General D'Hubert, his hands being free,
felt in his breeches' pockets for that implement of innocent vanity
excusable in the possessor of long, silky moustaches. He drew it out,
and then with the utmost coolness and promptitude turned himself over
on his back. In this new attitude, his head a little raised, holding the
little looking-glass just clear of his tree, he squinted into it with
his left eye, while the right kept a direct watch on the rear of his
position. Thus was proved Napoleon's saying, that "for a French soldier,
the word impossible does not exist." He had the right tree nearly
filling the field of his little mirror.
"If he moves from behind it," he reflected with satisfaction, "I am
bound to see his legs. But in any case he can't come upon me unawares."
And sure enough he saw the boots of General Feraud flash in and out,
eclipsing for an instant everything else reflected in the little mirror.
He shifted its position accordingly. But having to form his judgment of
the change from that indirect view he did not realize that now his feet
and a portion of his legs were in plain sight of General Feraud.
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