Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/165

Rh honour. I felt great pleasure in being one of the first to receive the Order of Cincinnatus.

I sincerely believed that that would be all the reward we should receive for our campaign in the New World. I can truly declare that I had never even jotted down the amount of my pay as an officer in the service of Congress. I was wrong in my belief, however, and found out afterwards that I had lost nothing by fighting for honest people.

After several years of an active life a state of peace seemed very irksome to me. I went from Paris to my regiment, and from my regiment to Paris. I thought of resuming the study of mathematics, and found a professor. I shall always remember with pleasure the quiet and modest M. Pinel who taught me mathematics. He had hung up his doctor's hat, and never carried a gold-headed cane when he came to give me my lessons. I was surprised to learn some years afterwards that the cele-