Page:Helen Leah Reed - Napoleons young neighbour.djvu/203

Rh about the way he is worshipped, for I believe that much I have read is fabulous. I should like to see this traveller."

"I knew you would," cried Betsy, "and he is anxious to see you, too. He was a prisoner of war once in France, and he says you treated him very kindly; so he has brought you some presents, and if—"

"Yes, and if he can get a pass—"

The sentence was left unfinished. But Mr. Manning obtained a pass to see the Emperor and presented him with a number of curious things that he had collected in his travels.

"The Lama," he said in answer to a question, "when I saw him, was a very intelligent boy of seven, and I went through the same form of worship as the others who were introduced into his presence."

"Were you not afraid of being seized as a spy?" asked Napoleon.

The traveller hesitated, as if not quite pleased by the question. Then, with a laugh, he pointed to his dress and beard, as if they were a sufficient answer.

"Did you pass for an Englishman?"