ar in
the sky which will henceforth guide and protect us."

As 't was said, so 't was done. On our way across the sea we took Malta
(just as one would pick an orange in passing) to quench Napoleon's
thirst for victory; because he was a man who wanted to be doing
something all the time.

And so at last we came to Egypt; and then the orders were different. The
Egyptians, you know, are people who, from the beginning of the world,
have had giants to rule over them, and armies like innumerable ants.
Their country is a land of genii and crocodiles, and of pyramids as big
as our mountains, where they put the bodies of their dead kings to keep
them fresh--a thing that seems to please them all around. Of course you
can't deal with such people as you would with others. So when we landed,
the Little Corporal said to us: "Boys! The country that you are going to
conquer worships a lot of gods that must be respected. Frenchmen should
keep on good terms with everybody, and fight people without hurting
their feelings. So let everything alone at first, and by and by we'll
get all there is."

Now there was a prediction among the Egyptians down there that Napoleon
would come; and the name they had for him was Kebir Bonaberdis, which
means, in their lingo, "The Sultan strikes fire." They were as much
afraid of him as they were of the Devil; so the Grand Turk, Asia, and
Africa resorted to magic, and sent against us a demon named Mody [the
Mahdi], who was supposed to have come down from heaven on a white horse.
This horse was incombustible to bullets, and so was the Mody, and the
two of 'em lived on weather and air. There are people who have seen 'em;
but I haven't any reason, myself, to say positively that the things told
about 'em were true. Anyhow, they were the great powers in Arabia; and
the Mamelukes wanted to make the Egyptian soldiers think that the Mody
could keep them from being killed in battle, and that he was an angel
sent down from heaven to fight Napoleon and get back Solomon's seal--a
part of their equipment which they pretended to believe our general had
stolen. But we made 'em laugh on the wrong side of their mouths, in
spite of their Mody!

They thought Napoleon could command the genii, and that he had power to
go from one place to another in an instant, like a bird; and, indeed,
it's a fact that he was everywhere. But how did they know that he had an
agreement with God? Was it natural that they should get such an idea