"I did what I always do when I want to catch a false beast (une bête fausse.)"
Mocquet had a vocabulary peculiar to himself. He could never be made to say a fallow deer (une bête fauve.) Each time my father said une bête fauve Mocquet took him up.
"Yes, General, a false beast—for, General, with all respect, you are wrong."
"How am I wrong?"
"It is not a fallow deer I mean, but a false beast."
"Why?"
"Because a fallow deer does not express what I mean."
"And what do you mean by a false beast?"
"I mean a beast that only walks by night, one that is deceitful—in short, a false beast."
It was such a logical definition that there was nothing further to be said; so my father did not answer, and Mocquet triumphantly continued to call fallow deer false beasts.