The unlucky persons, civil or military, who,
with an intention of being pleasant, begged Colonel Feraud to tell them
how he came by that very apparent scar on the forehead, were astonished
to find themselves snubbed in various ways, some of which were simply
rude and others mysteriously sardonic. Young officers were warned kindly
by their more experienced comrades not to stare openly at the colonel's
scar. But indeed an officer need have been very young in his profession
not to have heard the legendary tale of that duel originating in a
mysterious, unforgivable offence.
III
The retreat from Moscow submerged all private feelings in a sea of
disaster and misery. Colonels without regiments, D'Hubert and Feraud
carried the musket in the ranks of the so-called sacred battalion--a
battalion recruited from officers of all arms who had no longer any
troops to lead.
In that battalion promoted colonels did duty as sergeants; the generals
captained the companies; a marshal of France, Prince of the Empire,
commanded the whole.
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