"You seem to have recovered your equanimity of temper now."
"Oh, perfectly; but my head rings like a belfry, with that cut you gave me."
"So that old officer with his arm slung, was really the famous D'Erlon, of whom we have heard so much."
"The gallant old count himself. He received a stroke from a spent pistol-ball a day or two past, which disabled his sword-arm; otherwise you would have had an encounter with him also."
"I shall ever curse my thoughtlessness, in having permitted him to escape."
The cuirassier laughed exultingly.
"I am,—diable! I was his aide-de-camp; and we had merely crossed the Tagus last night with a sub-division of chasseurs, to make a reconnoissance; and we were returning leisurely in the rear of our party, when you so unluckily fell in with us, like some wandering knight-errant."
"Excuse me, monsieur; but as I perceive that your sabre-tache[*] is very full of something, if you have any of the Count d'Erlon's despatches or papers, I must consider it my duty to request that you will entrust them to my care."
[*] A leather case hanging to the waist-belt of a dragoon. It is meant for carrying military papers.
"Excellent, by the bomb! That you may present them to your general?"