Among the Frenchmen there was a splendid man and soldier, whose real name we never knew, but whose ultimate history created no small sensation, when it came to be known in the Prussian army.  If beauty and courage are proofs of nobility, as (although I have seen some of the ugliest dogs and the greatest cowards in the world in the noblesse) I have no doubt courage and beauty are, this Frenchman must have been of the highest families in France, so grand and noble was his manner, so superb his person.  He was not quite so tall as myself, fair, while I am dark, and, if possible, rather broader in the shoulders.  He was the only man I ever met who could master me with the small-sword; with which he would pink me four times to my three.  As for the sabre, I could knock him to pieces with it; and I could leap farther and carry more than he could.  This, however, is mere egotism.  This Frenchman, with whom I became pretty intimate—­ for we were the two cocks, as it were, of the depot, and neither had any feeling of low jealousy—­was called, for want of a better name, Le Blondin, on account of his complexion.  He was not a deserter, but had come in from the Lower Rhine and the bishoprics, as I fancy; fortune having proved unfavourable to him at play probably, and other means of existence being denied him.  I suspect that the Bastile was waiting for him in his own country, had he taken a fancy to return thither.

He was passionately fond of play and liquor, and thus we had a considerable sympathy together:  when excited by one or the other, he became frightful.  I, for my part, can bear, without wincing, both ill luck and wine; hence my advantage over him was considerable in our bouts, and I won enough money from him to make my position tenable.  He had a wife outside (who, I take it, was the cause of his misfortunes and separation from his family), and she used to be admitted to see him twice or thrice a week, and never came empty-handed—–­a little brown bright-eyed creature, whose ogles had made the greatest impression upon all the world.

This man was drafted into a regiment that was quartered at Neiss in Silesia, which is only at a short distance from the Austrian frontier; he maintained always the same character for daring and skill, and was, in the secret republic of the regiment—­which always exists as well as the regular military hierarchy—­the acknowledged leader.  He was an admirable soldier, as I have said; but haughty, dissolute, and a drunkard.  A man of this mark, unless he takes care to coax and flatter his officers (which I always did), is sure to fall out with them.  Le Blondin’s captain was his sworn enemy, and his punishments were frequent and severe.

His wife and the women of the regiment (this was after the peace) used to carry on a little commerce of smuggling across the Austrian frontier, where their dealings were winked at by both parties; and in obedience to the instructions of her husband, this woman, from every one of her excursions, would bring in a little powder and ball:  commodities which are not to be procured by the Prussian soldier, and which were stowed away in secret till wanted.  They were to be wanted, and that soon.