selling articles of French manufacture which had formerly been made by
the Germans; there were half-official persons who had been on missions
to American ammunition works; and there was a diplomat or two. From the
sample trunks on board you could have taken anything from a pair of
boots to a time fuse. Altogether, an interesting lot. Palandeau, a
middle-aged Frenchman with a domed, bald forehead like Socrates or
Verlaine, had been in America selling eau-de-cologne.

"Then you are getting out something new?" I asked.

"Yes, and no," he answered. "Our product is the old-fashioned
eau-de-cologne water with the name 'Farina' on it."

"But in America we associate eau-de-cologne with the Germans," said I.
"Doesn't the bottle say 'Johann Maria Farina'? Surely the form of the
name is German."

"But that was not his name, monsieur; he was a Frenchman, and called
himself 'Jean Marie.' Yes, really, the Germans stole the manufacture
from the French. Consider the name of the article, 'eau-de-cologne,' is
not that French?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"Alors," said Palandeau; "the blocus has simply given us the power to
reclaim trade opportunities justly ours. Therefore we have printed a new
label telling the truth about Farina, and the Boche 'Johann Maria' is
'kapout.'"

"Do you sell much of it?"