delight of a world composed entirely of fabulous deeds and the wildest dreams of conquest and adventure. At every tavern could be found some veteran of forty battles, some humble Hannibal, equal to the mightiest of mythical heroes, telling his Odyssy. He fascinated the company with stories of the loot of cities and the flight of armies; the pageantry and treasures of the ancient kingdoms and the mysterious deserts laid at his feet in his incredible journeys. Fired to a frenzy by visions of destiny and glory more magnificent than ever conceived by Alexander, every child in France was parading his yard with a wooden sword and a white cockade, while his father packed his haversack and burnished his blade in pure delight of the coming argosy.
An empire was to be added to the diadem. And old grenadiers shook with anguish for fear they might be left behind in the expedition. For it was to be led by a tiger of a man, the fury of whose onsets left even Masséna petrified with astonishment and admiration.
