"I slept until five o'clock this afternoon," Ralph continued; "owing, I believe, to a powerful opiate that the doctor you kindly sent us gave me. Since I woke, my thoughts have been entirely given to my brother; and the thought of my singular appearance never entered my mind. I have become so accustomed--in the few days since I left Tours--to this beard, mustache, and hair, that I never thought of them, for a moment. Had I thought of it, I could not have presented myself before you, this evening; for I should not have presumed to do so, in my present state; and it will take me some hours of hard work, and not a little pain, before I get rid of them--for they are fastened on with shoemaker's wax and, I fear, will not come off, without taking a considerable portion of skin with them."
The three generals laughed heartily at Ralph's apology, and their own mistake; and General Trochu then asked him to give them a full account of what had happened to him, what he had seen, and what information he had gained since he left Tours. Ralph told the story unaffectedly, from beginning to end, and received warm commendation from his listeners.
"Your story began at Tours," General Trochu said; "where had you last been, before that?"
"We had only arrived, ten days before, from a German prison," Ralph answered.
The generals all laughed.
"You are adventurous fellows, you and your brother," General Vinoy said. "How did you get taken, and how did you get out?"
Ralph again told his story.
"You are cool hands, you Barclays," General Ducrot said. "How did you get commissions first? Were you at the Polytechnic, or Saint Cyr?"
"No, general," Ralph said, modestly, "we had no such advantages. We won our commissions--and the cross of the Legion--in the Vosges, as franc tireurs."
"In which corps?" General Trochu asked, a little sharply. "They have not done any very great things, the franc tireurs."