A story begins -- Milk, fire, and roasted chestnuts -- Illusion, disillusion -- Shattered -- Close call -- Dreams and reality -- Visions, valedictions -- Spot the mule -- Fences and defenses -- One shoe on and one shoe off -- Crushed -- Riverside enlightenment -- The book -- A way of proceeding -- Thanksgiving dinner -- Moving on -- Obstacles -- Back to school -- Tensions -- The beggar student -- "Ours" -- Picnic in Montmartre -- Home leave -- Of tears and stars -- Fears and favors -- La Storta -- A worm in the apple -- The reluctant general -- The power of the pen -- Futures -- Two stories meet -- À-Dieu --