"No, General."
"You know Latin, Greek?"
"A little Latin, no Greek."
"Can you speak any modern language?"
"Italian."
"You understand book-keeping?"
"Not the least in the world."
I was in agony, and he himself was visibly sorry for me.
"Oh, General!" I burst out in tones that seemed to impress him greatly, "my education is utterly defective and I am ashamed to say that I never realised it until this moment.... Oh! but I will mend matters, I give you my word; and soon, very soon, I shall be able to reply 'Yes' to all the questions to which I have just now said 'No.'"
"But have you anything to live upon in the meantime, my young friend?"