"
It was well that he had given it to me, for twice I had to pass
Cossack pickets before I was clear of the lines.
I had just ridden past the last vedettes and hoped that I was a
free man again, when there was a soft thudding in the snow behind
me, and a heavy man upon a great black horse came swiftly after
me. My first impulse was to put spurs to Violette. My second,
as I saw a long black beard against a steel cuirass, was to halt
and await him.
"I thought that it was you, you dog of a Frenchman," he cried,
shaking his drawn sword at me. "So you have broken your parole,
you rascal!"
"I gave no parole."
"You lie, you hound!"
I looked around and no one was coming. The vedettes were
motionless and distant. We were all alone, with the moon above
and the snow beneath. Fortune has ever been my friend.
"I gave you no parole."
"You gave it to the lady."
"Then I will answer for it to the lady."
"That would suit you better, no doubt. But, unfortunately, you
will have to answer for it to me.
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