cabinet this morning when a note was brought in to him. He opened it, and as he did so he gave such a start that it fluttered down on to the floor. I handed it up to him again, but he was staring at the wall in front of him as if he had seen a ghost. 'Fratelli dell' Ajaccio,' he muttered; and then again, 'Fratelli dell' Ajaccio.' I don't pretend to know more Italian than a man can pick up in two campaigns, and I could make nothing of this. It seemed to me that he had gone out of his mind; and you would have said so also, Monsieur de Talleyrand, if you had seen the look in his eyes. He read the note, and then he sat for half an hour or more without moving."
"And you?" asked Talleyrand.
"Why, I stood there not knowing what I ought to do. Presently he seemed to come back to his senses.
"'I suppose, Lasalle,' said he, 'that you have some gallant young officers in the Tenth?"
"'They are all that, sire,' I answered.
"'If you had to pick one who was to be depended upon for action, but who would not think too much—you understand me, Lasalle—which would you select?' he asked.
"I saw that he needed an agent who would not penetrate too deeply into his plans.
"'I have one,' said I, 'who is all spurs and
