To guide the course of a balloon His mind conceived the wondrous screw. Some day he hopes unto the moon To guide the course of a balloon. Of 'airy navies' admiral soon, We'll see him 'grappling in the blue'-- To guide the course of a balloon His mind conceived the wondrous screw. Up in the kingdom of the air He now the foremost rank may claim. If poor Gambetta when up there, Up in the kingdom of the air, Does not find good cause to stare, Why, Nadar will not be to blame. Up in the kingdom of the air He now the foremost rank may claim. At Ferrieres, above the park, Behold him darting through the sky, Soaring to heaven like a lark. At Ferrieres above the park; Whilst William whispers to Bismarck-- 'Silence, see Nadar there on high!' At Ferrieres above the park Behold him darting through the sky. Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, Bearer on high of this report, Thou yellower than a pure Cambodian, And far more daring than King Clodion, We'll cast thy statue in collodion And mount it on a gas retort. Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, Bearer on high of this report! Perhaps it may not be thought too pedantic on my part if I explain that the King Clodion referred to in Millaud's last verse was the legendary "Clodion the Hairy," a supposed fifth-century leader of the Franks, reputed to be a forerunner of the founder of the, Merovingian dynasty. Nadar's hair, however, was not long like that of _les rois chevelue_, for it was simply a huge curly and somewhat reddish mop. As for his complexion, Millaud's phrase, "yellow as a pure Cambodian," was a happy thought. These allusions to Millaud's sprightly verse remind me that throughout the siege of Paris the so-called _mot pour rire_ was never once lost sight of. At all times and in respect to everything there was a superabundance of jests--jests on the Germans, the National and the Mobile Guard, the fallen dynasty, and the new Republic, the fruitless sorties, the wretched rations, the failing gas, and many other people and things. One of the enemy's generals was said to have remarked one day: "I don't know how to satisfy my men. They complain of hunger, and yet I lead them every morning to the slaughterhouse." At another time a French colonel, of conservative ideas, was said to have replaced the inscription "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," which he found painted on the walls of his barracks, by the words, "Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery," declaring that the latter were far more likely to free the country of the presence of the hated enemy. As for the "treason" mania, which was very prevalent at this time, it was related that a soldier remarked one day to a comrade: "I am sure that the captain is a traitor!" "Indeed! How's that?" was the prompt rejoinder. "Well," said the suspicious private, "have you not noticed that every time he orders us to march forward we invariably encounter the enemy?"