"To be with you does me good, for the generals, and even Lescure, are so serious and solemn that I feel afraid to make a joke.

You see, in the cavalry we have little responsibility except in an actual battle.

In an open country we should scout ahead, and have affairs with the enemy's outposts; but in this land of woods, where one can seldom see more than twenty yards ahead, there is little use for us.

Besides, with the exception of a score or two of gentlemen, I have no troops to command and, having health and good spirits, and enjoying life, I cannot go about as if the cares of life were on my shoulders.

Your brother-in-law Martin is a capital fellow but, with a wife and child, he cannot feel so lighthearted as I do; though next to yourself he is the most ready to join me in a laugh.