Page:Exploits of Brigadier Gerard.djvu/203

Rh "It has been my misfortune, sir, to detain one of your letters," said I.

He looked at me in amazement, and beckoned to the warders to arrest me. Then he broke the seal of the letter. I saw a curious expression come over his face as he read it.

"This must be the letter which Sir Charles Meredith lost," said he.

"It was in the pocket of his coat."

"You have carried it for two days?"

"Since the night before last."

"And never looked at the contents?"

I showed him by my manner that he had committed an indiscretion in asking a question which one gentleman should not have put to another.

To my surprise he burst out into a roar of laughter.

"Colonel," said he, wiping the tears from his eyes, "you have really given both yourself and us a great deal of unnecessary trouble. Allow me to read the letter which you carried with you in your flight."

And this was what I heard:—

"On receipt of this you are directed to release Colonel Etienne Gerard, of the 3rd Hussars, who has been exchanged against Colonel Mason, of the Horse Artillery, now in Verdun."

And as he read it, he laughed again, and the