"To-day."
It was the 26th of July.
Roland went and he returned that same evening with a pile of newspapers. Sidney had recognized him as the hero of Saint-Jean-d'Acre, and had offered no objections to telling him what was going on in Europe. Then, as he had read incredulity in Roland's eyes, he had given him all the French, English, and German papers which he had on the "Tiger."
The news which these papers contained was disastrous. The Republic, defeated at Sockah and Magnano, had lost Germany at Sockah and Magnano. Masséna, intrenched in Switzerland, occupied an unassailable position on the Albis. The Appenines had been invaded and the Var threatened.
The next day, when Bonaparte saw Roland, he asked: "Well?"
"Well?" replied the young man.
"I knew that Italy was lost!"
"You will have to take it again."
"We will try," returned Bonaparte. "Call Bourrienne."
Bourrienne was called.