"Proceed."
"Do you remember passing the night in the prison at Soissons?"
"I remember it perfectly—in a room adjoining the gaol."
"Do you recollect receiving a visit there?"
"Yes, from a boy of twelve or fourteen years of age."
"Who came to offer you from your friends—"
"Fifty louis and a brace of pistols! I remember it perfectly."
"You have forgotten to say, General, that you kissed that lad on the forehead."
"The deuce! and he deserved it indeed. Is it by any chance that boy—?"
"Was myself, General, a trifle taller, a trifle older since that day; but myself, all the same. That was why I would not be introduced to you, I wanted to introduce myself."