The boy life of Napoleon, afterwards emperor of the French . nian, he wroughtsuch havoc on the Persians, that the school hall inwhich the battle was waged was filled with the uproar,and all the teachers at Brienne rushed pell-mell tothe place, to quell what they were certain must be aschool riot, led on by that miserable Corsican. Day by day, however, that miserable Corsicanmade more and more friends among his boys grow tired at last of plaguing one who hasboth spirit and pluck ; and these Napoleon certainlypossessed. He had come to the school a little sav-age, so the polishe
The boy life of Napoleon, afterwards emperor of the French . nian, he wroughtsuch havoc on the Persians, that the school hall inwhich the battle was waged was filled with the uproar,and all the teachers at Brienne rushed pell-mell tothe place, to quell what they were certain must be aschool riot, led on by that miserable Corsican. Day by day, however, that miserable Corsicanmade more and more friends among his boys grow tired at last of plaguing one who hasboth spirit and pluck ; and these Napoleon certainlypossessed. He had come to the school a little sav-age, so the polished French boys declared. I was in Brienne, he said years afterwards, ashe thought over his school-days, the poorest of allmy schoolfellows. They always had money in theirpockets; I, never. I was proud, and was most careful•that nobody should perceive this. I could neitherlaugh nor amuse myself like the others. I was not?one of them. I could not be popular. So he had to go through the same hard training-that other poor boys at boarding-school have under-. 1 FRIENDS AND FOES. 125 gone. He, howev^er, was petulant, high-spirited, proud,and had something of that Corsican love of retaliationthat has made that rocky island famous for its feudsand family rows, or vendettas as they are called. He showed the boys at last that they could notimpose upon him ; that he had plenty of spirit; thathe was kind-hearted to those who showed themselvesfriendly ; and, above all, that he was fitted to lead themin their sports, and could, in fact, help them towardhaving a jolly good time. So, gradually, they began to side with and followhim. They left him in undisturbed possession of hisfortified garden, they asked his help over hard pointsin mathematics, until at last he beean even to o-rowa little popular. And then, to crown all, came theofreat Snow-ball Fioht. 126 THE BOY LIFE OF NAPOLEON. CHAPTER TWELVE. THE GREAT SNOW-BALL FIGHT AT BRIENNE SCHOOL. That Snow-ball Fio;ht is now famous. It was inthe
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