"Well, citizen-general!" said Falou, with that familiarity of speech which the principle of equality had introduced into the army, "if you had been at Dawendorff, faith! you would have seen me save General Abatucci's life during a charge of cavalry, and he is as good as any man." "Ah!" said Bonaparte, "thanks! I believe that Abatucci is a sort of cousin of mine." Falou picked up his cavalry sabre and showed it to Bonaparte. He was much astonished to find a general's sword in the possession of a quartermaster-general. "It was on that occasion that General Pichegru, who is as good as any man"--and he emphasized this characterization--"seeing the state to which my poor sabre had been reduced, made me a present of his, which is not altogether according to orders, as you see." "Go on," said Bonaparte; "for I see that you have something more to tell me." "I have this to tell you also, general. If you had been at Froeschwiller, on the day that General Hoche offered six hundred francs on the Prussian cannon, you would have seen me capture one of those cannon, and also have seen me made quartermaster for it." "And did you receive those six hundred francs?" Falou shook his head. "We gave them up to the widows and children of the poor fellows who died on the day of Dawendorff, and I took only my pay, which was in one of the Prince de Condé's chests." "Brave, disinterested fellow! Go on," said the general; "I like to see such men as you, who have no journalists to sound their praises or to decry them, pronouncing their own panegyrics." "And then," continued Falou, "had you been at the storming of the lines of Weissembourg, you would have known that when three Prussians attacked me I killed two. True, I did not parry in time to escape a blow from the third, of which this is the scar--you see where I mean--to which I replied with a thrust with the point that sent my man to rejoin his two comrades. I was made quartermaster-general for that." "And is this all true?" asked Bonaparte. "Oh! as for that," said Faraud, drawing near, and bringing his bandaged hand to the salute, "if the quartermaster needs a witness, I can testify that he has told nothing but the truth, and that he has said too little rather than too much. It is well known in the Army of the Rhine." "Well," said Bonaparte, looking benevolently at the two men who had just been exchanging blows, and of whom one was now sounding the other's praises, "I am delighted to make your acquaintance, citizen Falou. I trust that you will do as well in the Army of Italy as you have in the Army of the Rhine. But how does it happen that two such fine fellows as you should be enemies?" "We, citizen-general?" exclaimed Falou. "We are not enemies." "Why the deuce were you fighting then, if you are not enemies?" "Oh!" said Faraud, with his customary twist of the neck, "we were just fighting for the sake of fighting." "But suppose that I tell you I wish to know why you fought?"