"'I did not say that.... Though, really, I am very much pleased, I assure you.' "'Prove it to me: let us spend the day together tomorrow.' "'To-morrow!' I stammered. 'Impossible!' "'Why?' she demanded suspiciously. "'Because to-morrow, I have to pilot the Tuareg mission about Paris. The Emperor's orders.' "'What bluff is this?' asked Clémentine. "'I admit that nothing so much resembles a lie as the truth.' "I retold Mocquard's story to Clémentine, as well as I could. She listened to me with an expression that said: 'you can't fool me that way.' "Finally, furious, I burst out: "'You can see for yourself. I am dining with them, tomorrow; and I invite you.' "'I shall be very pleased to come,' said Clémentine with great dignity. "I admit that I lacked self-control at that minute. But think what a day it had been! Forty thousand francs of bills as soon as I woke up. The ordeal of escorting the savages around Paris all the next day. And, quite unexpectedly, the announcement of an approaching irregular paternity.... "'After all,' I thought, as I returned to my house, 'these are the Emperor's orders. He has commanded me to give the Tuareg an idea of Parisian civilization. Clémentine comports herself very well in society and just now it would not do to aggravate her. I will engage a room for to-morrow at the _Café de Paris_, and tell Gramont-Caderousse and Viel-Castel to bring their silly mistresses. It will be very French to enjoy the attitude of these children of the desert in the midst of this little party.' "The train from Marseilles arrived at 10:20. On the platform I found M. Duveyrier, a young man of twenty-three with blue eyes and a little blond beard. The Tuareg fell into his arms as they descended from the train. He had lived with them for two years, in their tents, the devil knows where. He presented me to their chief, Sheik Otham, and to four others, splendid fellows in their blue cotton draperies and their amulets of red leather. Fortunately, they all spoke a kind of _sabir_[13] which helped things along. [Footnote 13: Dialect spoken in Algeria and the Levant--a mixture of Arabian, French, Italian and Spanish.] "I only mention in passing the lunch at the Tuileries, the visits in the evening to the Museum, to the _Hotel de Ville_, to the Imperial Printing Press. Each time, the Tuareg inscribed their names in the registry of the place they were visiting. It was interminable. To give you an idea, here is the complete name of Sheik Otham alone: Otham-ben-el-Hadj-el-Bekri-ben-el-Hadj-el-Faqqi-ben-Mohammad-Bouya- ben-si-Ahmed-es-Souki-ben-Mahmoud.[14] [Footnote 14: I have succeeded in finding on the registry of the Imperial Printing Press the names of the Tuareg chiefs and those who accompanied them on their visit, M. Henry Duveyrier and the Count Bielowsky. (Note by M. Leroux.)] "And there were five of them like that!