Give it to me and I will read it to you.'
He snatched the paper up in the quick impulsive way which was
characteristic of him. But after a long fierce stare he crumpled it up
and hurled it under the table.
'I will dictate it to you,' said he; and, pacing up and down the long
room, he poured forth a torrent of words, which poor de Meneval, his
face shining with his exertions, strove hard to put upon paper. As he
grew excited by his own ideas, Napoleon's voice became shriller, his
step faster, and he seized his right cuff in the fingers of the same
hand, and twisted his right arm in the singular epileptic gesture which
was peculiar to him. But his thoughts and plans were so admirably clear
that even I, who knew nothing of the matter, could readily follow them,
while above all I was impressed by the marvellous grasp of fact which
enabled him to speak with confidence, not only of the line-of-battle
ships, but of the frigates, sloops, and brigs at Ferrol, Rochefort,
Cadiz, Carthagena, and Brest, with the exact strength of each in men and
in guns; while the names and force of the English vessels were equally
at his fingers' ends.
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