n, then a major, then a colonel, and at last, while he was still
quite a young man, he came out as Count de Saxe, and Field-Marshal of the
Army of Flanders, with fifty thousand men under him! That was pretty good
promotion, wasn't it?

But, although he had got on so fast, no one could say that it was more
than he deserved; for he was by far the best general that France had had
for many a day. He beat the Germans, and he beat the Flemings, and he beat
the English, though they fought against him as stoutly as men could; and,
at last, his soldiers got to have such faith in him, that whenever he
appeared the battle seemed to turn at once, as if the very sight of him
brought good fortune along with it. And a gallant sight it was to see him
prancing along on his fine black horse in front of the line of battle,
with his plumed hat and laced coat glittering in the sunshine, and his
sword gleaming in his hand, and his dark handsome face and large black
eyes kindling like fire the moment the first gun was heard. Every
picture-shop in Paris had his likeness in the window; and King Louis
himself had the marshal's portrait hung up in his cabinet, and liked
nothing better than to invite him to dinner, and hear him tell of all the
battles that he had won. Indeed, such a favorite did he become at court,
that at last nothing would serve the king but he must go to the war too,
and see how his friend Monsieur de Saxe disposed of the enemy. Saxe gained
the victory, as usual; and after all was over, there was a great supper on
the battle-field, and the king himself hung the Cross of St. Louis around
the marshal's neck, and the marshal sat at his right hand in triumph, and
thought himself the finest fellow in the whole world.

But, curiously enough, the one thing that this great general specially
prided himself upon was neither his skill in warfare nor his favor at
court, but simply his strength. There was nothing he enjoyed so much as
showing off the power of his muscles, and astonishing the people about him
by bending an iron bar, or felling a horse with one blow of his fist; and
he was fond of saying that he would give his purse and all the money in it
to any man who was stronger than himself, if he could ever fall in with
him.

Now, it happened that, one day, while the French and German armies were
lying pretty close to each other, Marshal de Saxe sent a message to the
enemy's camp, asking some of the German officers to dine with him; a