said. "We have both served under him for two years on the Rhine,
and had we been his brothers he could not have been more kind; but
the work, ma foi, was tremendous. The soldiers may well say that
the general is sleepless. Happily he does not expect us to go
altogether without rest. Frequently he is away all night by himself
in the saddle, sometimes he takes one or other of us with him,
but at any rate we get a night's sleep by turns. Much as he has to
worry him -- what with the ignorance of some and the carelessness of
others -- I have never seen him out of temper; but then a reproof,
however mildly spoken, by him, is more dreaded than a volley of
abuse from any other general. He was telling us before he came
out that you are already well up in drill, and in the use of arms."

"Yes; I have been brought up, I may say, in the Scottish regiment,
and after my father's death the officers and men were all very kind
to me, and I learnt my drill both as a soldier and an officer, to
fence, use my pistols, and ride. The officers lent me books on
military history and tactics."

"The viscount said you were wonderfully well read in such matters,"
de Lisle said. "I own that beyond the campaigns that I have taken
part in I have a very vague idea of such things. My time before
I joined was taken up with learning the use of arms, equitation,
and certain dry studies under an abbe. I wish now that instead
of Latin I had learned something of military history; it seems to
me that when one is intended for the army it is a good deal more
important than Latin or theology."

"I fancy, de Lisle," his companion said laughing, "that from what
I know of you your objection was not so much to the course of