Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/95

Rh replied. "My servant shaves me, and he will shave you also if you like."

"That's very odd," said he. " I was told that all Frenchmen were barbers and fiddlers." I think I never laughed so hearily. A few minutes later my rations arrived, and my host seeing a large piece of beef amongst them, said,

"You are lucky to be able to come over to America and get some beef to eat."

I assured him that we had beef in France, and excellent beef too.

"That is impossible," he replied, "or you wouldn't be so thin."

Such was,—when Liberty was dawning over the land,—the ignorance shown by the inhabitants of the United States Republic in regard to the French. This lack of knowledge was caused by the difficulty of intercourse with Europe. Their communications were almost entirely cut off, and even Boston and Philadelphia were in the hands of the English; nor were the people on the sea-coast in a more advanced