he was continually set upon by the Parisians who loved to
taunt him with being a little Corsican and to make ridiculous nicknames
out of his two long names. He lost something of his reserve, because he
liked the military side of the Paris school much better than the church
atmosphere at Brienne.

Nothing made him so indignant as to hear his native land spoken of
slurringly, and there were many of his comrades who took a special
delight in doing this. The boys would draw caricatures of him standing
with his hands behind his back in his favorite attitude, his brows
frowning, and his eyes thoughtful, and underneath would write "Bonaparte
planning to rescue Corsica from the hands of the French." Whenever he
had a chance he spoke bitterly of the injustice of a great people
oppressing such a tiny island as his.

Finally some of his words came to the ears of the general in charge of
the school. He sent at once for the boy and said to him, "Sir, you are a
scholar of the King, you must learn to remember this and to moderate
your love of Corsica, which after all forms part of France." Bonaparte
was wiser than to make any answer, he simply saluted and withdrew.
But he paid no heed to the advice, and one day shortly afterward he
again spoke to a priest of the unjust treatment of Corsica. The latter
waited until the boy came to him at the confessional and then rebuked
him on this subject. Bonaparte ran back through the church crying loud
enough for all those present to hear him, "I didn't come in here to talk
about Corsica, and that priest has no right to lecture me on such a
subject!"

[Illustration: NAPOLEON AS A CADET IN PARIS]

The priest as well as the others in charge soon learned that it was
useless to try to change this boy's views, or indeed to keep him from
expressing them when he had a chance. They were learning, just as
Monsieur Pichegru and the friars at Brienne had learned, that he would
have his own way in spite of all opposition.

When he was sixteen Napoleon and his best friend, a boy named Desmazis,
were ordered to join the regiment of La Fere which was then quartered in
the south of France. Napoleon was glad of this change which brought him
nearer to his island home, and he also felt that he would now learn
something of actual warfare. The two boys were taken to their regiment
in charge of an officer who stayed with them from the time they left
Paris until the carriage set them down at the garrison town. The