Their kindness had continued till the end.

It appears they were privy to his flight, the camlet cloak had been lined expressly for him, and he was the bearer of a letter from the daughter of the house to his own daughter in Paris.

The last evening, when the time came to say good-night, it was tacitly known to all that they were to look upon his face no more.

He rose, pleading fatigue, and turned to the daughter, who had been his chief ally: 'You will permit me, my dear--to an old and very unhappy soldier--and may God bless you for your goodness!' The girl threw her arms about his neck and sobbed upon his bosom; the lady of the house burst into tears; '_et je vous le jure_, _le pere se mouchait_!' quoth the Colonel, twisting his moustaches with a cavalry air, and at the same time blinking the water from his eyes at the mere recollection.
It was a good thought to me that he had found these friends in captivity; that he had started on this fatal journey from so cordial a farewell.

He had broken his parole for his daughter: that he should ever live to reach her sick-bed, that he could continue to endure to an end the hardships, the crushing fatigue, the savage cold, of our pilgrimage, I had early ceased to hope.