it was not for us to ask him any questions.

That night, about twelve o'clock, I was standing outside the
Marshal's headquarters when he came out and stood motionless for
half an hour, his arms folded upon his breast, staring through
the darkness toward the east.

So rigid and intent was he that you might have believed the
muffled figure and the cocked hat to have been the statue of the
man. What he was looking for I could not imagine; but at last he
gave a bitter curse, and, turning on his heel, he went back into
the house, banging the door behind him.

Next day the second aide-de-camp, Duplessis, had an interview
with Massena in the morning, after which neither he nor his horse
was seen again. That night, as I sat in the ante-room, the
Marshal passed me, and I observed him through the window standing
and staring to the east exactly as he had done before. For fully
half an hour he remained there, a black shadow in the gloom.

Then he strode in, the door banged, and I heard his spurs and his
scabbard jingling and clanking through the passage. At the best
he was a savage old man, but when he was crossed I had almost as
soon face the Emperor himself. I heard him that night cursing
and stamping above my head, but he did not send for me, and I
knew him too well to go unsought.