While the lads were in the midst of their meal, a group of French
officers, all young lieutenants, came boisterously into the restaurant
and took seats at a table close to where the lads sat. It was plain to
both boys that they had been drinking more than was good for them, and
they paid no attention to them beyond acknowledging their salutes.
One of the young officers pounded loudly on the table and demanded wine
immediately. The proprietor arose from the table where the lads sat and
hastened to attend to the wants of his customers himself, and soon
several bottles of wine were upon the table.
The proprietor filled the glasses of the young officers, and then, at a
nod from one of them, approached the table where the lads sat and poured
out two more glasses of the sparkling fluid, which he placed before Hal
and Chester.
The French officers at the other table rose, each with his glass in his
hand; then one of them looked toward Hal and Chester, and the latter,
realizing that the young Frenchman was about to propose a toast, also got
to their feet; but instead of holding their wine glasses aloft, the
glasses which they raised held nothing more than water.
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