'If it please you, Sire--' he stammered.

'Well, well, what is the matter now?'

'If it please you, Sire, I find some little difficulty in reading what
you have written.'

'Tut, tut, sir. You see what the report is about.'

'Yes, Sire, it is about forage for the cavalry horses.'

Napoleon smiled, and the action made his face look quite boyish.

'You remind me of Cambaceres, de Meneval. When I wrote him an account
of the battle of Marengo, he thought that my letter was a rough plan of
the engagement. It is incredible how much difficulty you appear to have
in reading what I write. This document has nothing to do with cavalry
horses, but it contains the instructions to Admiral Villeneuve as to the
concentration of his fleet so as to obtain command of the Channel.
Give it to me and I will read it to you.'

He snatched the paper up in the quick impulsive way which was
characteristic of him. But after a long fierce stare he crumpled it up
and hurled it under the table.

'I will dictate it to you,' said he; and, pacing up and down the long
room, he poured forth a torrent of words, which poor de Meneval, his
face shining with his exertions, strove hard to put upon paper. As he
grew excited by his own ideas, Napoleon's voice became shriller, his
step faster, and he seized his right cuff in the fingers of the same