'If they could but see us they might remain. It has been said of the
Hussars of Bercheny that they can set a whole population running, the
women towards us, the men away. We are, as you have no doubt observed,
a very fine body of men, and the officers are the pick of the service,
though the seniors are hardly up to the same standard as the rest of
us.'
With all his self-confidence, this officer did not seem to me to be more
than my own age, so I asked him whether he had seen any service. His
moustache bristled with indignation at my question, and he looked me up
and down with a severe eye.
'I have had the good fortune to be present at nine battles, sir, and at
more than forty skirmishes,' said he. 'I have also fought a
considerable number of duels, and I can assure you that I am always
ready to meet anyone--even a civilian--who may wish to put me to the
proof.'
I assured him that he was very fortunate to be so young and yet to have
seen so much, upon which his ill-temper vanished as quickly as it came,
and he explained that he had served in the Hohenlinden campaign under
Moreau, as well as in Napoleon's passage of the Alps, and the campaign
of Marengo.
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