Meanwhile, what had been happening at Santo-Giacomo during my
absence? After several hours of waiting, General Séras, impatient for
news, saw some smoke on the horizon; his aide-de-camp put his ear to
a drum placed on the ground, a common expedient in wartime, and heard
the distant sound of gunfire. General Séras was uneasy, and having
no doubt that the cavalry detachment was at grips with the enemy, he
took a regiment of infantry with him as far as the inn. When he
arrived there, he saw, under the cart-shelter, a Hussar's horse tied
up to the rail; it was Sergeant Canon's. The inn-keeper appeared and
was questioned. He replied that the sergeant of Hussars had gone no
further than the inn, and had been, for several hours, in the dining
room. The General went in, and what did he find but Sergeant Canon
asleep by the fireside with, in front of him, an enormous ham, two
empty bottles and a coffee cup! The wretched sergeant was woken up;
he attempted once more to make the excuse of a sudden indisposition,
but the accusing remains of the formidable meal which he had just
eaten, gave the lie to his claims of illness, so General Séras was
very short with him. The General's anger was increasing at the
thought that a detachment of fifty cavalrymen handed over to the
command of a young soldier had probably been wiped out by the enemy,
when Pertelay and the two troopers who were with him arrived at the
gallop to announce our victory and the approaching arrival of
seventeen prisoners. As General Séras, in spite of this happy
outcome, continued to berate Sergeant Canon, Pertelay said to him, in
his bluff outspoken way, "Don't scold him, mon General, he's such a
coward that if he'd been in charge we wouldn't have succeeded!" A
remark which did nothing to improve the awkward position of
Sgt. Canon, who was now placed under arrest.

I arrived in the midst of these goings-on. General Séras broke