"It's coming," declared Tom a few days later, as the boys were getting ready to go to mess.
"Listen to the oracle," mocked Bart.
"What's coming? Christmas?" inquired Billy.
"The big fight," replied Tom.
"Hear the general," gibed Bart.
"I've understood that Tom was General Pershing's right bower," put in
Billy.
"They say he doesn't do a thing without him," said Bart.
"It's a pity that Tom didn't live in Napoleon's time," laughed Frank.
"He'd have been a marshal sure."
"Napoleon," repeated Billy, with a faraway look in his eyes. "Where have
I heard that name before?"
The four friends laughed as the comical scene in the little French village rose up before them.