EEMTNISCENCES OF THE LEWS. 223 



still, if the thing is to be done, it must be done. 

 I have never exactly made up my mind about 

 ghosts, but I don't see why they should be an 

 impossibility ; and I don't believe, if the truth 

 were really spoken, that any one quite alone 

 hearing a strange noise at night, or seeing a 

 queer sight on the road, that he don't feel his 

 heart beat, and would not sooner have a comrade 

 with him. I don't think that he is quite as 

 cool as he would be in the broad daylight ; and 

 absolute coolness and indifference are the cri- 

 terion of courage according to the old French 

 soldier's view. In the Moscow campaign, when 

 France had soldiers, two of the Old Guard had 

 a bet on which was the coolest under fire. 

 They decided the wager the next day — I think, 

 if my memory serves me right, at Borodino, 

 where the fire was heavy enough to please any 

 epicure. '^ Tiens, tu as perdu, mon camarade 1 

 Regarde — il deboutonne I'habit." Latour Mau- 

 bourg had unbuttoned the top button .of his 

 coat. His comrade demurred to this, and the 

 decision was referred to a committee of old 

 soldiers, who decided that he had lost. Latour 

 Maubourg evidently felt hot, and Poniatowski 

 did not. Nobody, they say, is a hero to his 

 valet- de-chambre, much less to himself. "What 

 is the use of it ? No one is a bit the wiser. 



