midnight
I know not , of course , what passed , but report alleges that for an hour the old General harangued him in terms the most bitter and insulting . Now , my dear sister , the wrath poured out upon a commanding officer does not become diminished as it descends through the successive grades of rank , and falls at last on the private . For _ my _ misdemeanor the regiment was ordered away from Vienna , and sent to Laybach , in the very depth of winter too . This could not help my popularity much among my comrades ; and as I was now as destitute of credit as of means , you may fancy the alteration of my position , -- the black bread of the commissary instead of the refined cookery of the ` Schwan ; ' the midnight patrol , in rain or snow-drift , in place of the Joyous carouse of the supper-table ; the rude tyranny of a vulgar sergeant , in lieu of the friendly counsels of an equal ; all that is menial and servile , -- and there is enough of both in the service , -- heaped upon me day after day ; till , at last , my only hope was in the chance that I might ultimately imbibe the rude feelings of the peasant-soldier , and drag out my existence without a wish or a care for better . `` As if to make life less endurable to me , the officers were forbidden to hold intercourse with me ; even such of the cadets as were above the humbler class were ordered not to associate with me ; my turns of duty were doubled ; my punishments for each trifling offence increased ; and there I was , a soldier in dress , a convict in duty , left to think over all the flattering illusions I had once conceived of the service , its chivalry , and its fame . `` I wrote to Walstein , telling him that if I could not obtain my freedom otherwise , I would desert . A copy of my letter , I know not how obtained , was sent to my Colonel , and I was sentenced to a month 's arrest , a week of which I was to pass in irons .