He was entirely
possessed by another idea, which made his eyes snap fire, and wrinkled
his forehead. He rushed to his father and without taking breath
announced:
"I am going to enlist."
"You are lucky."
"Well, then, you authorize me...."
"I envy you."
He had feared to be met with some parental objection on account of the
uncertain health which had so often thwarted him, and had postponed his
preparation for the Ecole Polytechnique. Now he felt reassured. Next day
he was at Bayonne, getting through all the necessary formalities. He was
medically examined--and postponed. The doctors found him too tall, too
thin--no physiological defect, but a child's body in need of being
developed and strengthened. In vain he supplicated them; they were
pitiless. He returned home grieved, humiliated, and furious. The Villa
Delphine was to know some very uncomfortable days. His family understood
his determination and began to have fears for him. And he returned to
the charge, and attacked his father with insistence, as if his father
were all-powerful and could, if he would, compel them to accept his
son's services for _la Patrie_.
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