The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: demi-brigade then stationed at Andernach. The glance of that man was
so piercing, so stern, that the poor young fellow shuddered, and
suffered his head to fall on the back of his chair. A soldier put
vinegar to his nostrils and he recovered consciousness. Nevertheless
his haggard eyes were so devoid of life and intelligence that the
surgeon said to the officer after feeling Prosper's pulse,--
"Captain, it is impossible to question the man at this moment."
"Very well! Take him away," replied the captain, interrupting the
surgeon, and addressing a corporal who stood behind the prisoner. "You
cursed coward!" he went on, speaking to Prosper in a low voice, "try
at least to walk firmly before these German curs, and save the honor
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