Lindsay is going to dine with me, too." "Well, Lindsay," the marshal said, as the latter entered, "you see the advantages of this young fellow being able to speak German well.

If you had been taken prisoner at Lobositz, you would have been fast in Spielberg at present; and you see he is now able to undertake perilous missions, and peril means promotion." "I quite see that, marshal," Lindsay said with a smile; "but though I can get on with French fairly enough, my tongue doesn't seem to be able to form these crack-jaw German words; and you see, marshal, it is not the only one that does not.

I think, sir, that bad as my German is, it is not much worse than your own, and you have been here much longer than I have." The marshal laughed.
"You are right.

I cannot say half a dozen German words; but you see I have not had your motive for acquiring it, and cannot very well get promotion.

And again, it would not do for me to speak better German than the King of Prussia; who, beyond a few words necessary for animating his troops on occasion, knows very little German himself.