"We don't spin tops" is a favorite saying amongst artillery officers, indicating that they do not shirk their duty by frivolous pursuits; but it must be confessed that Servadac, being naturally idle, was very much given to "spinning tops." His good abilities, however, and his ready intelligence had carried him successfully through the curriculum of his early career.

He was a good draughtsman, an excellent rider--having thoroughly mastered the successor to the famous "Uncle Tom" at the riding-school of St.Cyr--and in the records of his military service his name had several times been included in the order of the day.
The following episode may suffice, in a certain degree, to illustrate his character.

Once, in action, he was leading a detachment of infantry through an intrenchment.

They came to a place where the side-work of the trench had been so riddled by shell that a portion of it had actually fallen in, leaving an aperture quite unsheltered from the grape-shot that was pouring in thick and fast.

The men hesitated.