.

THE COLONEL TELLS HIS STORY.
The Colonel had lunched very well indeed.

He had done justice to every dish set before him; he had made a little speech, congratulating himself on having such a well-trained body of men to command, and felicitating Chaudiere from many points of view.

He was in great good-humour with himself, and when the Notary asked him--it was at the Manor, with the soldiers resting on the grass without--about the tale of bravery he had promised them, he brought his fist down on the table with great intensity but little noise, and said: "Chaudiere may well be proud of it.

I shall refer to it in the Legislature on the question of roads and bridges--there ought to be a stone fence on that dangerous road by the Red Ravine--Have I your attention ?" He stood up, for he was an excitable and voluble Colonel, and he loved oration as a cat does milk.