Page:Helen Leah Reed - Napoleons young neighbour.djvu/90

66 one of the boys whispered to her to translate "Je prie le bon Dieu pour mon père, ma mère, et ma patrie" inscribed beneath a picture of the child on a snuffbox cover, which showed the little fellow in prayer before a crucifix. Then they both looked at another miniature portraying him riding one lamb, while he was decking another with ribbons.

"Ah!" mused the Emperor again sadly. "Those were real lambs. They were given him by the inhabitants of Paris,—a hint, I suppose, that they would rather have peace than war."

"And this is his mother," continued the Emperor, as a woman, far less handsome than Josephine, was shown in the miniature with the boy, surrounded by a halo of roses and clouds.

"She is beautiful," exclaimed Napoleon; "but I will show you the most beautiful woman in the world."

The girls echoed his words. "I never saw any one so beautiful in my life," cried Betsy, gazing on the portrait of a young, charming woman.

"And you never will," avowed Napoleon.