Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 1.djvu/19

Pagoda convinced me that my deliverance might be effected ina similar manner. The train was laid, and a spark set it on fire. This spark was supplied by the folly and vanity of a fat French dancing master. These Frenchmen are ever at the bottom of mischief. Mrs. Higginbottom, the master's wife, had denounced me to Monsieur Aristide Maugrebleu as a mauvais sujet; and as he was a creature of her's, he frequently annoyed me to gratify his patroness. This fellow was at that time about forty-five years of age, and had much more experience than agility, having greatly increased his bulk by the roast beef and ale of England. While he taught us the mgadoons of his own country, his vanity induced him to attempt feats much above the cumbrous weight of his frame. I entered the lists with him, beat him at his own trade, and he beat me with his fiddle-stick, which broke in two over my head; then, making one more glorious effort to shew that he would not be outdone, snapped the tendon Achilles,