'The same, the very same!' cried I, carried away by my excitement.

'What do you mean?' said the colonel; 'you've never seen him, surely; he died at Charenton the same year Waterloo was fought.'

'No such thing,' said I, feeling convinced that Lazare was the person. 'I saw him alive much later'; and with that I related the story I have told my reader, detailing minutely every little particular which might serve to confirm my impression of the identity.

'No, no,' said the vicomte, shaking his head, 'you must be mistaken; Aubuisson was a patient at Charenton for ten years, when he died. The circumstances you mention are certainly both curious and strange, but I cannot think they have any connection with the fortunes of poor Lazare; at all events, if you like to hear the story, come home with me, and I'll tell it; the café is about to close now, and we must leave.'

I gladly accepted the offer, for whatever doubts he had concerning Lazare's identity with Aubuisson, my convictions were complete, and I longed to hear the solution of a mystery over which I had pondered many a day of march and many a sleepless night.

I could scarcely contain my impatience during supper. The thought of Lazare absorbed everything in my mind, and I fancied the old colonel's appetite knew no bounds when the meal had lasted about a quarter of an hour. At last having finished, and devised his modest glass of weak wine and water, he began the story, of which I present the leading features to my readers, omitting, of course, those little occasional digressions and reflections by which the narrator himself accompanied his tale.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE RETREAT FROM LEIPSIC

'THE third day of the disastrous battle of Leipsic was drawing to a close, as the armies of the coalition made one terrible and fierce attack, in concert, against the Imperial forces. Never was anything before heard like the deafening thunder, as three hundred guns of heavy artillery opened their fire at once from end to end of the line, and three hundred thousand men advanced, wildly cheering, to the attack.

'Wearied, worn out, and exhausted, the French army held their ground, like men prepared to die before their Emperor, but never desert him, when the fearful intelligence was brought to Napoleon that in three days the army had fired ninety-five thousand cannon-balls; that the reserve ammunition was entirely consumed, and but sixteen thousand cannon-balls remained, barely sufficient to maintain the fire two hours longer! What was to be done? No resources lay nearer than Magdeburg or Erfurt. To the latter place the Emperor at once decided on retiring, and at seven o'clock the order was given for the artillery waggons and baggage to pass the defile of Lindenau, and retreat over the Elster, the same order being transmitted to the cavalry and the other corps of the army. The defile was a long and difficult one, extending for two leagues, and traversing several bridges. To accomplish the retreat in safety, Napoleon was counselled to hold the allies in check by a strong force of artillery, and then set fire to the faubourg; but the conduct of the Saxon troops, however deserving of his anger, could not warrant a punishment so fearful on the monarch of that country, who, through every change of fortune, had stood steady in his friendship. He rejected the course at once, and determined on retreating as best he might.

'The movement was then begun at once, and every avenue that led to the faubourg of Lindenau was crowded by troops of all arms, eagerly pressing onward-a fearful scene of confusion and dismay, for it was a beaten army that fled, and one which until now never had thoroughly felt the horrors of defeat. From seven until nine the columns came on at a quick step, the cavalry at a trot; defiling along the narrow gorge of Lindenau, they passed a mill at the roadside, where at a window stood one with arms crossed and head bent upon his bosom. He gazed steadfastly at the long train beneath, but never noticed the salutes of the general officers as they passed along. It was the Emperor himself, pale and care-worn, his low chapeau pressed down far on his brows, and his uniform splashed and travel-stained. For over an hour he stood thus silent and motionless; then throwing himself upon a bed he slept. Yes; amid all the terrible events of that disastrous retreat, when the foundations of the mighty empire he had created were crumbling beneath him, when the great army he had so often led to victory was defiling beaten before him, he laid his wearied head upon a pillow and slept!

'A terrible cannonade, the fire of seventy large guns brought to bear upon the ramparts, shook the very earth, and at length awoke Napoleon, who through all the din and clamour had slept soundly and tranquilly.

"What is it, Duroc?" said he, raising himself upon one arm, and looking up.

"It is Swartzenberg's attack, sire, on the rampart of Halle."

"Ha! so near?" said he, springing up and approaching the window, from which the bright flashes of the artillery were each moment discernible in the dark sky. At the same moment an aide-de-camp galloped up, and dismounted at the door; in another minute he was in the

room.

The Saxon troops, left by the Emperor as a guard of

honour and protection to the unhappy monarch, had opened a fire on the retreating columns, and a fearful confusion was the result. The Emperor spoke not a word. Macdonald's corps and Poniatowski's division were still in Leipsic; but already they had commenced their retiring movement on Lindenau. Lauriston's brigade was also rapidly approaching the bridge over the Elster, to which now the men were hurrying madly, intent alone on flight. The bridge-the only one by which the troops could pass --had been mined, and committed to the charge of Colonel Montfort of the Engineers, with directions to blow it up when the enemy appeared, and thus gain time for the baggage to retreat.

'As the aide-de-camp stood awaiting Napoleon's orders in reply to a few lines written in pencil by the Duke of Tarento, another staff-officer arrived, breathless, to say that the allies had carried the rampart, and were already in Leipsic. Napoleon became deadly pale; then, with a motion of his hand, he signed to the officer to withdraw.

"Duroc," said he, when they were alone, "where is Nansouty?"

"With the eighth corps, sire. They have passed an hour since."

“Who commands the picket without?"

666

Aubuisson, sire."

"Send him to me, and leave us alone."

In a few moments Colonel Aubuisson entered. His arm was in a sling from a sabre-wound he had received the morning before, but which did not prevent his remaining on duty. The stout soldier seemed as unconcerned and fearless in that dreadful moment as though it were a day of gala manoeuvres, and not one of disaster and defeat.

"Aubuisson," said the Emperor, "you were with us at Alexandria?"

"I was, sire," said he, as a deeper tinge coloured his bronzed features.

"The first in the rampart-I remember it well," said Napoleon; "the ordre du jour commemorates the deed. It was at Moscow you gained the cross, I believe?" continued he, after a slight pause.

"I never obtained it, sire," replied Aubuisson, with a struggle to repress some disappointment in his tone.

"How, never obtained it!-you, Aubuisson, an ancient brave of the Pyramids! Come, come, there has been a mistake somewhere; we must look to this. Meanwhile, General Aubuisson, take mine."

'With that he detached his cordon from the breast of his uniform, and fastened it on the coat of the astonished officer, who could only mutter the words, "Sire, sire!" in reply.

"Now, then, for a service you must render me, and speedily, too," said Napoleon, as he laid his hand on the general's shoulder.

'The Emperor whispered for some seconds in his ear, then looked at him fixedly in the face. "What!" cried he, "do you hesitate?"

"Hesitate, sire!" said Aubuisson, starting back. "Never! If your Majesty had ordered me to the mouth of a mortar-but I wish to know

Napoleon did not permit him to conclude, but drawing him closer, whispered again a few words in his ear. "And, mark me," said he, aloud, as he finished, "mark me, Aubuisson! silence-pas un mot? silence à la mort!"

6.66

À la mort, sire!" repeated the general, while at the same moment Duroc hurried into the room, and cried out

"They are advancing towards the Elster; Macdonald's rear-guard is engaged-"

'A motion of Napoleon's hand towards the door and a look at Aubuisson was the only notice he took of the intelligence, and the officer was gone.

'While Duroc continued to detail the disastrous events the last arrived news had announced, the Emperor ap