THE CANON'S PEARS, When the little girls had left him, Napoleon remained for some moments standing in the mouth of his grotto.

His hands were clasped behind his back, his head was bent, his eyes were fixed upon the sea.
This, as I have told you, was a favorite attitude of the little boy, copied from his uncle the canon; it remained his favorite attitude through life, as almost any picture of this remarkable man will convince you.
The boy was always thoughtful.

But this day he was especially so.

For he knew that it was his birthday; and while not so much notice was taken of children's birthdays when Napoleon was a boy as is now the custom, still a birthday _was_ a birthday.
So the day set the little fellow to thinking; and, young as he was, he had yet much to remember.
He felt that he ought to be as rich and important as the other boys whom he knew round about Ajaccio There were Andrew Pozzo and Charles Abbatucci, for example.

They had everything they wished, their fathers were rich and powerful; and they made fun of him, calling him "little frowsy head," and "down at the heel," just because his mother could not always look after his clothes, and keep him neat and clean.
Napoleon could not see why they should be better off than was he.