The Loveliest Ladder

The Loveliest LadderI was on the boat with Bonaparte; we were going to Egypt, he and I, he a general and I a noncommissioned officer. We disembarked together, and he held out his hand to help me. Then we took Alexandria and pushed on towards Cairo across the desert.How we suffered! There was nothing green, very little water because all the wells had been filled with stones by the retreating Arabs, only the distant mirage which made us think of cool lakes and increased our thirst. We passed by th...