Page:Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope.djvu/185

 to my suggestion; and, if it was afterward adopted by others, that is your fault, not mine."—"Sir," cried the general, irritated more and more by this remark, "you deserve to have this whip across your shoulders."—"General," retorted Mr. L., "you suffer your anger to get the better of your reason: if you have any whippings to bestow, you must keep them for your Portuguese—Frenchmen are not accustomed to take them." The general's fury now knew no bounds; he put his hand on one of the pistols in his girdle, intending to shoot Mr. L. "But I," said Mr. L., "was ready; and, with my eyes fixed on him, would have seized the other, had he drawn it out, and I would have shot him; for, you know, in self-defence, one will not stand still to have a bullet through one's body, without preventing it, if possible. However, some officers held the general's arm, and shortly after I retired, and, remaining a day or two more in the camp, returned to the place where I had left our ambassador.

"When I told him what had happened—'Stay with me, Loustaunau,' said he; 'it is my intention to raise a few troops here, and, since you seem to like fighting, you shall be employed:' but in a few weeks the ambassador was recalled to France, and he offered to take me with him, promising to get me employment at home. However, I considered that I had