Chapter I: Preface

The name of Madame Eugenie Foa has been a familiar one in French homes for more than a generation. Forty years ago she was the most popular writer of historical stories and sketches, especially designed for the boys and girls of France. Her tone is pure, her morals are high, her teachings are direct and effective. She has, besides, historical accuracy and dramatic action; and her twenty books for children have found welcome and entrance into the most exclusive of French homes. The publishers of this American adaptation take pleasure in introducing Madame Foa's work to American boys and girls, and in this Napoleonic renaissance are particularly favored in being able to reproduce her excellent story of the boy Napoleon.

The French original has been adapted and enlarged in the light of recent research, and all possible sources have been drawn upon to make a complete and rounded story of Napoleon's boyhood upon the basis furnished by Madame Foa's sketch. If this glimpse of the boy Napoleon shall lead young readers to the study of the later career of this marvellous man, unbiased by partisanship, and swayed neither by hatred nor hero worship, the publishers will feel that this presentation of the opening chapters of his life will not have been in vain.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER ONE.

_In Napoleon's Grotto_

CHAPTER TWO.

_The Canon's Pears_

CHAPTER THREE.

_The Accusation_

CHAPTER FOUR.

_Bread and Water_

CHAPTER FIVE

_A Wrong Righted_

CHAPTER SIX.

_The Battle with the Shepherd Boys_

CHAPTER SEVEN.

_Good-bye to Corsica_

CHAPTER EIGHT.

_At the Preparatory School_

CHAPTER NINE.

_The Lonely School-Boy_

CHAPTER TEN.

_In Napoleon's Garden_

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

_Friends and Foes_ CHAPTER TWELVE.

_The Great Snow-tall Fight at Brienne School_

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

_Recommended for Promotion_

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

_Napoleon goes to Parts_

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

_A Trouble over Pocket Money_

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

_Lieutenant Puss-in-Boots_

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

_Dark Days_

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

_By the Wall of the Soldiers' Home_

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

_The Little Corporal_

CHAPTER TWENTY.

"_Long Live the Emperor!_"

THE BOY LIFE OF NAPOLEON.