ah! he was a good man. He was short and fat and bald,
with little eyes, but with a look like an eagle. And the children!
how often I have seen them, though they were older than I--Joseph and
Lucien, and little Louis, and Eliza and Pauline and Caroline. Yes; I saw
them often. And Napoleon too. They say he never played much. But you
knew him at Brienne school, old Nonesuch."

"Yes," nodded the old veteran; "for there my father was the porter."

"He was ever grave and stern, was Napoleon;--not wicked, though"--"No,
no; never wicked," broke in old Nonesuch. "I remember his snow-ball
fight."

"A fight with snow-balls!" exclaimed the youngster. "Yes; with
snow-balls, youngster," replied old None-such.

[Illustration: "'The Emperor was--the Emperor' cried old Nonesuch"]

"Did you never hear of it? But you are too young. Only the Corsican and
I can remember that;" and the old man nodded to the Corsican with the
superiority of old age over these "babies," as he called the younger
veterans. "Let me see," said Nonesuch, crossing his wooden leg over his
leg of flesh; "I was the porter's boy at Brienne school. I was there to
blacken my shoes--not mine, you understand, but those of the scholars.
There was much snow that winter. The scholars could not play in the
courts nor out-of-doors. They were forced to walk in the halls. That
wearied them, but it rejoiced me. Why? Because I had but few shoes to
blacken. They could not get them dirty while they remained indoors. But,
look you! one day at recess I saw the scholars all out-of-doors,--all
out in the snow. 'Alas! alas! my poor shoes,' said I. It made me sad. I
hid behind the greenhouse doors, to see the meaning of this disorder.
Then I heard a sudden shout. 'Brooms, brooms! shovels, shovels!' they
cried. They rushed into the greenhouse: they took whatever they could
find; and one boy, who saw me standing idle, pushed me toward the door,
crying, 'Here, lazy-bones! take a shovel, take a broom! Get to work,
and help us!'--'Help you do what?' said I. 'To make the fort and roll
snow-balls,' he replied. 'Not I; it is too cold,' I answered. Then the
boys laughed at me. My faith! to-day I think they were right. Then they
tried to push me out-of-doors, I resisted; I would not go. Suddenly
appeared one whom I did not know. He said nothing. He simply looked at
me. He signed to me to take a broom--to march into the garden--to set to
work. And I obeyed. I dared not resist. I did whatever he to