hat the army would suit you better than anything
else, and I have no doubt that I could get you a commission. Now,
whenever we fight France is sure to be on the other side, and I
think that it would be of great advantage to you to have a thorough
knowledge of French--a thing which very few officers in our army
possess. If you accept this offer you will have the opportunity of
attaining this, and at the same time of earning a nice little sum
which would pay for your outfit and supply you with pocket-money
for some time."

"Yes, sir, it would be first rate!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "Oh,
please, accept the offer; I should like it of all things; and even
if I do get ever so skinny on frogs and thin soup, I can get fat
on roast beef again when I get back."

"That is all nonsense, Harry, about frogs and starving. The French
style of cookery differs from ours, but they eat just as much, and
although they may not, as a rule, be as broad and heavy as Englishmen,
that is simply a characteristic of race; the Latin peoples are of
slighter build than the Teutonic. As to their food, you know that
the Romans, who were certainly judges of good living, considered
the snail a great luxury, and I dare say ate frogs too. A gentleman
who had made the grand tour told me that he had tasted them in Paris
and found them very delicate eating. You may not like the living
quite at first, but you will soon get over that, and once accustomed
to it you will like it quite as well as our solid joints. My
principal objection to your going lies quite in another direction.
Public opinion in France is much disturbed. In the National Assembly,
which is the same as our Parliament, there is a great spirit
of resistance to the royal authority, something like a revolution
has already been accomplished, and the king is little more than a
prisoner."

"But that would surely make no difference to me, sir!"

"No, I don't see that it should, Harry. Still, it would cause your
mother a good deal of anxiety."

"I don't see it could make any difference," Harry repeated; "and
you see, sir, when I go into the army and there is war, mother
would be a great deal more anxious."

"You mean, Harry," the doctor said with a smile, "that whether her
anxiety begins a little sooner or later does not make much difference."

"I don't think I quite meant that, sir," Harry said; "but yes,"
he added frankly, after a moment's thought, "I suppose I did; but
I really don't see