p whenever he met them; and then there was Wellington
again. Why, they have never had so much as a chance with us, and on sea
we have licked them worse than on land. Well, it ain't in nature men
should like that."

"Those are old stories, Phipson, and I don't think they have much to do
with the dislike the French have of us. I think it is more because they
cannot help seeing for themselves that they are no longer the first
power in the world, and that England has passed them in the race."

"That may have something to do with it, sir, but from what I have heard
them say and from what I have seen myself, I think it is partly because
Frenchmen find themselves but poor sort of creatures by the side of
most Englishmen. I have heard them say that Englishmen walked about the
streets of Paris just as if the place belonged to them, and there ain't
no doubt that an Englishman does somehow or other put his foot down and
square his shoulders in a way you never see a Frenchman do. I have
noticed it myself many a time, and then, if he does get into a row with
a Frenchman, the fellow hasn't a chance with him. I expect that galls
him a bit. Anyhow they don't like it. They don't hate the Americans so
much as they do us, though why they shouldn't is more than I can see,
for there ain't much difference between us, except that there are very
few of them who know how to use their hands. Well, anyhow, I shall be
glad to have done with the French, though I will say for them that the
lot that uses my place is a good deal better than the generality. For
the most part they dress as English; that is to say they get their
clothes made by English tailors, but lor' bless you, it ain't no use.
They can't wear them when they have got them, not to look easy and
comfortable in them. I have scores of times wondered what the difference
is and I could not tell you to save my life, but for all that I can tell
a Frenchman the moment he comes in, no matter how he's got up. There
ain't no occasion for them to open their mouths. I can spot them as easy
as one could tell the difference between a thorough-bred and a common
roadster."

As a rule the Franc-tireurs des Ecoles went out on the southern or
western sides of Paris, but one morning they marched out to St. Denis.

"There has been some pretty hot skirmishing on that side," the colonel
said to his officers before starting, "and I have been asked to march
you out in that direction, and to take up the outpo