We will give our own version of the incident.
After the battle of the Pyramids, in which my father fought with his hunting-rifle like a common soldier (there being no cavalry), he went to see Bonaparte at Gizeh. He had noticed that, since the meeting at Damanhour, the commander-in-chief had avoided him, and he wished for an explanation.
That explanation was not hard to obtain. Directly Bonaparte caught sight of my father, he frowned, and, pressing his hat down on his head, he said:
"Ah! it is you. So much the better! Let us go into this room."
With these words he opened a door, and my father went in first. Bonaparte followed him, and bolted the door.
"General," he then went on to say, "you are behaving badly towards me; you are doing your best to demoralise the army; I know all that passed at Damanhour."
My father stepped forward, and placing his hand on Bonaparte's arm, which rested on the sheath of his sword, he said:
"Before I answer you, General, I must ask your motive for locking that door, and your object in according me the honour of this interview?"
"For the purpose of telling you that I consider the highest and the lowest in my army are equal when it becomes a question of discipline; and that, if occasion warrants, I shall shoot a general as soon as a drummer-boy."
"Possibly, General; but I think, nevertheless, there are several men whom you would think twice before shooting."