"Oh! oh! he commends you to me most pressingly; he is very fond of you, then?"
"Almost as fond as he is of his own son, General."
"I must first find out what you are fit for."
"Oh! not good for much."
"Bah! you surely know some mathematics?"
"No, General."
"You have at least some notion of algebra, of geometry, of physics?"
He stopped between each word, and at each word I blushed afresh, and the perspiration ran down my forehead in faster and faster drops. It was the first time I had been thus actually confronted with my ignorance.
"No, General," I replied, stammering; "I do not know anything of those things."
"You have perhaps studied law?"