Mentally, he possibly included a
certain island lying between the North Sea and the Atlantic as
well, though, out of regard for my feelings, he never mentioned
it. Hentze taught English and French in half a dozen boys' and
girls' schools in Brunswick, and his brother taught history in the
"Gymnasium." These two mild-mannered be-spectacled old bachelors,
who in their leisure moments took snuff and played with their
poodle, were tremendous fire-eaters. They were both enormously
proud of the exploits of a cousin of theirs who, under the guise
of a harmless commercial traveller in wines, had been engaged in
spying and map-making for five years in Eastern France prior to
1870. It was, they averred (no doubt truthfully enough), owing to
the labours of their cousin and of countless others like him, that
the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 had been such an overwhelming
success for Germany. Where German interests were concerned, these
two old brothers could see nothing under a white light. And
remember that they were teachers and trainers of youth; it was
they who had the moulding of the minds of the young generation.
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