"You are right," said the Emperor. "You stand to me for France. Your spirit typifies the spirit of my soldiery, does it not?"
"Theirs is even greater than mine, Sire," was the prompt answer.
"That's well. Do you know the country hereabouts?"
"I was born at Aumenier."
"Let me see," said the Emperor, "the village lies beyond Sézanne?"
"Yes, Sire."
"In an opening in the great woods beyond the marshes of St. Gond," continued the other, studying the map, "there is a château there. Are you by any chance of the ancient house of Aumenier?"
"My father was a warden on the estates of the last marquis."
"Good. Do you know that country?"
"I have hunted over every rod of it as a boy, Sire."