n himself no longer.

"Aha, young gentleman," he said, in a friendly tone, taking off his hat,
"are you making a plan of our fortifications?"

Cousin Hans assumed the look of one who is awakened from deep
contemplation, and, bowing politely, he answered with some
embarrassment: "No, it's only a sort of habit I have of trying to take
my bearings wherever I may be."

"An excellent habit, a most excellent habit," the captain exclaimed with
warmth.

"It strengthens the memory," Cousin Hans remarked, modestly.

"Certainly, certainly, sir!" answered the captain, who was beginning to
be much pleased by this modest young man.

"Especially in situations of any complexity," continued the modest young
man, rubbing out his strokes with his foot.

"Just what I was going to say!" exclaimed the captain, delighted. "And,
as you may well believe, drawings and plans are especially indispensable
in military science. Look at a battle-field, for example."

"Ah, battles are altogether too intricate for me," Cousin Hans
interrupted, with a smile of humility.

"Don't say that, sir!" answered the kindly old man. "When once you have
a bird's-eye view of the ground and of the positions of the armies, even
a tolerably complicated battle can be made quite comprehensible.--This
sand, now, that we have before us here, could very well be made to give
us an idea, in miniature, of, for example, the battle of Waterloo."

"I have come in for the long one," thought Cousin Hans, "but never mind!
[Note: In English in the original.] I love her."

"Be so good as to take a seat on the bench here," continued the captain,
whose heart was rejoiced at the thought of so intelligent a hearer, "and
I shall try to give you in short outline a picture of that momentous and
remarkable battle--if it interests you?"

"Many thanks, sir," answered Cousin Hans, "nothing could interest me
more. But I'm afraid you'll find it terribly hard work to make it clear
to a poor, ignorant civilian."

"By no means; the whole thing is quite simple and easy, if only you
are first familiar with the lay of the land," the amiable old gentleman
assured him, as he took his seat at Hans's side, and cast an inquiring
glance around.

While they were thus seated, Cousin Hans examined the captain more
closely, and he could not but admit that in spite of his sixty years,
Captain Schrappe was still a handsome man. He wore his short, iron-gray
mustaches a little turned up at the ends, w