‘Come here, mon cher,’ said an infantry colonel, as, walking to the door of the room, he drew his telescope from his pocket; ‘you tell us of a coup de main—on the Monte Faccio, is it not?’
‘Yes,’ replied I promptly, ‘so I understand the name.’
‘Well, have you ever seen the place?’
‘Never.’
‘Well, there it is yonder’; and he handed me his glass as he spoke. ‘You see that large beetling cliff, with the olives at the foot? There, on the summit, stands the Monte Faccio. The road—the pathway rather, and a steep one it is—leads up where you see those goats feeding, and crosses in front of the crag, directly beneath the fire of the batteries. There’s not a spot on the whole ascent where three men could march abreast; and wherever there is any shelter from fire, the guns of the “Sprona,” that small fort to the right, take the whole position. What do you think of your counsel now?’
‘You forget, sir, it is not my counsel. I merely repeat what I overheard.’
‘And do you mean to say, that the men who gave that advice were serious, or capable of adopting it themselves?’
‘Most assuredly; they would never recommend to others what they felt unequal to themselves. I know these English well, and so much will I say of them.’
‘Bah!’ cried he, with an insolent gesture of his hand, and turned away; and I could plainly see that my praises of the enemy were very ill-taken. In fact, my unlucky burst of generosity had done more to damage my credit than all the dangerous or impracticable features of my scheme. Every eye was turned to the bold precipice, and the stern fortress that crowned it, and all agreed that an attack must be hopeless.
I saw, too late, the great fault I had committed, and that nothing could be more wanting in tact than to suggest to Frenchmen an enterprise which Englishmen deemed practicable, and which yet, to the former, seemed beyond all reach of success. The insult was too palpable and too direct; but to retract was impossible, and I had now to sustain a proposition which gave offence on every side.