"Ouf! you have outflanked me—quite!" said he, bowing with a ludicrous air of confusion and assurance. "Shame! shame, general!" I replied, with an air of scorn: "who is now the spy and deserves to be hanged or shot?" "Not I," said he, with _sang froid_; "I am the bearer of a flag of truce." "In your _own_ name? Good!" "No; in that of Joseph I., King of Naples, and the Marshal Prince of Essling." "A paltry pretence, under which you came hither to reconnoitre our works, our cannon, and means of resistance. Away, sir! Back to your position, and remember that one consideration alone prevents me from horse-whipping you as you deserve, for the manner in which you treated me at Seminara." "Horsewhip—mille baionettes!" replied he, with eyes flashing fire; "I must have reparation for that: monsieur, be so good as to recall those words?" "Sir, remember your threats and the fetters." "Ouf!" he muttered, shrugging his shoulders. "I am in the lion’s den. You must meet me, monsieur." "Yes, in the breach—sword in hand—be gone, sir!" "I go: but hear me. Remember the fate of the Italian commandant of Crotona. I swear, by God and the glory of France, that like him you shall die, and hang from these ramparts when the place surrenders. Our heavy gun-batteries will open at noon; you have but two hundred rank and file: for every one of these I can bring one piece of cannon and a hundred soldiers—ouf! we shall eat you up. Before the sun sets to-night my triumph shall be complete, and Calabria once more the emperor’s." And thus we parted with the bitterest personal animosity. He retired with the bewildered Lascelles; who led him, blindfold, to the outer barrier, and, with his trumpeter, there dismissed him. "By Heaven!" he exclaimed, when he hurried back to me, "what a triumph it would have been to have sent the old fox over to Messina! Only think of Sherbrooke’s flaming general order and address of thanks on the occasion. What on earth tempted you to let him go?" "Flags of truce must be respected: but I had a hard struggle between etiquette and inclination. Desire the gunners of the guard to telegraph to the _Electra_ and gun-boats to keep close in shore; and send my orderly to the Visconte di Santugo, saying I will visit him shortly."