"Nous verrons!" Napoleon replied, turning on his heel and walking out
of the house whistling a military march.

From this it will be seen that even in his in fancy Napoleon had his
ideas as to his future course. Another anecdote, which is taken from
the unpublished memoirs of the grandson of one of his Corsican
nurses, illustrates in an equally vivid manner how, while a mere
infant in arms, he had a passion for and a knowledge of military
terms. Early one morning the silence was broken by the incipient
Emperor calling loudly for assistance. His nurse, rushing to him,
discovered that the point of a pin was sticking into his back.
Hastily removing the cause of the disturbance, she endeavored to
comfort him:

"Never mind, sweetheart," she said, "it's only a nasty pin."

"Nasty pin!" roared Napoleon. "By the revered name of Paoli, I swear
I thought it was a bayonet!"

It was, no doubt, this early realization of the conspicuous part he
was to play in the history of his time that made the youthful
Bonaparte reserved of manner, gloomy, and taciturn, and prone to
irritability. He felt within him the germ of future greatness, and
so became impatient of restraint. He completely dominated the
household. Joseph, his elder brother, became entirely subject to the
imperious will of the future Emperor; and when in fancy Napoleon
dreamed of those battles to come, Joseph was always summoned to take
an active part in the imaginary fight. Now he was the bridge of
Lodi, and, lying flat on his back, was forced to permit his