"Yes, he'll come and talk to you. But you must be careful: he's
dangerous."

"Eh?" said Cousin Hans.

"He was once very nearly the end of me."

"Ah!" said Cousin Hans.

"Yes, with his talk, you understand."

"Oh?" said Cousin Hans.

"You see, he has two stories," continued Uncle Frederick, "the one,
about a sham fight in Sweden, is a good half-hour long. But the other,
the battle of Waterloo, generally lasts from an hour and a half to two
hours. I have heard it three times." And Uncle Frederick sighed deeply.

"Are they so very tedious, then, these stories? asked Cousin Hans.

"Oh, they're well enough for once in a way," answered his uncle, "and if
you should get into conversation with the captain, mark what I tell you:
If you get off with the short story, the Swedish one, you have nothing
to do but alternately to nod and shake your head. You'll soon pick up
the lay of the land."

"The lay of the land?" said Cousin Hans.

"Yes, you must know that he draws the whole manoeuvre for you in the
sand; but it's easy enough to understand if only you keep your eye on A
and B. There's only one point where you must be careful not to put your
foot in it."

"Does he get impatient, then, if you don't understand?" asked Cousin
Hans.

"No, quite the contrary; but if you show that you're not following, he
begins at the beginning again, you see! The crucial point in the sham
fight," continued his uncle, "is the movement made by the captain
himself, in spite of the general's orders, which equally embarrassed
both friends and foes. It was this stroke of genius, between ourselves,
which forced them to give him the Order of the Sword, to induce him to
retire. So when you come to this point, you must nod violently, and say:
'Of course--the only reasonable move--the key to the position.' Remember
that--the key."

"The key," repeated Cousin Hans.

"But," said his uncle, looking at him with anticipatory compassion, "if,
in your youthful love of adventure, you should bring on yourself the
long story, the one about Waterloo, you must either keep quite silent
or have all your wits about you. I once had to swallow the whole
description over again, only because, in my eagerness to show how
thoroughly I understood the situation, I happened to move Kellermann's
dragoons instead of Milhaud's cuirassiers!"

"What do you mean by moving the dragoons, uncle?" asked Cousin Hans.

"Oh, you'll understand well enough, if you come in for th