Sedan, which enjoyed a certain reputation for dilettanteism. He was not less fortunate than his illustrious predecessors, and was received with rapturous applause.
It might be supposed that such great success would have spoiled him, and that the way in which he was courted and fêted everywhere would have robbed him of his simplicity of heart. But such was not the case; he remained the same kind, gentle, benevolent, modest youth that his infant days gave promise of. The following anecdote will give some insight into his nature.
One Sunday eve in Paris, as he was walking leisurely home, he heard a deep-drawn sigh, then a sob; turning round he beheld a young recruit, almost a child, bedewed in tears. His sorrow was so genuine, his grief so unfeigned, that he asked him if he could do anything to help him. "Alas, no," answered the lad; "an accident has happened to me that has no remedy, and which will bring on me such a punishment as I shall never be able to bear." "But what is it?" asked Gottschalk. "Well, you see, sir, whenever we tear or lose any of our clothes, we have to remain in perfect confinement for a week or more, sometimes in darkness; it depends on the nature of the article we have lost or torn. I have just torn my trousers, and I dare not go back to the barracks, for if I have to undergo such a punishment I shall make away with myself. Fancy, Monsieur, I, coming from the country, being deprived of air and light for a fortnight!" Gottschalk, greatly touched, bade the recruit to follow, and, being near the Rue de Londres, where he knew a kind and obliging tailor, he retraced his steps thither. He found the man and his family gathered together reading; he explained the case, and begged the tailor for the poor young man's sake to see what was needed to be done. The kind tailor readily complied, and with the help of his wife managed to repair the garment, and thus save the young man from his dreaded punishment, Needless to say, he paid the tailor handsomely for the time and labour he had expended.
Once, when about entering one of those large confectioneries called restaurants in Paris, he noticed a young soldier who was standing at the window admiring and seeming ready to devour all the good things so beautifully decorated and arranged to tempt the public. The young
