Lifting the watch to his ear, he listened a moment with superb dignity, then slowly elevating his head and spreading his free hand over his heart he said: "The faithful time-piece still tells off the seconds, and the loyal heart of its owner still throbs with patriotism." Oncle Jazon, who stood in front of the speaker, swung his shapeless cap as high as he could and yelled like a savage.

Then the crowd went wild for a time.
"Vive la France! A bas l' Angleterre!" Everybody shouted at the top of his voice.
"What France does we all do," continued M.Roussillon, when the noise subsided.

"France has clasped hands with George Washington and his brave compatriots; so do we." "Vive Zhorzh Vasinton!" shrieked Oncle Jazon in a piercing treble, tiptoeing and shaking his cap recklessly under M.Roussillon's nose.
The orator winced and jerked his head back, but nobody saw it, save perhaps Father Gibault, who laughed heartily.
Great sayings come suddenly, unannounced and unexpected.

They have the mysterious force of prophetic accident combined with happy economy of phrasing.

The southern blood in M.Roussillon's veins was effervescing upon his brain; his tongue had caught the fine freedom and abandon of inspired oratory.