“What cause did he serve then?”

“That of one of the poor native princes, whose territories the English, lay waste, till the day when they can take possession of them against law and right.  You see, my children, it was once more the weak against the strong, and your father did not miss this opportunity.  In a few months he had so well-trained and disciplined the twelve or fifteen thousand men of the prince, that, in two encounters, they cut to pieces the English sent against them, and who, no doubt, had in their reckoning left out your brave father, my children.  But come, you shall read some pages of his journal, which will tell you more and better than I can.  Moreover, you will find in them a name which you ought always to remember; that’s why I chose this passage.”

“Oh, what happiness!  To read the pages written by our father, is almost to hear him speak,” said Rose.

“It is as if he were close beside us,” added Blanche.

And the girls stretched out their hands with eagerness, to catch hold of the leaves that Dagobert had taken from his pocket.  Then, by a simultaneous movement, full of touching grace, they pressed the writing of their father in silence to their lips.

“You will see also, my children, at the end of this letter, why I was surprised that your guardian angel, as you say, should be called Gabriel.  Read, read,” added the soldier, observing the puzzled air of the orphans.  “Only I ought to tell you that, when he wrote this, the general had not yet fallen in with the traveller who brought the papers.”

Rose, sitting up in her bed, took the leaves, and began to read in a soft and trembling voice, Blanche, with her head resting on her sister’s shoulder, followed attentively every word.  One could even see, by the slight motion of her lips, that she too was reading, but only to herself.

CHAPTER VIII.

Extracts from general Simon’s diary.

Bivouac on the Mountains of Avers February the 20th, 1830.

“Each time I add some pages to this journal, written now in the heart of India, where the fortune of my wandering and proscribed existence has thrown me—­a journal which, alas! my beloved Eva, you may never read—­I experience a sweet, yet painful emotion; for, although to converse thus with you is a consolation, it brings back the bitter thought that I am unable to see or speak to you.

“Still, if these pages should ever meet your eyes, your generous heart will throb at the name of the intrepid being, to whom I am this day indebted for my life, and to whom I may thus perhaps owe the happiness of seeing you again—­you and my child—­for of course our child lives.  Yes, it must be—­for else, poor wife, what an existence would be yours amid the horrors of exile!  Dear soul! he must now be fourteen.  Whom does he resemble?  Is he like you?  Has he your large and beautiful blue eyes?—­Madman that I am! how many times, in this long day-book, have I already asked the same idle question, to which you can return no answer!—­How many times shall I continue to ask it?—­But you will teach our child to speak and love the somewhat savage name of Djalma.”