to the twenty small girls and to the same 
number of small boys who were to sing of the 
great things that Napoleon had done for 
France, there was apprehension, dread even, 
but no pleasurable excitement, on her face. 
As she bent towards the old man whom she 
tended with such devotion, he made another 
observation. 
“ It is stiff, your muslin/’ he remarked. 
“ You are sure that they gave you mousseline 
des Indes? When I bought a length for — . 
for — enfin, not for you — it was soft 
“They make them stiff now,” thrust in 
Marie -Claire, “since the Empress sets the 
fashion that way.” 
Then the Lieutenant Vachoux ate his soup, 
and in honour of the great day he supple- 
mented it with a little glass of cognac ; and 
as Marie-Claire went back with the empty 
bowl and glass to the tiny kitchen a fanfare 
of trumpets echoed down the long street, the 
artillery thundered from the fort. 
The Emperor Napoleon had set foot within 
the walls of St. Jean Pied de Port. 
Vachoux heard, listened to the cries of 
“ Vive l Empercur ! ” and shook his head. 
; 
