violence.
He
swept
his
own
arm
back
,
and
brought
his
sabre
down
straight
through
the
sword-arm
of
the
foremost
;
the
limb
was
cleft
through
as
if
the
stroke
of
an
axe
had
servered
it
,
and
,
thrice
infuriated
,
the
Arabs
closed
in
on
him
.
The
points
of
their
weapons
were
piercing
his
harness
when
,
sharp
and
swift
,
one
on
another
,
three
shots
hissed
past
him
;
the
nearest
of
his
assailants
fell
stone
dead
,
and
the
others
,
wounded
and
startled
,
loosed
their
hold
,
and
tore
off
down
the
lonely
road
,
while
the
dead
man
's
horse
,
shaking
his
burden
from
him
out
of
the
stirrups
,
followed
them
at
a
headlong
gallop
through
a
cloud
of
dust
.
"
That
was
a
pretty
cut
through
the
arm
;
better
had
it
been
through
the
throat
.
Never
do
things
by
halves
,
ami
Victor
,
"
said
Cigarette
,
carelessly
,
as
she
thrust
her
pistols
back
into
her
sash
,
and
looked
,
with
the
tranquil
appreciation
of
a
connoisseur
,
on
the
brown
,
brawny
,
naked
limb
,
where
it
lay
severed
on
the
sand
,
with
the
hilt
of
the
weapon
still
hanging
in
the
sinewy
fingers
.
Cecil
threw
himself
from
his
saddle
and
gazed
at
her
in
bewildered
amazement
;
he
had
thought
those
sure
,
cool
,
death-dealing
shots
had
come
from
some
Spahis
or
Chasseur
.
"
I
owe
you
my
life
!
"
he
said
,
rapidly
.
"
But
—
good
God
!
—
you
have
shot
the
fellow
dead
—
"
Cigarette
shrugged
her
shoulders
with
a
contemptuous
glance
at
the
Bedouin
's
corpse
.
"
To
be
sure
—
I
am
not
a
bungler
.
"
"
Happily
for
me
,
or
I
had
been
where
he
lies
now
.
But
wait
—
let
me
look
;
there
may
be
breath
in
him
yet
.
"
Cigarette
laughed
,
offended
and
scornful
,
as
with
the
offence
and
scorn
of
one
whose
first
science
was
impeached
.
"
Pas
si
béte
!
Look
and
welcome
;
but
if
you
find
any
life
in
that
Arbi
,
make
a
laugh
of
it
before
all
the
army
to-morrow
.
"
She
was
at
her
fiercest
.
A
thousand
new
emotions
had
been
roused
in
her
that
night
,
bringing
pain
with
them
,
that
she
bitterly
resented
;
and
,
moreover
,
this
child
of
the
Army
of
Africa
caught
fire
at
the
flame
of
battle
with
instant
contagion
,
and
had
seen
slaughter
around
her
from
her
first
infancy
.
Cecil
,
disregarding
her
protest
,
stooped
and
raised
the
fallen
Bedouin
.
He
saw
at
a
glance
that
she
was
right
;
the
lean
,
dark
,
lustful
face
was
set
in
the
rigidity
of
death
;
the
bullet
had
passed
straight
through
the
temples
.
"
Did
you
never
see
a
dead
man
before
?
"
demanded
Cigarette
,
impatiently
,
as
he
lingered
;
—
even
in
this
moment
he
had
more
thought
of
this
Arbico
than
he
had
of
her
!
He
laid
the
Arab
's
body
gently
down
,
and
looked
at
her
with
a
glance
that
,
rightly
or
wrongly
,
she
thought
had
a
rebuke
in
it
.
"
Very
many
.
But
—
it
is
never
a
pleasant
sight
.
And
they
were
in
drink
;
they
did
not
know
what
they
did
.
"
"
Pardieu
!
What
divine
pity
!
Good
powder
and
ball
were
sore
wasted
,
it
seems
;
you
would
have
preferred
to
lie
there
yourself
,
it
appears
.
I
beg
your
pardon
for
interfering
with
the
preference
.
"
Her
eyes
were
flashing
,
her
lips
very
scornful
and
wrathful
.
This
was
his
gratitude
!
"
Wait
,
wait
,
"
said
Cecil
,
rapidly
,
laying
his
hand
on
her
shoulder
,
as
she
flung
herself
away
.
"
My
dear
child
,
do
not
think
me
ungrateful
.
I
know
well
enough
I
should
be
a
dead
man
myself
had
it
not
been
for
your
gallant
assistance
.
Believe
me
,
I
thank
you
from
my
heart
.
"
"
But
you
think
me
'
unsexed
'
all
the
same
!
I
see
,
beau
lion
!
"
The
word
had
rankled
in
her
;
she
could
launch
it
now
with
telling
reprisal
.
He
smiled
;
but
he
saw
that
this
phrase
,
which
she
had
overheard
,
had
not
alone
incensed
,
but
had
wounded
her
.
"
Well
,
a
little
,
perhaps
,
"
he
said
,
gently
.
"
How
should
it
be
otherwise
?
And
,
for
that
matter
,
I
have
seen
many
a
great
lady
look
on
and
laugh
her
soft
cruel
laughter
while
the
pheasants
were
falling
by
hundreds
,
or
the
stags
being
torn
by
the
hounds
.
They
called
it
'
sport
;
'
but
there
was
not
much
difference
—
in
the
mercy
of
it
,
at
least
—
from
your
war
.
And
they
had
not
a
tithe
of
your
courage
.
"
The
answer
failed
to
conciliate
her
;
there
was
an
accent
of
compassion
in
it
that
ill
suited
her
pride
,
and
a
lack
of
admiration
that
was
not
less
new
and
unwelcome
.
"
It
was
well
for
you
I
was
unsexed
enough
to
be
able
to
send
an
ounce
of
lead
into
a
drunkard
!
"
she
pursued
,
with
immeasurable
disdain
.
"
If
I
had
been
like
that
dainty
aristocrat
down
there
—
pardieu
!
it
had
been
worse
for
you
.
I
should
have
screamed
,
and
fainted
,
and
left
you
to
be
killed
whilst
I
made
a
tableau
.
Oh-hé
,
that
is
to
be
'
feminine
,
'
is
it
not
?
"
"
Where
did
you
see
that
lady
?
"
he
asked
,
in
some
surprise
.
"
Oh
!
I
was
there
!
"
answered
Cigarette
,
with
a
toss
of
her
head
southward
to
where
the
villa
lay
.
"
I
went
to
see
how
you
would
keep
your
promise
.
"
"
Well
,
you
saw
I
kept
it
.
"
She
gave
her
little
teeth
a
sharp
click
like
the
click
of
a
trigger
.
"
Yes
.
And
I
would
have
forgiven
you
if
you
had
broken
it
.
"
"
Would
you
?
I
should
not
have
forgiven
myself
.
"
"
Ah
!
you
are
just
like
Marquise
.
And
you
will
end
like
him
.
"
"
Very
probably
.
"
She
knitted
her
pretty
brows
,
standing
there
in
his
path
,
with
the
pistols
thrust
in
her
sash
,
and
her
hands
resting
lightly
on
her
hips
as
a
good
workman
rests
after
a
neatly
finished
job
,
and
her
dainty
fez
set
half
on
one
side
on
her
brown
tangled
curls
,
while
upon
them
the
intense
lustre
of
the
moonlight
streamed
,
and
in
the
dust
,
well-nigh
at
their
feet
,
lay
the
gaunt
white-robed
form
of
the
dead
Arab
,
with
the
olive
saturnine
face
turned
upward
to
the
stars
.
"
Why
did
you
give
those
chessmen
to
that
silver
pheasant
?
"
she
asked
him
,
abruptly
.
"
Silver
pheasant
?
"
"
Yes
.
See
how
she
sweeps
—
sweeps
—
sweeps
so
languid
,
so
brilliant
,
so
useless
—
bah
!
Why
did
you
give
them
?
"
"
She
admired
them
.
It
was
not
much
to
give
.
"
"
Diantre
!
You
would
not
have
given
them
to
a
daughter
of
the
people
.
"
"
Why
not
?
"
"
Why
not
?
Oh-hé
!
Because
her
hands
would
be
hard
,
and
brown
,
and
coarse
,
not
fit
for
those
ivory
puppets
;
but
Miladi
's
are
white
like
the
ivory
,
and
cannot
soil
it
.
She
will
handle
them
so
gracefully
,
for
five
minutes
;
and
then
buy
a
new
toy
,
and
let
her
lapdog
break
yours
!
"
"
Like
enough
.
"
He
said
it
with
his
habitual
gentle
temper
,
but
there
was
a
shadow
of
pain
in
the
words
.
The
chessmen
had
become
in
some
sort
like
living
things
to
him
,
through
long
association
;
he
had
parted
from
them
not
without
regret
,
though
,
for
the
moment
,
courtesy
and
generosity
of
instinct
had
overcome
it
;
and
he
knew
that
it
was
but
too
true
how
,
in
all
likelihood
these
trifles
of
his
art
,
that
had
brought
him
many
a
solace
and
been
his
companion
through
many
a
lonely
hour
,
would
be
forgotten
by
the
morrow
,
where
he
had
bestowed
them
,
and
at
best
put
aside
in
a
cabinet
to
lie
unnoticed
among
bronzes
or
porcelain
,
or
be
set
on
some
boudoir-table
to
be
idled
with
in
the
mimic
warfare
that
would
serve
to
cover
some
listless
flirtation
.
Cigarette
,
quick
to
sting
,
but
as
quick
to
repent
using
her
sting
,
saw
the
regret
in
him
;
with
the
rapid
uncalculating
liberality
of
an
utterly
unselfish
and
intensely
impulsive
nature
,
she
hastened
to
make
amends
by
saying
what
was
like
gall
on
her
tongue
in
the
utterance
.
"
Tiens
!
"
she
said
,
quickly
.
"
Perhaps
she
will
value
them
more
than
that
.
I
know
nothing
of
the
aristocrats
—
not
I
!
When
you
were
gone
,
she
championed
you
against
the
Black
Hawk
.
She
told
him
that
if
you
had
not
been
a
gentleman
before
you
came
into
the
ranks
,
she
never
had
seen
one
.
Ma
cantche
!
she
spoke
well
if
you
had
but
heard
her
.
"
"
She
did
!
"
She
saw
his
glance
brighten
as
it
turned
on
her
in
a
surprised
gratification
.
"
Well
!
What
is
there
so
wonderful
?
"
Cigarette
asked
it
with
a
certain
petulance
and
doggedness
,
taking
a
namesake
out
of
her
breast-pocket
,
biting
its
end
off
,
and
striking
a
fusee
.
A
word
from
this
aristocrat
was
more
welcome
to
him
than
a
bullet
that
had
saved
his
life
!
Her
generosity
had
gone
very
far
,
and
,
like
most
generosity
,
got
nothing
for
its
pains
.
He
was
silent
a
few
moments
,
tracing
lines
in
the
dust
with
the
point
of
his
scabbard
.
Cigarette
,
with
the
cigar
in
her
mouth
,
stamped
her
foot
impatiently
.
"
Corporal
Victor
!
are
you
going
to
dream
there
all
night
?
What
is
to
be
done
with
this
dog
of
an
Arbico
?
"
She
was
angered
by
him
;
she
was
in
the
mood
to
make
herself
seem
all
the
rougher
,
fiercer
,
naughtier
,
and
more
callous
.
She
had
shot
the
man
—
pouf
!
what
of
that
?
She
had
shot
men
before
,
as
all
Africa
knew
.
She
would
defend
a
half-fledged
bird
,
a
terrified
sheep
,
a
worn-out
old
cur
;
but
a
man
!
Men
were
the
normal
and
natural
food
for
pistols
and
rifles
,
she
considered
.
A
state
of
society
in
which
fire-arms
had
been
unknown
was
a
thing
Cigarette
had
never
heard
of
,
and
in
which
she
would
have
contumeliously
disbelieved
if
she
had
been
told
of
it
.
Cecil
looked
up
from
his
musing
;
he
thought
what
a
pity
it
was
this
pretty
graceful
French
kitten
was
such
a
bloodthirsty
young
panther
at
heart
.
"
I
scarcely
know
what
to
do
,
"
he
answered
her
,
doubtfully
.
"
Put
him
across
my
saddle
,
poor
wretch
,
I
suppose
:
the
fray
must
be
reported
.
"
"
Leave
that
to
me
,
"
said
Cigarette
,
decidedly
and
with
a
certain
haughty
patronage
.
"
I
shot
him
;
I
will
see
the
thing
gets
told
right
.
It
might
be
awkward
for
you
;
they
are
growing
so
squeamish
about
the
Roumis
killing
the
natives
.
Draw
him
to
one
side
there
,
and
leave
him
.
The
crows
will
finish
his
affair
.
"
The
coolness
with
which
this
handsome
child
disposed
of
the
fate
of
what
,
a
moment
or
two
before
,
had
been
a
sentient
,
breathing
,
vigorous
frame
,
sent
a
chill
through
her
hearer
,
though
he
had
been
seasoned
by
a
decade
of
slaughter
.
"
No
,
"
he
said
,
briefly
.
"
Suspicion
might
fall
on
some
innocent
passer-by
.
Besides
—
he
shall
have
decent
burial
.
"
"
Burial
for
an
Arbi
—
faugh
!
"
cried
Cigarette
,
in
derision
.
"
Parbleu
,
M
.
Bel-à-faire-peur
,
I
have
seen
hundreds
of
our
best
lascars
lie
rotting
on
the
plains
with
the
birds
'
beaks
at
their
eyes
and
the
jackals
'
fangs
in
their
flesh
.
What
was
good
enough
for
them
is
surely
good
enough
for
him
.
You
are
an
eccentric
fellow
—
you
—
"
He
laughed
a
little
.
"
Time
was
when
I
should
have
begged
you
not
to
call
me
any
such
'
bad
form
!
'
Eccentric
!
I
am
not
genius
enough
for
that
.
"
"
Eh
?
"
—
she
did
not
understand
him
.
"
Well
,
you
want
that
carrion
poked
into
the
earth
,
instead
of
lying
atop
of
it
.
I
do
n't
see
much
difference
myself
.
I
would
like
to
be
in
the
sun
as
long
as
I
could
,
I
think
,
dead
or
alive
.
Ah
!
how
odd
it
is
to
think
one
will
be
dead
some
day
—
never
wake
for
the
réveillé
—
never
hear
the
cannon
or
the
caissons
roll
by
—
never
stir
when
the
trumpets
sound
the
charge
,
but
lie
there
dead
—
dead
—
dead
—
while
the
squadrons
thunder
above
one
's
grave
!
Droll
,
eh
?
"
A
momentary
pathos
softened
her
voice
(
which
could
melt
and
change
into
a
wonderful
music
)
,
where
she
stood
in
the
glistening
moonlight
.
That
the
time
would
ever
come
when
her
glad
laughter
would
be
hushed
,
when
her
young
heart
would
beat
no
more
,
when
the
bright
,
abundant
,
passionate
blood
would
bound
no
longer
through
her
veins
,
when
all
the
vivacious
,
vivid
,
sensuous
charms
of
living
would
be
ended
for
her
for
ever
,
was
a
thing
that
she
could
no
better
bring
home
to
her
than
a
bird
that
sings
in
the
light
of
the
sun
could
be
made
to
know
that
the
time
would
come
when
its
little
melodious
throat
would
be
frozen
in
death
,
and
give
song
never
more
.
The
tone
touched
him
;
made
him
think
less
of
her
as
a
dare-devil
boy
,
as
a
reckless
child-soldier
,
and
more
of
her
as
what
she
was
,
than
he
had
done
before
:
he
touched
her
almost
caressingly
.
"
Pauvre
enfant
!
I
hope
that
day
will
be
very
distant
from
you
.
And
yet
—
how
bravely
you
risked
death
for
me
just
now
!
"
Cigarette
,
though
accustomed
to
the
lawless
loves
of
the
camp
,
flushed
ever
so
slightly
at
the
mere
caress
of
his
hand
.
"
Chut
!
I
risked
nothing
!
"
she
said
,
rapidly
.
"
As
for
death
—
when
it
comes
,
it
comes
.
Every
soldier
carries
it
in
his
wallet
,
and
it
may
jump
out
on
him
any
minute
.
I
would
rather
die
young
than
grow
old
.
Pardi
!
age
is
nothing
else
but
death
that
is
conscious
.
"
"
Where
do
you
get
your
wisdom
,
little
one
?
"
"
Wisdom
?
Bah
!
living
is
learning
.
Some
people
go
through
life
with
their
eyes
shut
,
and
then
grumble
there
is
nothing
to
see
in
it
!
Well
—
you
want
that
Arbi
buried
?
What
a
fancy
!
Look
you
,
then
;
stay
by
him
,
since
you
are
so
fond
of
him
,
and
I
will
go
and
send
some
men
to
you
with
a
stretcher
to
carry
him
down
to
the
town
.
As
for
reporting
,
leave
that
to
me
;
I
shall
tell
them
I
left
you
on
guard
.
That
will
square
things
,
if
you
are
late
at
the
barrack
.
"
"
But
that
will
give
you
so
much
trouble
,
Cigarette
.
"
"
Trouble
?
Morbleu
!
Do
you
think
I
am
like
that
silver
pheasant
yonder
?
Lend
me
your
horse
,
and
I
shall
be
in
the
town
in
ten
minutes
!
"
She
vaulted
,
as
she
spoke
,
into
the
saddle
;
he
laid
his
hand
on
the
bridle
,
and
stopped
her
.
"
Wait
!
I
have
not
thanked
you
half
enough
,
my
brave
little
champion
.
How
am
I
to
show
you
my
gratitude
?
"
For
a
moment
the
bright
,
brown
,
changeful
face
,
that
could
look
so
fiercely
scornful
,
so
sunnily
radiant
,
so
tempestuously
passionate
,
and
so
tenderly
childlike
,
in
almost
the
same
moment
,
grew
warm
as
the
warm
suns
that
had
given
their
fire
to
her
veins
;
she
glanced
at
him
almost
shyly
,
while
the
moonlight
slept
lustrously
in
the
dark
softness
of
her
eyes
;
there
was
an
intense
allurement
in
her
in
that
moment
—
the
allurement
of
a
woman
's
loveliness
,
bitterly
as
she
disdained
a
woman
's
charms
.
It
might
have
told
him
,
more
plainly
than
words
,
how
best
he
could
reward
her
for
the
shot
that
had
saved
him
;
yet
,
though
a
man
on
whom
such
beguilement
usually
worked
only
too
easily
and
too
often
,
it
did
not
now
touch
him
.
He
was
grateful
to
her
;
but
,
despite
himself
,
he
was
cold
to
her
;
despite
himself
,
the
life
which
that
little
hand
that
he
held
had
taken
so
lightly
made
it
the
hand
of
a
comrade
to
be
grasped
in
alliance
,
but
never
the
hand
of
a
mistress
to
steal
to
his
lips
and
to
lie
in
his
breast
.
Her
rapid
and
unerring
instinct
made
her
feel
that
keenly
and
instantly
;
she
had
seen
too
much
passion
not
to
know
when
it
was
absent
.
The
warmth
passed
off
her
face
,
her
teeth
clenched
,
she
shook
the
bridle
out
of
his
hold
.
"
Take
gratitude
to
Miladi
there
!
She
will
value
fine
words
;
I
set
no
count
on
them
.
I
did
no
more
for
you
than
I
have
done
scores
of
times
for
my
Spahis
.
Ask
them
how
many
I
have
shot
with
my
own
hand
!
"
In
another
instant
she
was
away
like
a
sirocco
,
a
whirlwind
of
dust
that
rose
in
the
moonlight
marking
her
flight
as
she
rode
full
gallop
down
to
Algiers
.
"
A
kitten
with
the
tigress
in
her
,
"
thought
Cecil
,
as
he
seated
himself
on
a
broken
pile
of
stone
to
keep
his
vigil
over
the
dead
Arab
.
It
was
not
that
he
was
callous
to
the
generous
nature
of
the
little
Friend
of
the
Flag
,
or
that
he
was
insensible
either
of
the
courage
that
beat
so
dauntlessly
in
her
pulses
,
or
of
the
piquant
picturesque
grace
that
accompanied
even
her
wildest
actions
;
but
she
had
nothing
of
her
sex
's
charm
for
him
.
He
thought
of
her
rather
as
a
young
soldier
than
as
a
young
girl
.
She
amused
him
as
a
wayward
,
bright
,
mischievous
,
audacious
boy
might
have
done
;
but
she
had
no
other
interest
for
him
.
He
had
given
her
little
attention
;
a
waltz
,
a
cigar
,
a
passing
jest
,
were
all
he
had
bestowed
on
the
little
lionne
of
the
Spahis
corps
;
and
the
deepest
sentiment
she
had
ever
awakened
in
him
was
an
involuntary
pity
—
pity
for
this
flower
which
blossomed
on
the
polluted
field
of
war
,
and
under
the
poison-dropping
branches
of
lawless
crime
.
A
flower
bright-hued
,
sun-fed
,
glancing
with
the
dews
of
youth
now
,
when
it
had
just
unclosed
,
in
all
its
earliest
beauty
but
already
soiled
and
tainted
by
the
bed
from
which
it
sprang
,
and
doomed
to
be
swept
away
with
time
,
scentless
and
loveless
,
down
the
rapid
noxious
current
of
that
broad
black
stream
of
vice
on
which
it
now
floated
so
heedlessly
.
Even
now
,
his
thoughts
drifted
fram
her
almost
before
the
sound
of
the
horse
's
hoofs
had
died
where
he
sat
on
a
loose
pile
of
stones
,
with
the
lifeless
limbs
of
the
Arab
at
his
feet
.
"
Who
was
it
in
my
old
life
that
she
is
like
?
"
he
was
musing
.
It
was
the
deep-blue
,
dreaming
,
haughty
eyes
of
"
Miladi
"
that
he
was
bringing
back
to
memory
,
not
the
brown
mignon
face
that
had
been
so
late
close
to
his
in
the
light
of
the
moon
.
Meanwhile
,
on
his
good
grey
Cigarette
rode
like
a
true
Chasseur
herself
.
She
was
used
to
the
saddle
,
and
would
ride
a
wild
desert
colt
without
stirrup
or
bridle
,
balancing
her
supple
form
now
on
one
foot
now
on
the
other
on
the
animal
's
naked
back
,
while
they
flew
at
full
speed
,
with
a
skill
and
address
that
would
have
distanced
the
best
heroines
of
manège
and
hippodrome
.
Not
so
fantastically
,
but
full
as
speedily
,
she
dashed
down
into
the
city
,
scattering
all
she
met
with
right
and
left
,
till
she
rode
straight
up
to
the
barracks
of
the
Chasseurs
d
'
Afrique
.
At
the
entrance
,
as
she
reined
up
,
she
saw
the
very
person
she
wanted
,
and
signed
him
to
her
as
carelessly
as
if
he
were
a
conscript
,
instead
of
that
powerful
officer
,
François
Vireflau
,
captain
and
adjutant
.
"
Holà
!
"
she
cried
,
as
she
signalled
him
;
Cigarette
was
privileged
all
through
the
army
,
and
would
have
given
the
langue
verte
to
the
Emperor
himself
,
had
she
met
him
.
"
Adjutant
Vireflau
,
I
come
to
tell
you
a
good
story
for
your
folios
matricules
.
There
is
your
Corporal
there
—
le
beau
Victor
—
has
been
attacked
by
four
drunken
dogs
of
Arbicos
,
dead
drunk
and
four
against
one
.
He
fought
them
superbly
;
but
he
would
only
parry
,
not
thrust
,
because
he
knows
how
strict
the
rules
are
about
dealing
with
the
scoundrels
—
even
when
they
are
murdering
you
,
parbleu
!
He
has
behaved
splendidly
.
I
tell
you
so
.
And
he
was
so
patient
with
these
dogs
that
he
would
not
have
killed
one
of
them
.
But
I
did
;
shot
one
straight
through
the
brain
—
a
beautiful
thing
—
and
he
lies
on
the
Oran
road
now
.
Victor
would
not
leave
him
,
for
fear
some
passer-by
should
be
thought
guilty
of
a
murder
;
so
I
came
on
to
tell
you
,
and
ask
you
to
send
some
men
up
for
the
jackal
's
body
.
Ah
!
he
is
a
fine
soldier
,
that
Bel-à-faire-peur
of
yours
.
Why
do
n't
you
give
him
a
step
—
two
steps
—
three
steps
?
Diantre
!
It
is
not
like
France
to
leave
him
a
corporal
!
"
Vireflau
listened
attentively
—
a
short
,
lean
,
black-visaged
campaigner
,
who
yet
relaxed
into
a
grim
half-smile
as
the
vivandière
addressed
him
with
that
air
as
of
a
generalissimo
addressing
a
subordinate
,
which
always
characterised
Cigarette
the
more
strongly
the
higher
the
grade
of
her
companion
or
opponent
.
"
Always
eloquent
,
pretty
one
!
"
he
growled
.
"
Are
you
sure
he
did
not
begin
the
fray
?
"
"
Ma
cantche
!
Do
n't
I
tell
you
the
four
Arabs
were
like
four
devils
?
They
knocked
down
an
old
colon
,
and
Bel-à-faire-peur
tried
to
prevent
their
doing
more
mischief
,
and
they
set
on
him
like
so
many
wild-cats
.
He
kept
his
temper
wonderfully
;
he
always
tries
to
preserve
order
;
you
ca
n't
say
so
much
of
your
riffraff
,
Captain
Vireflau
,
commonly
!
Here
!
this
is
his
horse
.
Send
some
men
to
him
;
and
mind
the
thing
is
reported
fairly
,
and
to
his
credit
,
to-morrow
.
"
With
which
command
,
given
as
with
the
air
of
a
commander-in-chief
,
in
its
hauteur
and
its
nonchalance
,
Cigarette
vaulted
off
the
charger
,
flung
the
bridle
to
a
soldier
,
and
was
away
and
out
of
sight
before
François
Vireflau
had
time
to
consider
whether
he
should
laugh
at
her
caprices
,
as
all
the
army
did
,
or
resent
her
insolence
to
his
dignity
.
But
he
was
a
good-natured
man
,
and
,
what
was
better
,
a
just
one
;
and
Cigarette
had
judged
rightly
that
the
tale
she
had
told
would
weigh
well
with
him
to
the
credit
side
of
his
Corporal
;
and
would
not
reach
his
Colonel
in
any
warped
version
that
could
give
pretext
for
any
fresh
exercise
of
tyranny
over
"
Bel-à-faire-peur
"
under
the
title
of
"
discipline
.
"
"
Dieu
de
Dieu
!
"
thought
his
champion
,
as
she
made
her
way
through
the
gay-lit
streets
.
"
I
swore
to
have
my
vengeance
on
him
.
It
is
a
droll
vengeance
—
to
save
his
life
,
and
plead
his
cause
with
Vireflau
!
No
matter
!
one
could
not
look
on
and
let
a
set
of
Arbicos
kill
a
good
lascar
of
France
,
and
the
thing
that
is
just
must
be
said
,
let
it
go
as
it
will
against
one
's
grain
.
Public
Welfare
before
Private
Pique
!
"
A
grand
and
misty
generality
which
consoled
Cigarette
for
an
abandonment
of
her
sworn
revenge
,
which
she
felt
was
a
weakness
utterly
unworthy
of
her
,
and
too
much
like
that
inconsequent
weather-cock
,
that
useless
insignificant
part
of
creation
,
those
objects
of
her
supreme
derision
and
contempt
,
those
frivolous
trifles
which
she
wondered
the
good
God
had
ever
troubled
himself
to
make
—
namely
,
"
Les
Femmes
.
"
"
Holà
,
Cigarette
!
"
cried
the
Zouave
Tata
,
leaning
out
of
a
little
casement
of
the
As
de
Pique
as
she
passed
it
.
"
A
la
bonne
heure
,
ma
belle
!
Come
in
;
we
have
the
devil
's
own
fun
here
—
"
"
No
doubt
!
"
retorted
the
Friend
of
the
Flag
.
"
It
would
be
odd
if
the
master-fiddler
would
not
fiddle
for
his
own
!
"
Through
the
window
,
and
over
the
sturdy
shoulders
in
their
canvas
shirt
of
the
hero
Tata
,
the
room
was
visible
,
full
of
smoke
,
through
which
the
lights
glimmered
like
the
sun
in
a
fog
,
reeking
with
bad
wines
,
crowded
with
laughing
bearded
faces
,
and
the
battered
beauty
of
women
revellers
,
while
on
the
table
,
singing
with
a
voice
Mario
himself
could
not
have
rivalled
for
exquisite
sweetness
,
was
a
slender
Zouave
,
gesticulating
with
the
most
marvellous
pantomime
,
while
his
melodious
tones
rolled
out
the
obscenest
and
wittiest
ballad
that
ever
was
carolled
in
a
guinguette
.
"
Come
in
,
my
pretty
one
!
"
entreated
Tata
,
stretching
out
his
brawny
arms
.
"
You
will
die
of
laughing
if
you
hear
Gris-Gris
to-night
.
Such
a
song
!
"
"
A
pretty
song
,
yes
,
for
a
pigsty
!
"
said
Cigarette
,
with
a
glance
into
the
chamber
,
as
she
shook
his
hand
off
her
,
and
went
on
down
the
street
.
A
night
or
two
before
a
new
song
from
Gris-Gris
,
the
best
tenor
in
the
whole
army
,
would
have
been
paradise
to
her
,
and
she
would
have
vaulted
through
the
window
at
a
single
bound
into
the
pandemonium
.
Now
,
she
did
not
know
why
,
she
found
no
charm
in
it
.
And
she
went
quietly
home
to
her
little
straw-bed
in
her
garret
,
and
curled
herself
up
like
a
kitten
to
sleep
;
but
for
the
first
time
in
her
young
life
sleep
did
not
come
readily
to
her
,
and
when
it
did
come
,
for
the
first
time
found
a
restless
sigh
upon
her
laughing
mouth
,
as
she
murmured
,
dreaming
:
"
Comme
elle
est
belle
!
Comme
elle
est
belle
!
"
CHAPTER
VIII
.
THE
MISTRESS
OF
THE
WHITE
KING
.
"
Fighting
in
the
Kabaila
,
life
was
well
enough
;
but
here
!
"
thought
Cecil
as
,
earlier
awake
than
those
of
his
Chambrée
,
he
stood
looking
down
the
lengthy
narrow
room
where
the
men
lay
asleep
along
the
bare
floor
.
Tired
as
over-worked
cattle
,
and
crouched
or
stretched
like
worn-out
homeless
dogs
,
they
had
never
wakened
as
he
had
noiselessly
harnessed
himself
,
and
he
looked
at
them
with
that
interest
in
other
lives
that
had
come
to
him
through
adversity
;
for
if
misfortune
had
given
him
strength
,
it
had
also
given
him
sympathy
.
They
were
of
marvellously
various
types
—
those
sleepers
brought
under
one
roof
by
fates
the
most
diverse
.
Close
beside
a
huge
and
sinewy
brute
of
an
Auvergnat
,
whose
coarse
bestial
features
and
massive
bull
's
head
were
fitter
for
a
galley-slave
than
a
soldier
,
were
the
symmetrical
limbs
and
the
oval
delicate
face
of
a
man
from
the
Valley
of
the
Rhône
.
Beneath
a
canopy
of
flapping
tawny
wild-beast
skins
,
the
spoils
of
his
own
hand
,
was
flung
the
naked
torso
of
one
of
the
splendid
peasants
of
the
Sables
d
'
Olonne
;
one
steeped
so
long
in
blood
and
wine
and
alcohol
,
that
he
had
forgotten
the
blue
bright
waves
that
broke
on
the
western
shores
of
his
boyhood
's
home
,
save
when
he
muttered
thirstily
in
his
dreams
of
the
cool
sea
,
as
he
was
muttering
now
.
Next
him
,
curled
,
dog-like
,
with
its
round
black
head
meeting
its
feet
,
was
a
wiry
frame
on
which
every
muscle
was
traced
like
network
,
and
the
skin
burnt
black
as
jet
under
twenty
years
of
African
sun
.
The
midnight
streets
of
Paris
had
seen
its
birth
,
the
thieves
'
quarter
had
been
its
nest
;
it
had
no
history
,
it
had
almost
no
humanity
;
it
was
a
perfect
machine
for
slaughter
,
no
more
—
who
had
ever
tried
to
make
it
more
?
Farther
on
lay
,
sleeping
fitfully
,
a
boy
of
scarcely
more
than
seventeen
,
with
rounded
cheek
and
fair
white
limbs
like
a
child
's
,
whose
uncovered
chest
was
delicate
as
a
girl
's
,
and
through
whose
long
brown
lashes
tears
in
his
slumber
were
stealing
as
his
rosy
mouth
murmured
,
"
Mère
!
mère
!
Pauvre
mère
!
"
He
was
a
young
conscript
taken
from
the
glad
vine-country
of
the
Loire
,
and
from
the
little
dwelling
up
in
the
rock
beside
the
sunny
brimming
river
,
and
half-buried
under
its
grape-leaves
and
coils
,
that
was
dearer
to
him
than
is
the
palace
to
its
heir
.
There
were
many
others
beside
these
;
and
Cecil
looked
at
them
with
those
weary
speculative
meditative
fancies
which
,
very
alien
to
his
temperament
,
stole
on
him
occasionally
in
the
privations
and
loneliness
of
his
existence
here
—
loneliness
in
the
midst
of
numbers
,
the
most
painful
of
all
solitude
.
Life
was
bearable
enough
to
him
in
the
activity
of
campaigning
,
in
the
excitement
of
warfare
;
there
were
times
even
when
it
yielded
him
absolute
enjoyment
,
and
brought
him
interests
more
genuine
and
vivid
than
any
he
had
known
in
his
former
world
.
But
,
in
the
monotony
and
the
confinement
of
the
barrack
routine
,
his
days
were
often
intolerable
to
him
.
Morning
after
morning
he
rose
to
the
same
weary
round
of
duty
,
the
same
series
of
petty
irritations
,
of
physical
privations
,
of
irksome
repetitions
,
to
take
a
toss
of
black
rough
coffee
,
and
begin
the
day
knowing
it
would
bring
with
it
endless
annoyances
without
one
gleam
of
hope
.
Rose
to
spend
hours
on
the
exercise-ground
in
the
glare
of
a
burning
sun
,
railed
at
if
a
trooper
's
accoutrement
were
awry
,
or
an
insubordinate
scoundrel
had
pawned
his
regulation-shirt
;
to
be
incessantly
witness
of
tyrannies
and
cruelties
he
was
powerless
to
prevent
,
and
which
he
continually
saw
undo
all
he
had
done
,
and
render
men
desperate
whom
he
had
spent
months
in
endeavouring
to
make
contented
;
to
have
as
the
only
diversions
for
his
few
instants
of
leisure
loathsome
pleasures
that
disgusted
the
senses
they
were
meant
to
indulge
,
and
that
brought
him
to
scenes
of
low
debauchery
from
which
all
the
old
fastidious
instincts
of
his
delicate
luxurious
taste
recoiled
:
with
such
a
life
as
this
he
often
wondered
regretfully
why
,
out
of
the
many
Arab
swords
that
had
crossed
his
own
,
none
had
gone
straight
to
his
heart
;
why
out
of
the
many
wounds
that
had
kept
him
hovering
on
the
confines
of
the
grave
,
none
had
ever
brought
him
the
end
and
the
oblivion
of
death
.
Had
he
been
subject
to
all
the
miseries
and
personal
hardships
of
his
present
career
,
but
had
only
owned
the
power
to
command
,
to
pardon
,
to
lead
,
and
to
direct
,
as
Alan
Bertie
before
him
had
done
with
his
Irregular
Cavalry
in
the
Indian
plains
,
such
a
thought
would
never
have
crossed
him
;
he
was
far
too
thorough
a
soldier
not
then
to
have
been
not
only
satisfied
,
but
happy
.
What
made
his
life
in
the
barracks
of
Algiers
so
bitter
were
the
impotency
,
the
subjection
,
the
compelled
obedience
to
a
bidding
that
he
knew
often
capricious
and
unjust
as
it
was
cruel
,
which
were
so
unendurable
to
his
natural
pride
,
yet
to
which
he
had
hitherto
rendered
undeviating
adhesion
and
submission
,
less
for
his
own
sake
than
for
that
of
the
men
around
him
,
who
,
he
knew
,
would
back
him
in
revolt
to
the
death
,
and
be
dealt
with
,
for
such
loyalty
to
him
,
in
the
fashion
that
the
vivandière
's
words
had
pictured
with
such
terrible
force
and
truth
.
"
Is
it
worth
while
to
go
on
with
it
?
Would
it
not
be
the
wiser
way
to
draw
my
own
sabre
across
my
throat
?
"
he
thought
,
as
the
brutalised
companionship
in
which
his
life
was
spent
struck
on
him
all
the
more
darkly
because
,
the
night
before
,
a
woman
's
voice
and
a
woman
's
face
had
recalled
memories
buried
for
twelve
long
years
.
But
,
after
so
long
a
stand-up
fight
with
fate
,
so
long
a
victory
over
the
temptation
to
let
himself
drift
out
in
an
opium-sleep
from
the
world
that
had
grown
so
dark
to
him
,
it
was
not
in
him
to
give
under
now
.
In
his
own
way
he
had
found
a
duty
to
do
here
,
though
he
would
have
laughed
at
any
one
who
should
have
used
the
word
"
duty
"
in
connexion
with
him
.
In
his
own
way
,
amidst
these
wild
spirits
,
who
would
have
been
blown
from
the
guns
'
mouths
to
serve
him
,
he
had
made
good
the
"
Coeur
Vaillant
Se
Fait
Royaume
"
of
his
House
.
And
he
was
,
moreover
,
by
this
time
,
a
French
soldier
at
heart
and
in
habit
,
in
almost
all
things
,
though
the
English
gentleman
was
not
dead
in
him
under
the
harness
of
a
Chasseur
d
'
Afrique
.
This
morning
he
roused
the
men
of
his
Chambrée
with
that
kindly
gentleness
which
had
gone
so
far
in
its
novelty
to
attach
their
liking
;
went
through
the
customary
routine
of
his
post
with
that
exactitude
and
punctuality
of
which
he
was
always
careful
to
set
the
example
;
made
his
breakfast
off
some
wretched
onion-soup
and
a
roll
of
black
bread
;
rode
fifty
miles
in
the
blazing
heat
of
the
African
day
at
the
head
of
a
score
of
his
chasses-marais
on
convoy
duty
,
bringing
in
escort
a
long
string
of
maize-waggons
from
the
region
of
the
Kabaila
,
which
,
without
such
guard
,
might
have
been
swooped
down
on
and
borne
off
by
some
predatory
tribe
;
and
returned
,
jaded
,
weary
,
parched
with
thirst
,
scorched
through
with
heat
,
and
covered
with
white
dust
,
to
be
kept
waiting
in
his
saddle
,
by
his
Colonel
's
orders
,
outside
the
barrack
for
three-quarters
of
an
hour
,
whether
to
receive
a
command
or
a
censure
he
was
left
in
ignorance
.
When
the
three-quarters
had
passed
,
he
was
told
M
.
le
Commandant
had
gone
long
ago
,
and
did
not
require
him
!
Cecil
said
nothing
.
Yet
he
reeled
slightly
as
he
threw
himself
out
of
saddle
;
a
nausea
and
a
giddiness
had
come
on
him
.
To
have
passed
nigh
an
hour
motionless
in
his
stirrups
,
with
the
skies
like
brass
above
him
,
whilst
he
was
already
worn
with
riding
from
sunrise
well-nigh
to
sunset
,
with
little
to
appease
hunger
and
less
to
slake
thirst
,
made
him
,
despite
himself
,
stagger
dizzily
under
a
certain
sense
of
blindness
and
exhaustion
as
he
dismounted
.
The
Chasseur
who
had
brought
him
the
message
caught
his
arm
eagerly
.
"
Are
you
hurt
,
mon
Caporal
?
"
Cecil
shook
his
head
.
The
speaker
was
one
known
in
the
regiment
as
Petit
Picpon
,
who
had
begun
life
as
a
gamin
of
Paris
,
and
now
bade
fair
to
make
one
of
the
most
brilliant
of
the
soldiers
of
Africa
.
Petit
Picpon
had
but
one
drawback
to
his
military
career
—
he
was
always
in
insubordination
;
the
old
gamin
dare-devilry
was
not
dead
in
him
,
and
never
would
die
;
and
Petit
Picpon
accordingly
was
perpetually
a
hero
in
the
field
and
a
ragamuffin
in
the
times
of
peace
.
Of
course
he
was
always
arrayed
against
authority
,
and
now
,
being
fond
of
his
galonné
with
that
curious
dog-like
deathless
attachment
that
these
natures
,
all
reckless
,
wanton
,
destructive
,
and
mischievous
though
they
be
,
so
commonly
bestow
,
he
muttered
a
terrible
curse
under
his
fiercely
curled
moustaches
.
"
If
the
Black
Hawk
were
nailed
up
in
the
sun
like
a
kite
on
a
barn-door
,
I
would
drive
twenty
nails
through
his
throat
!
"
Cecil
turned
rapidly
on
him
.
"
Silence
,
sir
!
or
I
must
report
you
.
Another
speech
like
that
,
and
you
shall
have
a
turn
at
Beylick
.
"
It
went
to
his
heart
to
rebuke
the
poor
fellow
for
an
outburst
of
indignation
which
had
its
root
in
regard
for
himself
,
but
he
knew
that
to
encourage
it
by
so
much
even
as
by
an
expression
of
gratitude
for
the
affection
borne
him
would
be
to
sow
further
and
deeper
the
poison-seeds
of
that
inclination
to
mutiny
,
and
that
rebellious
hatred
against
their
chief
,
already
only
planted
too
strongly
in
the
squadrons
under
Châteauroy
's
command
.
Petit
Picpon
looked
as
crestfallen
as
one
of
his
fraternity
could
;
he
knew
well
enough
that
what
he
had
said
could
get
him
twenty
blows
of
the
matraque
,
if
his
Corporal
chose
to
give
him
up
to
judgment
;
but
he
had
too
much
of
the
Parisian
in
him
still
not
to
have
his
say
,
though
he
should
be
shot
for
it
.
"
Send
me
to
Beylick
if
you
like
,
Corporal
,
"
he
said
,
sturdily
;
"
I
was
in
wrath
for
you
—
not
for
myself
.
Diantre
!
"
Cecil
was
infinitely
more
touched
than
he
dared
,
for
sake
of
discipline
,
for
sake
of
the
speaker
himself
,
to
show
;
but
his
glance
dwelt
on
Petit
Picpon
with
a
look
that
the
quick
,
black
,
monkey-like
eyes
of
the
rebel
were
swift
to
read
.
"
I
know
,
"
he
said
,
gravely
.
"
I
do
not
misjudge
you
;
but
,
at
the
same
time
,
my
name
must
never
serve
as
a
pretext
for
insubordination
.
Such
men
as
care
to
pleasure
me
will
best
do
so
in
making
my
duty
light
by
their
own
self-control
and
obedience
to
the
rules
of
their
service
.
"
He
led
his
horse
away
,
and
Petit
Picpon
went
on
on
an
errand
he
had
been
sent
to
do
in
the
streets
for
one
of
the
officers
.
Picpon
was
unusually
thoughtful
and
sober
in
deportment
for
him
,
since
he
was
usually
given
to
making
his
progress
along
a
road
,
taken
unobserved
by
those
in
command
over
him
,
"
faisant
roue
,
"
with
hands
and
heels
in
the
dexterous
somersaults
of
his
early
days
.
Now
he
went
along
without
any
unprofessional
antics
,
biting
the
tip
of
a
smoked-out
cigar
which
he
had
picked
up
off
the
pavement
in
sheer
instinct
,
retained
from
the
old
times
when
he
had
used
to
rush
in
,
the
foremost
of
la
queue
,
into
the
forsaken
theatres
of
Bouffes
or
of
Variétés
in
search
for
those
odds
and
ends
which
the
departed
audience
might
have
left
behind
them
;
—
one
of
the
favourite
modes
of
seeking
a
livelihood
with
the
Parisian
night-birds
.
"
Dam
!
I
will
give
it
up
,
then
,
"
resolved
Picpon
,
half
aloud
,
valorously
.
Now
Picpon
had
come
forth
on
evil
thoughts
intent
.
His
officer
—
a
careless
and
extravagant
man
,
the
richest
man
in
the
regiment
—
had
given
him
a
rather
small
velvet
bag
,
sealed
,
with
directions
to
take
it
to
a
certain
notorious
beauty
of
Algiers
,
whose
handsome
Moresco
eyes
smiled
—
or
at
least
he
believed
so
—
exclusively
for
the
time
on
the
sender
.
Picpon
was
very
quick
,
intelligent
,
and
much
liked
by
his
superiors
,
so
that
he
was
often
employed
on
errands
;
and
the
tricks
he
played
in
the
execution
thereof
were
so
adroitly
done
that
they
were
never
detected
.
Picpon
had
chuckled
to
himself
over
this
mission
.
It
was
but
the
work
of
an
instant
for
the
lithe
nimble
fingers
of
the
ex-gamin
to
undo
the
bag
without
touching
the
seal
,
to
see
that
it
contained
a
hundred
Napoléons
with
a
note
,
to
slip
the
gold
into
the
folds
of
his
ceinturon
,
to
fill
up
the
sack
with
date-stones
to
make
it
assume
its
original
form
so
that
none
could
have
imagined
it
had
been
touched
,
and
to
proceed
with
it
thus
to
the
Moorish
lionne
's
dwelling
.
The
negro
who
always
opened
her
door
would
take
it
in
;
Picpon
would
hint
to
him
to
be
careful
,
as
it
contained
some
rare
and
rich
sweetmeats
;
negro
nature
,
he
well
knew
,
would
impel
him
to
search
for
the
bonbons
;
and
the
bag
,
under
his
clumsy
treatment
,
would
bear
plain
marks
of
having
been
tampered
with
,
and
,
as
the
African
had
a
most
thievish
reputation
,
he
would
never
be
believed
if
he
swore
himself
guiltless
.
Voilà
!
here
was
a
neat
trick
!
If
it
had
a
drawback
,
it
was
that
it
was
too
simple
,
too
little
risqué
.
A
child
might
do
it
.
Still
—
a
hundred
Naps
.
!
What
fat
geese
,
what
flagons
of
brandy
,
what
dozens
of
wine
,
what
rich
soups
,
what
handsome
moukieras
,
what
tavern
banquets
they
would
bring
!
Picpon
had
chuckled
again
as
he
arranged
the
little
bag
so
carefully
,
with
its
date-stones
,
and
pictured
the
rage
of
the
beautiful
Moor
when
she
should
discover
the
contents
,
and
order
the
stick
to
her
negro
.
Ah
!
that
was
what
Picpon
called
fun
!
To
appreciate
the
full
force
of
such
fun
,
it
is
necessary
to
have
also
appreciated
the
gamin
.
To
understand
the
legitimate
aspect
such
a
theft
bore
,
it
is
necessary
to
have
also
understood
the
unrecordable
codes
that
govern
the
genus
pratique
,
into
which
the
genus
gamin
,
when
at
maturity
,
develops
.
Picpon
was
quite
in
love
with
his
joke
;
it
was
only
a
good
joke
in
his
sight
;
and
,
indeed
,
men
need
to
live
as
hardly
as
an
African
soldier
lives
,
to
estimate
the
full
temptation
that
gold
can
have
when
you
have
come
to
look
on
a
cat
as
very
good
eating
,
and
to
have
nothing
to
gnaw
but
a
bit
of
old
shoe-leather
through
the
whole
of
the
long
hours
of
a
burning
day
of
fatigue-duty
;
and
to
estimate
,
as
well
,
the
full
width
and
depth
of
the
renunciation
that
made
him
mutter
now
so
valorously
,
"
Dieu
!
I
will
give
it
up
,
then
!
"
Picpon
did
not
know
himself
as
he
said
it
.
Yet
he
turned
down
into
a
lonely
narrow
lane
,
under
marble
walls
,
overtopped
with
fig
and
palm
from
some
fine
gardens
,
undid
the
bag
for
the
second
time
,
whisked
out
the
date-stones
and
threw
them
over
the
wall
,
so
that
they
should
be
out
of
his
reach
if
he
repented
,
put
back
the
Napoléons
,
closed
the
little
sack
,
ran
as
hard
as
he
could
scamper
to
his
destination
,
delivered
his
charge
into
the
fair
lady
's
own
hands
,
and
relieved
his
feelings
by
a
score
of
somersaults
alone
the
pavement
as
fast
as
ever
he
could
go
.
"
Ma
cantche
!
"
he
thought
,
as
he
stood
on
his
head
,
with
his
legs
at
an
acute
angle
in
the
air
,
a
position
very
favoured
by
him
for
moments
of
reflection
—
he
said
his
brain
worked
better
upside
down
.
"
Ma
cantche
!
what
a
weakness
,
what
a
weakness
!
What
remorse
to
have
yielded
to
it
!
Beneath
you
,
Picpon
—
utterly
beneath
you
.
Just
because
that
ci-devant
says
such
follies
please
him
in
us
!
"
Picpon
(
then
in
his
gamin
stage
)
had
been
enrolled
in
the
Chasseurs
at
the
same
time
with
the
"
ci-de-vant
,
"
as
they
called
Bertie
,
and
,
following
his
gamin
nature
,
had
exhausted
all
his
resources
of
impudence
,
maliciousness
,
and
power
of
tormenting
,
on
the
"
aristocrat
;
"
somewhat
disappointed
,
however
,
that
the
utmost
ingenuities
of
his
insolence
and
even
his
malignity
never
succeeded
in
breaking
the
"
aristocrat
's
"
silence
and
contemptuous
forbearance
from
all
reprisal
.
For
the
first
two
years
the
hell-on-earth
which
life
with
a
Franco-Arab
regiment
seemed
to
Cecil
,
was
a
hundred-fold
embittered
by
the
brutalised
jests
and
mosquito-like
torments
of
this
little
odious
chimpanzee
of
Paris
.
One
day
,
however
,
it
chanced
that
a
detachment
of
Chasseurs
,
of
which
Cecil
was
one
,
was
cut
to
pieces
by
such
an
overwhelming
mass
of
Arabs
,
that
scarce
a
dozen
of
them
could
force
their
way
through
the
Bedouins
with
life
;
he
was
amongst
those
few
,
and
a
flight
at
full
speed
was
the
sole
chance
of
regaining
their
encampment
.
Just
as
he
had
shaken
his
bridle
free
of
the
Arabs
'
clutch
,
and
had
mowed
himself
a
clear
path
through
their
ranks
,
he
caught
sight
of
his
young
enemy
,
Picpon
,
on
the
ground
,
with
a
lance
broken
off
in
his
ribs
,
guarding
his
head
,
with
bleeding
hands
,
as
the
horses
trampled
over
him
.
To
make
a
dash
at
the
boy
,
though
to
linger
a
moment
was
to
risk
certain
death
,
to
send
his
steel
through
an
Arab
who
came
in
his
way
,
to
lean
down
and
catch
hold
of
the
lad
's
sash
,
to
swing
him
up
into
his
saddle
and
throw
him
across
it
in
front
of
him
,
and
to
charge
afresh
through
the
storm
of
musket-balls
,
and
ride
on
thus
burdened
,
was
the
work
of
ten
seconds
with
"
Bel-à-faire-peur
.
"
And
he
brought
the
boy
safe
over
a
stretch
of
six
leagues
in
a
flight
for
life
,
though
the
imp
no
more
deserved
the
compassion
than
a
scorpion
that
has
spent
all
its
noxious
day
stinging
at
every
point
of
uncovered
flesh
would
merit
tenderness
from
the
hand
it
had
poisoned
.
When
he
was
swung
down
from
the
saddle
and
laid
in
front
of
a
vidette
fire
,
sheltered
from
the
bitter
north
wind
that
was
then
blowing
cruelly
,
the
bright
,
black
,
ape-like
eyes
of
the
Parisian
diablotin
opened
with
a
strange
gleam
in
them
:
"
Picpon
s'en
souviendra
,
"
he
murmured
.
And
Picpon
had
kept
his
word
;
he
had
remembered
often
;
he
remembered
now
,
standing
on
his
head
and
thinking
of
his
hundred
Napoléons
surrendered
because
thieving
and
stealing
in
the
regiment
gave
pain
to
that
oddly
prejudiced
ci-devant
.
This
was
the
sort
of
loyalty
that
the
Franco-Arabs
rendered
;
this
was
the
sort
of
influence
that
the
English
Guardsman
exercised
amongst
his
Roumis
.
Meantime
,
while
Picpon
made
a
human
cone
of
himself
,
to
the
admiration
of
the
polyglot
crowd
of
the
Algerine
street
,
Cecil
,
having
watered
,
fed
,
and
littered
down
his
tired
horse
,
made
his
way
to
a
little
café
he
commonly
frequented
,
and
spent
the
few
sous
he
could
afford
on
an
iced
draught
of
lemon-flavoured
drink
.
Eat
he
could
not
;
over-fatigue
had
given
him
a
nausea
for
food
,
and
the
last
hour
,
motionless
in
the
intense
glow
of
the
afternoon
sun
,
had
brought
that
racking
pain
through
his
temples
which
assailed
him
rarely
now
,
but
which
in
his
first
years
in
Africa
had
given
him
many
hours
of
agony
.
He
could
not
stay
in
the
café
;
it
was
the
hour
of
dinner
for
many
,
and
the
odours
joined
with
the
noise
were
insupportable
to
him
.
A
few
doors
farther
in
the
street
,
which
was
chiefly
of
Jewish
and
Moslem
shops
,
there
was
a
quaint
place
,
kept
by
an
old
Moor
,
who
had
some
of
the
rarest
and
most
beautiful
treasures
of
Algerian
workmanship
in
his
long
,
dark
,
silent
chambers
.
With
this
old
man
Cecil
had
something
of
a
friendship
;
he
had
protected
him
one
day
from
the
mockery
and
outrage
of
some
drunken
Indigènes
,
and
the
Moor
,
warmly
grateful
,
was
ever
ready
to
give
him
a
cup
of
coffee
and
a
hubble-bubble
in
the
stillness
of
his
dwelling
.
Its
resort
was
sometimes
welcome
to
him
as
the
one
spot
,
quiet
and
noiseless
,
to
which
he
could
escape
out
of
the
continuous
turmoil
of
street
and
of
barrack
,
and
he
went
thither
now
.
He
found
the
old
man
sitting
cross-legged
behind
his
counter
;
a
noble-looking
aged
Mussulman
,
with
a
long
beard
like
white
silk
,
with
cashmeres
and
broidered
stuffs
of
peerless
texture
hanging
above
his
head
,
and
all
around
him
things
of
silver
,
of
gold
,
of
ivory
,
of
amber
,
of
feathers
,
of
bronze
,
of
emeralds
,
of
ruby
,
of
beryl
,
whose
rich
colours
glowed
through
the
darkness
.
"
No
coffee
,
no
sherbet
,
thanks
,
good
father
,
"
said
Cecil
,
in
answer
to
the
Moor
's
hospitable
entreaties
.
"
Give
me
only
license
to
sit
in
the
quiet
here
.
I
am
very
tired
.
"
"
Sit
and
be
welcome
,
my
son
,
"
said
Ben
Arsli
.
"
Whom
should
this
roof
shelter
in
honour
,
if
not
thee
?
Musjid
shall
bring
thee
the
supreme
solace
.
"
The
supreme
solace
was
a
narghilé
,
and
its
great
bowl
of
rose-water
was
soon
set
down
by
the
little
Moorish
lad
at
Cecil
's
side
.
Whether
fatigue
really
weighted
his
eyes
with
slumber
,
or
whether
the
soothing
sedative
of
the
pipe
had
its
influence
,
he
had
not
sat
long
in
the
perfect
stillness
of
the
Moor
's
shop
before
the
narrow
view
of
the
street
under
the
awning
without
was
lost
to
him
,
the
lustre
and
confusion
of
shadowy
hues
swam
awhile
before
his
eyes
,
the
throbbing
pain
in
his
temples
grew
duller
,
and
he
slept
—
the
heavy
,
dreamless
sleep
of
intense
exhaustion
.
Ben
Arsli
glanced
at
him
,
and
bade
Musjid
be
very
quiet
.
Half
an
hour
or
more
passed
;
none
had
entered
the
place
.
The
grave
old
Moslem
was
half
slumbering
himself
,
when
there
came
a
delicate
odour
of
perfumed
laces
,
a
delicate
rustle
of
silk
swept
the
floor
;
a
lady
's
voice
asked
the
price
of
an
ostrich-egg
,
superbly
mounted
in
gold
.
Ben
Arsli
opened
his
eyes
—
the
Chasseur
slept
on
:
the
new-comer
was
one
of
those
great
ladies
who
now
and
then
winter
in
Algeria
.
Her
carriage
waited
without
:
she
was
alone
,
making
purchase
of
those
innumerable
splendid
trifles
with
which
Algiers
is
rife
,
while
she
drove
through
the
town
in
the
cooler
hour
before
the
sun
sank
into
the
western
sea
.
The
Moor
rose
instantly
,
with
profound
salaams
,
before
her
,
and
began
to
spread
before
her
the
richest
treasures
of
his
stock
.
Under
plea
of
the
light
,
he
remained
near
the
entrance
with
her
;
money
was
dear
too
him
,
and
must
not
be
lost
,
but
he
would
make
it
if
he
could
without
awakening
the
tired
soldier
.
Marvellous
caskets
of
mother-of-pearl
;
carpets
soft
as
down
,
with
every
brilliant
hue
melting
one
within
another
;
coffee
equipages
,
of
inimitable
metal
work
;
silver
statuettes
,
exquisitely
chased
and
wrought
;
feather-fans
,
and
screens
of
every
beauty
of
device
,
were
spread
before
her
,
and
many
of
them
were
bought
by
her
with
that
unerring
grace
of
taste
and
lavishness
of
expenditure
which
were
her
characteristics
,
but
which
are
far
from
always
found
in
unison
;
and
throughout
her
survey
,
Ben
Arsli
had
kept
her
near
the
entrance
,
and
Cecil
had
slept
on
unaroused
by
the
low
tones
of
their
voices
.
A
roll
of
notes
had
passed
from
her
hand
to
the
Moslem
's
,
and
she
was
about
to
pass
out
to
her
carriage
,
when
a
lamp
which
hung
at
the
farther
end
caught
her
fancy
.
It
was
very
singular
,
a
mingling
of
coloured
glass
,
silver
,
gold
,
and
ivory
being
wrought
in
with
much
beauty
in
its
formation
.
"
Is
that
for
sale
?
"
she
inquired
.
As
he
answered
in
the
affirmative
,
she
moved
up
the
shop
,
and
,
her
eyes
being
lifted
to
the
lamp
,
had
drawn
close
to
Cecil
before
she
saw
him
.
When
she
did
so
,
she
paused
near
,
in
astonishment
:
"
Is
that
soldier
asleep
?
"
"
He
is
,
Madame
,
"
softly
answered
the
old
man
,
in
his
slow
,
studied
French
.
"
He
comes
here
to
rest
sometimes
out
of
the
noise
;
he
was
very
tired
to-day
,
and
I
think
ill
,
would
he
have
confessed
it
.
"
"
Indeed
!
"
Her
eyes
fell
on
him
with
compassion
;
he
had
fallen
into
an
attitude
of
much
grace
,
and
of
utter
exhaustion
;
his
head
was
uncovered
and
rested
on
one
arm
,
so
that
the
face
was
turned
upward
.
With
a
woman
's
rapid
comprehensive
glance
she
saw
the
dark
shadow
like
a
bruise
under
his
closed
aching
eyes
,
she
saw
the
weary
pain
upon
his
forehead
,
she
saw
the
whiteness
of
his
hands
,
the
slenderness
of
his
wrists
,
the
softness
of
his
hair
;
she
saw
,
as
she
had
seen
before
,
that
whatever
he
might
be
now
,
in
some
past
time
he
had
been
a
man
of
gentle
blood
,
of
courtly
bearing
.
"
He
is
a
Chasseur
d'Afrique
?
"
she
asked
the
Moslem
.
"
Yes
,
Madame
.
I
think
—
he
must
have
been
something
very
different
some
day
.
"
She
did
not
answer
;
she
stood
with
her
thoughtful
eyes
gazing
on
the
worn-out
soldier
.
"
He
saved
me
once
,
Madame
,
at
much
risk
to
himself
,
from
the
savagery
of
some
Turcos
,
"
the
old
man
went
on
.
"
Of
course
he
is
always
welcome
under
my
roof
.
The
companionship
he
has
must
be
bitter
to
him
,
I
fancy
;
they
do
say
he
would
have
had
his
officer
's
grade
,
and
the
cross
,
too
,
long
before
now
,
if
it
were
not
for
his
Colonel
's
hatred
.
"
"
Ah
!
I
have
seen
him
before
now
;
he
carves
in
ivory
.
I
suppose
he
has
a
good
sale
for
those
things
with
you
?
"
The
Moor
looked
up
in
amazement
.
"
In
ivory
,
Madame
?
—
he
?
Allah-il-Allah
!
I
never
heard
of
it
.
It
is
strange
—
"
"
Very
strange
.
Doubtless
you
would
have
given
him
a
good
price
for
them
?
"
"
Surely
I
would
;
any
price
he
should
have
wished
.
Do
I
not
owe
him
my
life
?
"
At
that
moment
little
Musjid
let
fall
a
valuable
coffee-tray
,
inlaid
with
amber
;
his
master
,
with
muttered
apology
,
hastened
to
the
scene
of
accident
;
the
noise
startled
Cecil
,
and
his
eyes
unclosed
to
all
the
dreamy
fantastic
colours
of
the
place
,
and
met
those
bent
on
him
in
musing
pity
—
saw
that
lustrous
,
haughty
,
delicate
head
bending
slightly
down
through
the
many-coloured
shadows
.
He
thought
he
was
dreaming
,
yet
on
instinct
he
rose
,
staggering
slightly
,
for
sharp
pain
was
still
darting
through
his
head
and
temples
.
"
Madame
!
pardon
