Grenadiers of the Guard! the men of the Bridge of Lodi, of the Battle of the Pyramids and Mount Tabor, of Hochstadt and Hohenlinden.
Kit recalled the tops of the Cocotie swarming with riflemen, and old Ding-dong's surprised disgust.
Now he understood.
On the success of this venture hung Napoleon's world-projects. Coûte que coûte, he had told Mouche, he must bring off this coup. So he was employing on it the pick of the first Army the world had ever seen.
As he thought of the issues at stake, the boy's soul fainted within him.
How could he, Kit Caryll, aged fifteen, and hovering on the brink of tears, stand up against the Victor of Marengo?
CHAPTER XLVIII
THE DOXIE'S DAUGHTER
I
The boy's long face, anxious before, grew haggard now.