IN THE HIDING-SCHOOL. 195 



white and scarlet might be permitted to you, 

 but can you fancy yourself, Esmeralda, sweep- 

 ing across a parade ground with a thousand 

 horsemen behind you, and ready to salute your 

 sovereign and commander-in-chief at the right 

 moment, and to go forward with as much pre- 

 cision as if you, too, were one of those magnifi- 

 cently drilled machines brought into being by 

 the man of blood and iron ? 



