for many months, nearly all communication with the army of 
Egypt was cut off by the vigilance of the English. There flying 
reports sent to Josephine of the disaster to the army, and even 
of the death of Napoleon, which made her, many times, in 
great distress, not knowing the fate of her husband and son. 
On the other hand, she knew that by the grossest deception her 
husband’s confidence in her had been greatly impaired, which 
caused her to fear that should he return, she might never be 
able to regain his affections; still, she devoted herself with un- 
wearied diligence in watching over all his interest, and though 
her heart was often oppressed with anguish, she did everything 
in her power to retain the aspect of cheerfulness and of san- 
guine hope. 
There are some very interesting anecdotes concerning 
Josephine, one of which follows. In subsequent years, when 
surrounded by all the splendors of royalty, she related to some 
of the ladies of her court, with that unaffected simplicity which 
ever marked her character, the following incident, which oc- 
curred during her voyage from Martinique to France. The 
ladies were admiring some beautiful jewels which were spread 
out before them, whereupon Josephine said to them: ; 
“My young friends, believe me, splendor does not constitute 
happiness. I at one time received greater enjoyment from the 
gift of a pair of old shoes than all these diamonds have ever 
afforded me.” Here the curiosity of her auditors was, © 
course, greatly excited, and they entreated her to explain her 
meaning. She continued as follows: 4 
“Yes, young ladies, of all the presents I ever received, the 
one which gave me the greatest pleasure was a pair of o 
shoes, and those, too, of coarse leather. When I last returned 
to France from’ Martinique, having separated from my first 
husband, I was far from being rich. Hence, the passage money 
exhausted my resources, and it was not without difficulty that 
I obtained the indispensable requisites for our voyage. *tor- 
tense, obliging and lively, performing with much agility the 
dances of the Negroes, and singing their songs with surprising 
correctness, greatly amused the sailors, who, from being her 
constant play-fellows, had become her favorite society. An 
old sailor became particularly attached to the child, which made 
her like the old man. With running, leaping, and walk- 
ing, my daughter’s slight shoes were fairly worn out. Know- 
ing that she had not another pair, and fearing that I would 
forbid her going upon deck, should this defect in her attire be 
discovered, Hortense carefully concealed the disaster. But 
one day I experienced the distress of seeing her returning from 
the deck leaving every foot-mark in blood. And, when I ex- 
amined how matters stood, I found her shoes literally in tatters, 
and her feet dreadfully torn by a nail. We were as yet not 
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