regiment, and now had been serving three years as a soldier in
that regiment.
"You would not believe," said he to me in French, "how much I have to
suffer in these regiments from the society of the officers. Still it is
a pleasure to me, that I used to know the adjutant of whom we were just
speaking: he is a good man--it's a fact," he remarked condescendingly.
"I live with him, and that's something of a relief for me. Yes, my dear,
the days fly by, but they aren't all alike," [Footnote: OUI, MON CHER,
LES JOURS SE SUIVENT, MAIS NE SE RESSEMBLENT PAS: in French in the
original.] he added; and suddenly hesitated, reddened, and stood up, as
he caught sight of the adjutant himself coming toward us.
"It is such a pleasure to meet such a man as you," said Guskof to me in
a whisper as he turned from me. "I should like very, very much, to have
a long talk with you."
I said that I should be very happy to talk with him, but in reality I
confess that Guskof excited in me a sort of dull pity that was not akin
to sympathy.
I had a presentiment that I should feel a constraint in a private
conversation with him; but still I was anxious to learn from him several
things, and, above all, why it was, when his father had been so rich,
that he was in poverty, as was evident by his dress and appearance.
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