e
Dutchwoman, he got off the bed and washed away the soap he had rubbed on
his eyelids.

"Bon," he said, slapping his leg, "you're the cutest lad I ever came
across. If you don't turn out the old Hymns-and-prayers, and pummel
the Ragged coat, and get your arms round the fat one's waist and a
wedding-ring on her finger, then you are not Bonaparte. But you are
Bonaparte. Bon, you're a fine boy!"

Making which pleasing reflection, he pulled off his trousers and got
into bed cheerfully.

Chapter 1.VII. He Sets His Trap.

"May I come in? I hope I do not disturb you, my dear friend," said
Bonaparte, late one evening, putting his nose in at the cabin door,
where the German and his son sat finishing their supper.

It was now two months since he had been installed as schoolmaster in
Tant Sannie's household, and he had grown mighty and more mighty day
by day. He visited the cabin no more, sat close to Tant Sannie drinking
coffee all the evening, and walked about loftily with his hands under
the coat-tails of the German's black cloth and failed to see even a
nigger who wished him a deferential good morning. It was therefore with
no small surprise that the German perceived Bonaparte's red nose at the
door.

"Walk in, walk in," he said joyfully. "Boy, boy, see if there is any
coffee left. Well, none. Make a fire. We have done supper, but--"

"My dear friend," said Bonaparte, taking off his hat, "I came not
to sup, not for mere creature comforts, but for an hour of brotherly
intercourse with a kindred spirit. The press of business and the weight
of thought, but they alone, may sometimes prevent me from sharing the
secrets of my bosom with him for whom I have so great a sympathy. You
perhaps wonder when I shall return the two pounds--"

"Oh, no, no! Make a fire, make a fire, boy. We will have a pot of hot
coffee presently," said the German, rubbing his hands and looking about,
not knowing how best to show his pleasure at the unexpected visit.

For three weeks the German's diffident "Good evening" had met with a
stately bow; the chin of Bonaparte lifting itself higher daily; and his
shadow had not darkened the cabin doorway since he came to borrow the
two pounds. The German walked to the head of the bed and took down a
blue bag that hung there. Blue bags were a speciality of the German's.
He kept above fifty stowed away in different corners of his room--some
filled with curious stones, some with seeds that had been in hi