Orso had been parted from his father at so early an age that he had scarcely had time to know him.

He had left Pietranera to pursue his studies at Pisa when he was only fifteen.

Thence he had passed into the military school, and Ghilfuccio, meanwhile, was bearing the Imperial Eagles all over Europe.

On the mainland, Orso only saw his father at rare intervals, and it was not until 1815 that he found himself in the regiment he commanded.

But the colonel, who was an inflexible disciplinarian, treated his son just like any other sub-lieutenant--in other words, with great severity.