Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/274

250 declared Joseph la Brosse should be exempt from the tax, and pay nothing. My brother asked if his share was to be deducted from the total, and received the reply that though he was personally exempted from paying, no diminution would be made in the sum demanded, but his share would have to be contributed by the other merchants of Trieste. My brother was noble and disinterested enough to reply that he had received the hospitality of Trieste, and all the merchants of the city were his comrades and friends, and that as he had shared with them in good luck, it was only fair that he should be allied with them in their misfortune.

"But," he said to General S——, "as you wish to show me a kindness, there is something you can do for me. Diminish the number of soldiers who are lodged in my warehouses, for I have noticed that bales of merchandise do not seem to agree with sabres and moustaches."

The general laughed, and removed many of the soldiers who were billeted on my brother.