1.The story is told，in a French newspaper，of a poor labourer who lived near Paris with his wife and their three children.Industrious，frugal saved all his spare money，until he was able to buy the tiny cottage in which they lived.
2.It was a tiny cottage indeed，built of stone，with a red-tiledroof，standing in a well-kept little garden，and covered with creepingplants.Pierre and his wifeworked very hard，and saved every farthing they could，until the little cottage was paid for.When the last of the money was paid over，they made a little feast in honour of the occasion.
3.All this had happened just before the war between France and Germany broke out in 1870.Then Pierre was called out to serve in the army；for he had been a soldier before，and now every man who had been trainedto fight was needed.As a gunner，he had been famous for his skill in hitting a mark.
4.The village where Pierre lived had fallen into the hands of the Germans，and the people had fled；but the French guns were pounding away at it from a fortonthe higher ground across the river，trying to drive out those of the enemy who had taken possession of it.
5.Pierre was a gunner at that fort，and one wintry day he was standing by his gun，when General No？l，the commander，came up and looked carefully at the village through his field-glass .
6.”Gunner，“he said sharply，without looking at Pierre.
“General，”answered Pierre，saluting.“Do you see the bridge over there？”“I see it very well，sir.”
“And that little cottage there，at the left，in a thicket of shrubs？”
Pierre turned pale.“I see it，sir.”
“It’s a nest of Prussians.Try it with a shell，my man.”
7.Pierre turned paler still，and in spite of the cold wind that made the officers shiver in their greatcoats，one might have seen big drops of sweat standing out on his forehead；but nobody noticed the gunner‘s emotion.He aimed his piece carefully，and fired.
8.The officers，with their glasses，watched the effect of the shot after the smoke had cleared.“Well hit，my man！well hit！”exclaimed the general，looking at Pierre with a smile.“The cottage couldn’t have been very solid.It is completely smashed.”
9.He was surprised to see great tears running down the gunner‘s cheeks.
“What’s the matter，man？”the general asked，rather roughly.
“Pardon me，general，”said Pierre，in a low tone.“It was my own cottage-everything I had in the world.”
II
10.When the owner of a ship sends his vessel out on a long voyage，he gives written orders to the captain about all that he is to do.No matter what happens，the captain must，as far as possible，carry out the orders he has received.The rule for him to follow is，“Obey orders，if you breakowners.”
11.Some years ago，a rich merchant sent a vessel to India.He gave the captain orders，telling him how he was to sell his cargo，and what kind of cargo he was to bring back.
12.On arriving at the port to which he was sent，the captain sold his cargo.Then he found that he could make more money for the owner by taking back a different cargo from what he had been told to bring.
13.He did so，and made two or three thousand pounds more than he would have done if he had obeyed his master‘s orders.He reached England safely，and went totell his master how successful he had been.In addition to his wages，he received a large sum of money from the profitsof the voyage.But，to his great surprise，hismaster then dismissed him from his service.
14.He asked why he had been dismissed in this way，and received this answer from his master，“Sir，I can have no man in my employment who does not obey my orders.Your disobedience has turned out very well in this case，but the next time it might bring great loss，or even ruin.”He was never taken back into that merchant’s service.