Pagina 473 de 3800

The Emperor Napoleon burns with impatience to make Prince

Auersperg's acquaintance.' In a word, those gentlemen, Gascons

indeed, so bewildered him with fine words, and he is so flattered

by his rapidly established intimacy with the French marshals, and

so dazzled by the sight of Murat's mantle and ostrich plumes,

qu'il n'y voit que du feu, et oublie celui qu'il devait faire

faire sur l'ennemi!" *(2) In spite of the animation of his

speech, Bilibin did not forget to pause after this mot to give

time for its due appreciation. "The French battalion rushes to

the bridgehead, spikes the guns, and the bridge is taken! But

what is best of all," he went on, his excitement subsiding under

the delightful interest of his own story, "is that the sergeant

in charge of the cannon which was to give the signal to fire the

mines and blow up the bridge, this sergeant, seeing that the

French troops were running onto the bridge, was about to fire,

but Lannes stayed his hand.