Touches, — Stops

Devant le corps de garde de la mairie. — Before the guardhouse of the town-hall.

87. Que diable. — What the deuce; the French expression has not quite the force of the English; it is even quite redundant Bometimes.

Depuis quinze ans que nous les menons tambour battant. — As we hâve been beating them out and out for fifteen years. Mener qaeUfu*un tambour battant has the force of, carr3riiig it with a high hand over a person In the same sentence, cette peUte fiche de consolation means, this little bit of consolation.

88. En amment vu de dures. — Would hâve had a hard time of it.

Cadres. — Lists, ranks.

89. Le braque. — Lîterally, the brach or setter; the word braque is of ten applied to a giddy, thoughtless person, as c^esi un vrai braque, he is as mad as a March hare.

246 HISTOIRE d'un consceit de 1813.

41. Scmbre-el-Meuse. — One of the departments of France under thc Republic and the Empire, formed in 1795, now a

S art of Belgium. The army known as that of Sambre-et- [euse, 80,0% men strong, commanded by Jourdan, won the battle of Fleunis in 1794, which was followed bv a séries of victories that placed thèse regimis at the mercy of France.

Qu*U8 ne connaissent m d'Èw ni d'Adam. — ^Whom they never heard of . He eonnaîire ni d'Eve ni d^Adam means, not to bave the slightest acquaintance with.