It was to this man, destined, unless the fates interfered, to a remarkable future, that Charles carried a letter of introduction. It was therefore with almost greater emotion than he had felt in approaching Schneider and Saint-Just that the boy entered the large but unpretentious house where Pichegru had made his headquarters. The sentinel, standing at the entrance to the corridor, told him that Pichegru was in his cabinet, the third door to the right.
Charles entered the corridor with a firm step that gradually grew slower and less noisy as he approached the door that had been pointed out to him.
When he reached the threshold of the half-open door, he could see the general, leaning with both hands on a table, studying a large map of Germany; so sure was he that he should forthwith carry hostilities beyond the Rhine.
Pichegru appeared older than he really was, and his figure aided in the deception; he was above medium height, and he was solidly and sturdily built. He possessed no other elegance than that of strength. His chest was broad,[Pg 120] although he stooped slightly. His vast shoulders, from which rose a short, full, vigorous neck, gave him something of the appearance of an athlete, like Milo, or a gladiator, like Spartacus. His face had the square contour peculiar to the Francs-Comtois of pure descent. His jawbones were enormous, and his forehead immense and very prominent about the temples. His nose was well-formed, and very straight, forming a long ridge from tip to base. Nothing could have been more gentle than his expression, unless he had reason to make it imperious or formidable. Had a great artist wished to express the impassibility of a demigod on a human face, he might have taken Pichegru's for a model.
His profound contempt for men and events, concerning which he never expressed his opinion save with disdainful irony, added greatly to his character. Pichegru loyally served the social order which he had found established, because it was his duty; but he did not and he could not like it. His heart softened only when he thought of the village where he hoped to pass his old age. "To fulfil one's task and then to rest," he often said, "is the whole destiny of man!"[2]
[2] We borrow this portrait from Nodier's study of Pichegru.
Charles made a slight movement which betrayed his presence to Pichegru. The latter possessed the quick sight and keen hearing of the man whose life often depends upon that hearing or sight. He raised his head swiftly and fastened his eyes upon the child with an expression of kindness that emboldened him greatly.
He entered and handed his letter to the general with a bow. "For the citizen-general Pichegru," he said.
"Did you recognize me?" asked the general.
"Immediately, general."
"But you had never seen me."
"My father has described you to me."
During this conversation Pichegru had opened the letter.
"What!" he said, "so you are the son of my brave and dear friend—"
The boy did not allow him to finish.
[Pg 121]
"Yes, citizen-general," he said.
"He says that he gives you to me."
"It remains to be seen whether you will accept the gift."
"What do you want me to do with you?"
"Anything you please."
"I cannot in conscience make a soldier of you; you are too young and weak."
"General, I did not expect to have the pleasure of seeing you so soon. My father gave me another letter to a friend in Strasbourg, where I was to have stayed at least a year to study Greek under him."
"It was not Euloge Schneider?" asked Pichegru, with a laugh.
"Yes, it was."
"Well?"
"Well, he was arrested yesterday."
"By whose order?"
"By that of Saint-Just; he has been sent to the revolutionary tribunal at Paris."
"In that case, you may as well say farewell to him. How did it happen?"
Charles related Mademoiselle de Brumpt's story, to which Pichegru listened with evident interest.
"In truth," he said, "some creatures dishonor humanity. Saint-Just did well. And you did not get spattered with the mud in the midst of all that?"
"Oh!" said Charles, proud of being the hero of an adventure at his age, "I was in prison when it happened."
"What, in prison?"
"Yes; I was arrested the day before."
"Then they have begun to arrest children?"
"That is just what made Saint-Just so angry."
"But why were you arrested?"
"For warning two deputies from Besan?on that it was not safe for them to remain in Strasbourg."
"Dumont and Ballu?"
"Yes."
[Pg 122]
"They are on my staff; you will see them."
"I thought they had returned to Besan?on?"
"They changed their minds on the way. And so it is to you they owe the warning that probably saved their lives?"
"It seems I did wrong," sa............