in a bookstore in
1860; published his first book in 1864; "L'Assommoir" in
1877, "Nana" in 1880, "La Terre" in 1887, author of many
other works; prominent in the Dreyfus case, being twice
fined and imprisoned for libeling a court martial.

GLIMPSES OF NAPOLEON III IN TIME OF WAR[9]

They had no more than sat down at table when Delaherche, burning to
relieve himself of the subject that filled his mind, began to relate
his experiences of the day before.

[Footnote 9: From "La Debacle." Translated by E. P. Robins. Copyright,
1892, by Cassell Publishing Company. Copyright, 1898, by the Macmillan
Company.]

"You know I saw the Emperor at Baybel."

He was fairly started, and nothing could stop him. He began by
describing the farmhouse; a large structure with an interior court,
surrounded by an iron railing, and situated on a gentle eminence
overlooking Mouzon, to the left of the Carignan road. Then he came
back to the Twelfth Corps, whom he had visited in their camp among the
vines on the hillsides; splendid troops they were, with their
equipments brightly shining in the sunlight, and the sight of them had
caused his heart to beat with patriotic ardor.

"And there I was, sir, when the Emperor, who had alighted to breakfast
and rest himself a bit, came out of the farmhouse. He wore a
general's uniform and carried an overcoat across his arm, altho the
sun was very hot. He was followed by a servant bearing a camp-stool.
He did not look to me like a well man; ah no, far from it: his
stooping form, the sallowness of his complexion, the feebleness of his
movements, all indicated him to be in a very bad way. I was not
surprized; for the druggist at Mouzon, when he recommended me to drive
on to Baybel, told me that an aide-de-camp had just been in his shop
to get some medicine--you understand what I mean--medicine for--"

The presence of his wife and mother prevented him from alluding more
explicitly to the nature of the Emperor's complaint, which was an
obstinate diarrhea that he had contracted at Chene, and which
compelled him to make those frequent halts at houses along the road.

"Well, then the attendant opened the camp-stool and placed it in the
shade of a clump of trees at the edge of a field of wheat, and the
Emperor sat down on it. Sitting there in a limp, dejected attitude,
perfectly still, he looked for all the world like a small shopkeeper
taking a sun-bath for his rheumatism. His dul