he eats or drinks but he will not be kept waiting half a bottle of a red or a k la satisfy every need but it is unwise to put or cream upon the table because he is as likely as not to eat it before the fowl ah that is a curious sight is it not i had halted with an exclamation of astonishment a groom was a very beautiful horse down one of the lanes between the tents as it passed a who was standing with a small pig under his arm hurled it down under the feet of the horse the pig vigorously and away but the horse on without changing its step what does that mean i asked that is the head groom breaking in a for the emperor s use they are first trained by having a cannon fired in their ears then they are struck suddenly by heavy objects and fin the secretary ally they have the test of the pig being thrown under their feet the emperor has not a very firm seat and he very often loses himself in a reverie when he is riding so it might not be very safe if the horse were not well trained do you see that young man asleep at the door of a tent yes i see him you would not think that he is at the present moment serving the emperor it seems a very easy service i wish all our services were as easy de that is joseph whose foot is the exact size of the emperor s he wears his new boots and shoes for three days before they are given to his master you can see by the gold that he has a pair on at the present moment ah de will you not join us at dinner in my tent a tall handsome man very dressed came across and greeted us it is rare to find you at rest de i have no very task as head of the household but i think i have more leisure than you have we time for dinner before the emperor returns yes yes here is the tent and everything ready we can see when the emperor returns and be in the room before he can reach it this is camp � e de but no doubt you will excuse it for my own part i had an excellent appetite for the and the but what i above uncle all was to hear the talk of my companions for i was full of curiosity as to everything which concerned this singular man whose genius had elevated him so rapidly to the highest position in the world the head of his household discussed him with an extraordinary frankness what do they say of him in england de he asked nothing very good so i have gathered from their papers they drive the emperor frantic and yet he will insist upon reading them i am willing to lay a that the very first thing which he does when he enters london will be to send cavalry to the various newspaper offices and to endeavour to seize the and the next the next said he laughing will be to issue a long to prove that we have conquered england entirely for the good of the english and very much against our own inclinations and then perhaps the emperor will allow the english to understand that if they absolutely demand a for a ruler it is possible that there are a few little points in which he from holy church too bad too bad i cried de looking amused and yet rather frightened at his companion s audacity no doubt for state reasons the emperor had to a little with m and i dare say he would attend this church of st paul s as readily as he did the at the secretary but it would not do for a ruler to be a after all the emperor has to think for all he thinks too much said gravely he thinks so much that other people in france are getting out of the way of at all you know what i mean de for you have seen it as much as i have yes yes answered the secretary he certainly does not encourage originality among those who surround him i have heard him say many a time that he desired nothing but which was a poor compliment it must be confessed to us who have the honour of serving him a clever man at his court shows his cleverness best by pretending to be dull said with some bitterness and yet there are many characters there i remarked if so it is only by concealing their characters that they remain there his ministers are clerks his are superior de camp they are all agents you have this wonderful man in the middle and all around you have so many which reflect sides of him in one you see him as a and you call him in another you have a and you name it or � in yet another he figures as a and is called you see different figures but it is really the same man there is a de for example who the household but he cannot dismiss a uncle servant without permission it is still always the emperor and he plays upon us we must confess de that he plays upon us in nothing else do i see so clearly his he will not let us be too friendly lest we combine he has set his against each other until there are hardly two of them on speaking terms look how hates or and or and mass na it is all they can do to keep their in their when they meet aiid then he knows our weak points s thirst for money r s vanity s s foolishness s s for speculation th 