My friend the General was absent: I wrote to him, and he hastened to meet me. I confessed that I intended to try to obtain employment under Napoleon.--"You won't get it," said he; "Napoleon has not ready money enough to pay his body guard. A good many of my old officers have joined him, and for themselves and their families they only receive fifty, or perhaps sixty francs a month. They are in a state of starvation and despair."--"No matter; I love the Emperor, and come what may, I will join him. Do tell me how I can soonest put to sea."--"The thing is not easy; there is no place from whence you can sail, except only from Leghorn or from Genoa; and those two points are under such close inspection, that you will be sure to be taken up, if you are known to be a Bonapartist. You might slip through with greater ease if you could pass for a tradesman of this town. I will try to get you a passport, but I am afraid it will be a difficult job."--"Besides, there is another difficulty, which is still greater; _ma foi_! I can't speak a dozen words of Italian."--"Is it possible?"--"Yes, I am in earnest."--"And you would venture on such a scheme! are you crazy?"--"Crazy or not, I will venture; but can I really embark no where but at Leghorn or Genoa?"--"There are very many small ports on the coast of Tuscany, but if you go to any of them you must stop till there is an opportunity of getting out; and in the mean time you would be under the _surveillance_ of the authorities, who are, one and all, exceedingly ill-disposed towards the Emperor and his people. Perhaps you might be able to embark immediately in the gulf of Spezzia at Lerici; but, in order to get there, you must go through Genoa, and along the shore; and then there is great reason to fear that you may be snapped either by the Piedmontese carabineers, or by the new consul at Genoa, who, according to what I hear, is quite outrageous. There is another road through the mountains of Spezzia, but it has not been used for a long time, and you would run the risk either of breaking your neck, or of being knocked on the head."--"No matter, if there is no danger in the victory there is no glory in the triumph. That road suits me; and to-morrow I will set out on my expedition."--"Is your passport all right?"--"I will go and get it marked for Lerici."--"Another piece of stupidity; don't you know that here you have to deal with our implacable enemies, the Austrians, who will raise all kinds of difficulties; but I know a Tedesco Colonel (in Italy an Austrian is called a Tedesco), who will probably be able to do the needful for us: we will ask him to come and dine with us. Business or quarrels can all be settled with these gentry when they are feeding."