100 A BOOK-LOVER'S HOLIDAYS 



same as the uniform once worn by Napoleon's 

 officers. He had served in the bloody Para- 

 guayan War, when Argentina, Brazil, and Uru- 

 guay joined to overthrow the inconceivably 

 murderous dictatorship of Lopez, and when the 

 Paraguayans rallied with savage valor under 

 the banner of the dictator, who tyrannized over 

 them, but who nevertheless represented in their 

 eyes the nation. This old general had served 

 in many Indian wars, both in Patagonia and 

 in the Grand Chaco, and had seen desperate 

 fighting in the civil wars. He wore medals 

 commemorating his services in the Paraguayan 

 and Indian campaigns, but he would not wear 

 any medals commemorating his services in the 

 civil wars. Yet the only time he was wounded 

 was in one of the battles in one of these civil 

 wars. He was then shot twice and received a 

 bayonet thrust, and was also stabbed with a 

 lance. If he had not possessed a constitution of 

 iron he would never have survived. Our people 

 in the United States often speak of these South 

 American wars with the same ignorant lack of 

 appreciation that used to be shown by Euro- 

 pean military men in speaking of our own Civil 

 War and other contests. This attitude is as 

 foolish on our part in the one case as it was 

 foolish on the part of the Europeans in question 



