Exercice— DriU

84. Arche ! . . . Une . . . deusse. — Arche is for marche. Tbe deux is lengtbened out to deusse, as if made femiriine to give more body to tbe words of command, One, two 1

En trompette — Curled up.

85. Le général Ho'she. — One of tbe most celebrated gênerais of tbe Republic, born in 1768, died 1797. He drove tbe Austrians from tbe lines of "Wissembourg, raised tbe siège of Landau, and brougbt about tbe évacuation of Alsace as, will be seen by tbe letter of Uncle Jacob at tbe close of tbis volume.

86. Prenez garde de tous casser le cou — Take care not to break your necks. Notice tbe use of prendre garde de, or se garder de, wbicb means to guard against, and hence generally requires tbe insertion of a négative in tbeEnglisb translation. Notice also tbat cou is in tbe singular.

Comme des hienlieureux — Like good fellows.

Patins— R\xxixiev% ; tbis is evidently tbe sensé bere, altbougb tbis meaning is not found in tbe dictionaries. Patin now usually means skate ; formerly it meant a sort of sboe witb a thick sole, wbicb wom^n wore 1o look taller ; also tbe Englisb patten. Patin is also still used in various parts of France for certain kinds of tbick winter sboes. It bas also several otber tecbnical meanings, w^bicb may ail be deduced from tbe primitive patte, a paw, tbat is, a support.

87. Pourvu qu'ils restent — I only bope they will remain. Notice tbis very idiomatic use of j^ourvu que.

A la bonne heure — Yery good. See note to p. 19.

88. Tu jouais à la drogue, tu remuais les dés pour la bonne chance, tu battais la diane — You used to play at split-peg, you used to sbake tbe dice for good luck, you used to beat tbe morning drum. Drogue is a game at cards played mostly by soldiers ; the loser bas to put and keep on bis nose for a certain tirae a forked stick or split peg. called drogue.

212 KOTES.

89. Klopstock. — A célébrât ed German poet, whose famé was at its height about the period of ttiis story; lie died in 1803,

91. Trois lignes d^ épaisseur — A qiiarter of an inch in tliickness. Ligne meant the twelftli iDart of a Freuch inch.

Larges pattes — Broad clasps.

92. Tite-Lim. — The usual French form of the name of the Roman historian Livy, Titus Liviiis.

93. Anno 1793. — I am not sure what spécial book of prédictions the mole-catcher is readmg from, It is probably one of the numerous translations or arrangements of Nostradamus, or Notredame, a celebrated French astrologer who died in 1566. His " Centuries'' were often quoted as predieting events, especially in the latter part of the last century and in the beginning of this. His almanacs, published from 1550 till his death, served as a model for similar publications, which still continue, full of obscure prédictions, and which hâve done much to keep up superstitions beliefs in sevêral parts of Europe.

94. Mayence. — Mayence on the Rhine, German Mainz, was taken by the French under Custine in 1792, and retaken by the Prussians the next year.

96. Ça veut dire leurs éçus, leurs florins, et leur monnaie de toute espèce — Tliat means their crowns, their florins, and their coins of ail kinds. Écu means literally shield : it was used to designate coins of varions values from sixty cents upwards ; it was also used in the plural for money in gênerai. Florin, a gold or silver coin of various values. Notice that monnaie does not mean money.

97. J''en eus la chair de poule — It made my flesh creep, or my blood run cold. Chair de poule is, literally translated, goose-flesh.

99. Le tour des yeux et le menton dessinés en arêtes — The bones around her eyes and her chin standing out sharp. Arête means primitively and usually fish-bone, whence varions figurative meanings — among others, sharp-edge, as hère.

100. Brunswick. — The Dukeof Brunswick was commanderin-chief of the allied armies of Austria and Prussia.

101. Le bois de lit — The bedstead, hère head-board. Lui avons fait la conduite — Escorted him.

102. Valmy. — The events referred to are ail historical. The battle of Valmy, which was of immense advantage to the Republicans, was fought on the 20th of September, 1792.

103. A la grâce de Dieu. — This expression is often loosely and idiomatically used ; hère, though it retains much of its primitive force, At the mercy of God, or In God's keeping, it seems to hâve a little of its more usual meaning, Corne what may, or i'orgetting ail else.

XOTES. '213

104. Sur leur ventre rebondi— On their rounding sides. 107. Il enjamba Véchelle — He climbed over the step. Fila sans bruit — Glided away silently.