TWO:The main point in hardening and the most that can be done to avoid irregular contraction, is to apply the bath so that it will act first and strongest on the thickest parts. If a piece is tapering or in the form of a wedge, the thick end should enter the bath first; a cold chisel for instance that is wide enough to endanger cracking should be put into the bath with the head [116] downward.I had to repeat everything about the advance of the French and the landing of the British, whilst they followed my story on the map. But I was soon in a cold sweat, for of course I knew practically nothing, neither of the French nor of the British, and each time when one of the officers pressed for details I was in mortal fear that I might contradict myself. But I stuck to my guns until the end, and assured them that the French had crossed the Belgian frontier near Givet, and were now near Namur, whereas the British, disembarking at Ostend, had advanced as far as Ghent.
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