threatening him. Anxious to be perfectly clear, Sadi made me read some passages of his manuscript in order to convince himself that it would be understood by persons occupied with other studies.
Perhaps a solitary life in small garrisons, in the work-room and in the chemical laboratory, had increased his natural reserve. In small companies, however, he was not at all taciturn. He took part voluntarily in the gayest plays, abandoning himself to lively chat. "The time passed in laughing is well spent," he once wrote. His language was at such times full of wit, keen without malice, original without eccentricity, sometimes paradoxical, but without other pretension than that of an innocent activity of intelligence. He had a very warm heart under a cold manner. He was obliging and devoted, sincere and true in his dealings.
Towards the end of 1826, a new royal ordinance having obliged the staff lieutenants to return to the ranks, Sadi asked and obtained a return to the engineer corps, in which he received the following year, as his rank of seniority, the grade of captain.
Military service, however, weighed upon him. Jealous of his liberty, in 1828, he laid aside his uniform that he might be free to come and go at
