Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/282

 210 ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1S53 cu a p. doubt lamenting ten times a- day that the boy had . L_ ' eaten his fortune,' young Fleury was at the foot of a ladder which was destined to give him a con- trol over the fate of a mighty nation. He enlisted in the army as a common soldier ; but the officers of his corps were so well pleased with the young man, and so admired the high spirit with which he met his change of fortune, that their goodwill soon caused him to be raised from the ranks. It was perhaps his knowledge about horses which first caused him to be attached to the Staff of the President. From his temperament and his experience of life it resulted that Fleury cared a great deal for money, or the things which money can buy, and was not at all disposed to stand still and go with- out it. He was daring and resolute, and his daring was of the kind which holds good in the moment of danger. If Prince Louis Bonaparte was bold and ingenious in designing, Fleury was the man to execute. The one was skilful in pre- paring the mine and laying the train ; the other was the man standing by with a lighted match, and determined to touch the fuse. The support of such a comrade as Fleury in the barrack-yard at Strasburg or at Boulogne might have brought many lives into danger, but it would have pre- vented the enterprise from coming to a ridiculous end. In truth, the nature of the one man was the complement of the nature of the other ; and be- tween them they had a set of qualities so puissant for dealing a sudden blow, that, working together,