¶ Unwashed, breakfastless, Bismarck immediately set out, his revolver in his belt; down the road Napoleon's carriage, "evidently a hired one," said Bismarck afterwards, recounting the scene, "came into view; the Emperor was escorted by a handful of officers; Napoleon had on his military uniform, wore white kid gloves, and was smoking a cigarette!" ¶ Bowing and asking His Majesty's pleasure, Napoleon asks Bismarck, "I wish to meet the King of Prussia." Bismarck replies, "Unfortunately impossible; the King is quartered some fifteen miles away." However, it is only a trick to gain time. Bismarck has certain powerful reasons why he does not desire, just then, that Napoleon and William should meet. We shall see, presently. ¶ Napoleon drives slowly onward, but nearing Donchery hesitates on account of the crowd; and spying a solitary cottage near by, asks if he could not remain there. ¶ It is the hut of a weaver of Donchery--a mean, dirty place--and stands about fifteen paces from the high-road, which is lined with poplars; the house is one-story, yellow, with four windows, and has a slate roof. ¶ Bismarck and Napoleon ascend a rickety, narrow staircase giving entrance to a gloomy chamber, in which are a deal table and two rush-bottomed chairs. Here the two men sit alone for an hour. What a moment in history! * * * * * ¶ Only a few years before, that is to say, in October, 1865, Bismarck had sought out Napoleon III, or "Napoleon the Little," and had held a famous political interview; the meeting at Biarritz found Napoleon filled with ambitions to emulate the illustrious career of his uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte; but the secret although well kept did not escape the vision of Bismarck. ¶ The Iron Chancellor came as a friend, on a pleasant exchange of diplomatic courtesies, but in secret he was sounding Napoleon's possible attitude in the oncoming Prussian war, against Austria. The Emperor was completely tricked. Bismarck talked frankly of the necessity of "reform" in the German Confederation, and Napoleon, whose hobby was that peoples speaking the same language should be under one rule, fell in quite naturally with the plan to "reform" Prussia. The Emperor thought that Bismarck had in mind only certain constitutional changes in Prussia, not dynastic changes, destroying the European balance of power and preparing the way for German Unity. ¶ Bismarck made clear to the Emperor that, in return for keeping out of any impending Austrian clash, France would be rewarded by enlarged boundaries. As an enlightened egotist, Bismarck felt that it was "only fair" to acknowledge French help with the left bank of the Rhine. It was all a bluff. But Napoleon, with his hunger to enlarge French territory, and to appear before France as a sort of second Napoleon the Great, fell in with the conspiracy. Herein, the Bismarckian skill at stacking the cards reaches its height.