xact strength of each in men and
in guns; while the names and force of the English vessels were equally
at his fingers' ends. Such familiarity would have been remarkable in a
naval officer, but when I thought that this question of the ships was
only one out of fifty with which this man had to deal, I began to
realise the immense grasp of that capacious mind. He did not appear to
be paying the least attention to me, but it seems that he was really
watching me closely, for he turned upon me when he had finished his
dictation.

'You appear to be surprised, Monsieur de Laval, that I should be able to
transact my naval business without having my minister of marine at my
elbow; but it is one of my rules to know and to do things for myself.
Perhaps if these good Bourbons had had the same habit they would not now
be living amidst the fogs of England.'

'One must have your Majesty's memory in order to do it,' I observed.

'It is the result of system,' said he. 'It is as if I had drawers in my
brain, so that when I opened one I could close the others. It is seldom
that I fail to find what I want there. I have a poor memory for names
or dates, but an excellent one for facts or faces. There is a good deal
to bear in mind, Monsieur de Laval. For example, I have, as you have
seen, my one little drawer full of the ships upon the sea. I have
another which contains all the harbours and forts of France. As an
example, I may tell you that when my minister of war was reading me a
report of all the coast defences, I was able to point out to him that he
had omitted two guns in a battery near Ostend. In yet another of my
brain-drawers I have the regiments of France. Is that drawer in order,
Marshal Berthier?'

A clean-shaven man, who had stood biting his nails in the window, bowed
at the Emperor's question.

'I am sometimes tempted to believe, Sire, that you know the name of
every man in the ranks,' said he.

'I think that I know most of my old Egyptian grumblers,' said he.
'And then, Monsieur de Laval, there is another drawer for canals,
bridges, roads, manufactures, and every detail of internal
administration. The law, finance, Italy, the Colonies, Holland, all
these things demand drawers of their own. In these days, Monsieur de
Laval, France asks something more of its ruler than that he should carry
eight yards of ermine with dignity, or ride after a stag in the forest
of Fontainebleau.'

I thought of the helpless, ge