Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/282

258 horses, and as he passed along he struck the men with his whip, crying at the same time, "Fall in line! Fall in line!" He committed many other absurdities, and at last orders arrived at Trieste from the Viceroy that he was to be seized and sent back to Paris. The instructions were bound to be obeyed, but the task was not an easy one. Finally a corn sack was thrown over his head, and he was tied up like a bale of tobacco, put in his own carriage, and packed off to Paris.

At his departure, his tradespeople and other creditors surrounded his house, and refused to allow his baggage to be removed till their claims were satisfied. My brother, seeing a large crowd at the door squabbling over the cases and trunks, inquired the cause of the disturbance. He was told that the general's property was detained for debts amounting to two thousand crowns. My brother paid all claims upon the spot, without waiting for any instructions, and released the goods, which duly arrived safely in Paris. The cases contained much valuable property, and the