When we arrived at the farmhouse at the Col de Vassieux, we reaped full
benefit from our ice. The wine, which had been hot and heavy and
unpalatable in the morning, when we had tried it unmixed, became
delightfully refreshing when disguised with an abundance of water and
sugar and ice; and Liotir found that contracting for my keep at a low
rate would not, after all, secure him the comfortable income he had
before calculated. After this refreshment, he became communicative, and
told me he had served seven years in the French army, three of which
were spent in working on railways. He had fought the Italian campaign,
and was full of details of the battle of Solferino, on which occasion
his _bataillon_ was led on by the Emperor in person. According to his
account, four _bataillons_ were drawn up for the assault of a tower, and
when the first advanced it was swept away to a man. The second met with
a like fate, and Liotir was in the third. His officers had all been
killed, and a corporal was in command. The Emperor rode up and called to
them to advance as far as he advanced.
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