"Thanks, General; I have never got beyond the first stages; so you see my apprenticeship would be too long, and neither my mother nor I could wait——'
"Ah! what can I say, my lad? You know the proverb: 'The prettiest girl in the world....' Ah I pardon, pardon; I find I am mistaken. I have still half my purse; I had forgotten that: it is true it is hardly worth troubling about." He opened the drawer of a small chest in which, I remember, there were two gold coins and forty francs in silver.
"There," he said, "this is the remainder of my quarter's pay."
"Thank you, General; but I am nearly as wealthy as you." It was my turn to have tears in my eyes. "Thank you, but perhaps you can advise me what further steps I can take."
"You have already taken some steps, then?"
"Yes, I set about them this morning."
"Ah! ah! And who have you seen?"
"I saw Marshal Jourdan and General Sébastiani."
"Pooh!... Well?"
"Well, General, pooh!..."