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96 fool's joke. It is so preposterous, in fact, that it appeals to my Scotch sense of the humorous—or the canny—I scarce know which. Five bil Why, that is just five times as much as my late friend Bismarck demanded of the whole French nation, to liquidate the cost of the war of 1870.

"Five billions, and immediate payment in gold of five hundred millions! I cannot believe, gentlemen, that this outrageous descent upon the shores of a friendly nation is made with the consent of the great German people, or by command of my friend the Kaiser. Why, I well remember that in the course of an intimate talk with him at Pots"

But this interesting personal reminiscence was interrupted by the entrance of Major-General Adams, to whom the Mayor handed the ultimatum, without a word.