"Ah Mees Betsee," he asked the next morning, "were you frightened by the tremblement de terre? You look pale and quiet."
Betsy admitted that she had had a little fear at the earthquake.
"I thought," said Napoleon, turning to General Bertrand, "that the Conqueror had blown up in the harbor; but the second or third shock showed that it was an earthquake."
The Conqueror was the seventy-four gun ship whose arrival Betsy had seen Napoleon observe with great interest.
Betsy, for several nights after the earthquake, was too frightened to go to bed, and in a day or two she was ill with a severe cold, caught while sitting on the veranda. In this case, as always in illness, Napoleon was sympathetic, blaming the climate and adding that the houses ought to have plenty of fireplaces to protect people from sudden changes.
"What would be the use of fireplaces," asked Betsy, "when we have no coals?"
"Then burn the orange trees," responded Napoleon.
From this remark Betsy saw that for some reason the Emperor was not in good humor, for he was one of those who realized the need of more trees on St. Helena, and later—if he had not then begun—devoted much time and money to planting trees in the neighborhood of Longwood. Perhaps the presence of the Conqueror in the harbor disturbed him, since this was the vessel that had brought Admiral Pamplin, who was to relieve Admiral Malcom. Sir Pultney Malcom had come to St. Helena with Napoleon, and the two had grown to be very good friends. The Admiral, a courteous old man, with exquisite, kindly manners, showed great consideration for the exile. He paid Napoleon many visits, sent him newspapers, and so far as he could tried to protect him from various annoying things said or done by Governor Lowe.
It was not strange, then, that Napoleon should feel depressed at the thought of Admiral Malcom's departure, and, in consequence, seem a little more brusque than usual with Betsy in talking of her cold.
Napoleon well understood the value of regular occupation and spent many hours daily in reading and writing. He had few of the works of reference that he needed for his historical work, yet he persevered in spite of all difficulties. In the end he really had something to show, volumes of military commentaries, essays on great generals and historical sketches, chiefly of the time of the French Republic. These writings may not all be perfectly accurate, but they show a wonderful memory and grasp of facts. The inaccuracies, indeed, are chiefly such as must result when a man writes without the proper documents and books to verify his statements.