{"product_id":"2940013671379","title":"The Submarine Boat","description":"Tric-trac! tric-trac! went the black and white discs as the players\u003cbr\u003emoved them over the backgammon board in expressive justification of the\u003cbr\u003eFrench term for the game. Tric-trac! They are indeed a nation of poets,\u003cbr\u003ereflected Mr Pringle. Was not Teuf-teuf! for the motor-car a veritable\u003cbr\u003einspiration? And as he smoked, the not unmusical clatter of the enormous\u003cbr\u003ewooden discs filled the atmosphere.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn these days of cookery not entirely based upon air-tights--to use the\u003cbr\u003eexpressive Americanism for tinned meats--it is no longer necessary for\u003cbr\u003ethe man who wishes to dine, as distinguished from the mere feeding\u003cbr\u003eanimal, to furtively seek some restaurant in remote Soho, jealously\u003cbr\u003eguarding its secret from his fellows. But Mr Pringle, in his favourite\u003cbr\u003estudy of human nature, was an occasional visitor to the 'Poissonière'\u003cbr\u003ein Gerrard Street, and, the better to pursue his researches, had always\u003cbr\u003edenied familiarity with the foreign tongues he heard around him. The\u003cbr\u003erestaurant was distinctly close--indeed, some might have called it\u003cbr\u003estuffy--and Pringle, though near a ventilator, thoughtfully provided by\u003cbr\u003ethe management, was fast being lulled into drowsiness, when a man who\u003cbr\u003ehad taken his seat with a companion at the next table leaned across the\u003cbr\u003eintervening gulf and addressed him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Nous ne vous dérangeons pas, monsieur?'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePringle, with a smile of fatuous uncomprehending, bowed, but said never\u003cbr\u003ea word.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Cochon d'Anglais, n'entendez-vous pas?'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I'm afraid I do not understand,' returned Pringle, shaking his head\u003cbr\u003ehopelessly, but still smiling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Canaille! Faut-il que je vous tire le nez?' persisted the Frenchman,\u003cbr\u003eas, apparently still sceptical of Pringle's assurance, he added threats\u003cbr\u003eto abuse.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I have known the English gentleman a long time, and without a doubt he\u003cbr\u003edoes not understand French,' testified the waiter who had now come\u003cbr\u003eforward for orders. Satisfied by this corroboration of Pringle's\u003cbr\u003einnocence, the Frenchman bowed and smiled sweetly to him, and, ordering\u003cbr\u003ea bottle of Clos de Vougeot, commenced an earnest conversation with his\u003cbr\u003eneighbour.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079647838448,"sku":"2940013671379","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013671379","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}