"Oh! did you see, messieurs? She uttered a little cry of fright, and I saw the prettiest teeth!" "Then she lacks nothing, for she is as fresh as she is pretty!" "Where in the devil is that clown taking this seductive morsel?" "Pardieu! messieurs, we will find out." "It shall not be said that a charming creature shall pass us like this, without our taking measures to find her again." "But this girl, with her square cap and her veil on top of her head, with her striped waist and skirt of such brilliant colors, certainly is not a Frenchwoman; she wears an Italian costume." "Do you think so, La Valteline?" "I am sure; it's the costume of the peasants in the suburbs of Milan. Pardieu! I ought to know; I was at Milan last year!" "You are right; the girl has something Italian or Israelitish in her face, and her slightly bronzed complexion also tends to confirm your conjectures." The horse and his riders had by this time reached the bath keeper's house, and were about to pass it on their way down Rue Saint-Jacques, when the young Marquis de Sénange ran out and placed himself in front of the peaceful beast, which instantly halted. Thereupon the young noble, doffing his hat, saluted the girl and her escort with respect, and all the other bystanders made haste to do the like. The Béarnais peasant, astounded by all these courtesies, deemed it advisable none the less to remove his cap and return the salutations of all those young men who treated him so politely. As for the girl, she raised her great black eyes and, with an expression in which there was more surprise than timidity, looked about at the persons who were gazing at her. "Par la sambleu! my dear monsieur, how fortunate we are to fall in with you, and to be the first to present you our respectful homage. But we have been waiting for you a long while.--Pray put on your hat--we entreat you! You must surely see by the joy which your arrival causes us how impatiently you and your charming travelling companion were awaited in Paris!" "Eh! damme! what's that? we were expected in Paris?" cried the big countryman, who had listened with a dazed expression to young Sénange's harangue. "Can you doubt it?" said the Chevalier de La Valteline, in his turn, walking nearer to the horse's hind quarters in order to examine the girl more closely. "Do you not know that we are notified in advance at Paris when such interesting travellers as you are to arrive here? Deputations were sent to all the barriers to welcome you. It is very strange that you did not meet them--eh, messeigneurs?" Shouts arose on all sides, accompanied by roars of laughter, which the clerks of the Basoche and the students could not restrain, and in which the valets and all the blackguards of the quarter did not hesitate to join.