holdin' of their hosses by
the bridle, and a standin' near a spring of nice cool water; and there
was a fifth, and he was a layin' down belly flounder on the ground, a
tryin' to drink out of the runnin' spring.

"'Parley vous French,' sais I, 'Mountsheer?' At that, they sot to, and
larfed again more than ever, I thought they would have gone into the
high strikes, they hee-hawed so.

"Well, one on 'em, that was a Duke, as I found out afterwards, said 'O
yees, Saar, we spoked English too.'

"'Lawful heart!' sais I, 'what's the joke?'

"'Why,' sais he, 'look there, Sare.' And then they larfed agin, ready to
split; and sore enough, no sooner had the Leftenant layed down to drink,
than the Prince's hoss kneeled down, and put his head jist over his
neck, and began to drink too. Well, the officer couldn't get up for the
hoss, and he couldn't keep his face out of the water for the hoss, and
he couldn't drink for the hoss, and he was almost choked to death, and
as black in the face as your hat. And the Prince and the officers larfed
so, they couldn't help him, if they was to die for it.

"Sais I to myself, 'A joke is a joke, if it tante carried too far,
but this critter win be strangled, as sure as a gun, if he lays here
splutterin' this way much longer.' So I jist gives the hoss a dab in
the mouth, and made him git up; and then sais I, 'Prince,' sais I, for I
know'd him by his beard, he had one exactly like one of the old
saint's heads in an Eyetalian pictur, all dressed to a pint, so sais I,
'Prince,' and a plaguy handsum man he is too, and as full of fun as a
kitten, so sais I, 'Prince,' and what's better, all his officers seemed
plaguy proud and fond of him too; so sais I, 'Prince, voila le condition
of one colonist, which,' sais I, 'Prince, means in English, that
leftenant is jist like a colonist.'

"'Commong,' sais he, 'how is dat?'

"'Why' sais I, 'Prince, whenever a colonist goes for to drink at a
spring of the good things in this world, (and plaguy small springs we
have here too,) and fairly lays down to it, jist as he gets his lips
cleverly to it, for a swig, there is some cussed neck or another, of
some confounded Britisher, pops right over him, and pins him there. He
can't get up, he can't back out, and he can't drink, and he is blacked
and blued in the face, and most choked with the weight.'

"'What country was you man of?' said he, for he spoke very good for a
Frenchman.

"With that I straightened myself