But no one paid the least bit of attention to him. Grandmother ran forward with squeaking noises of delight, throwing her arms around the newcomer, draping him with a link of sausage, which she had forgotten to put down in her hurry, in the manner of a necklace. Avril shyly retreated beneath the table again, and Philippe tried desperately to remember the pretty sentences with which he was to address the great man. He was in the very middle of trying to remember when his Grandmother took him by the hand. “And here is your little nephew,” said Grandmother, “who has come all by himself a great distance to welcome you.” Philippe stared dumbly, wishing that he had had the presence of mind to slip under the table with Avril. “_Come!_ What do you say to your uncle, Philippe?” asked Grandmother. “I forget what I say,” answered Philippe miserably, “but I am very glad to see you, my—my——Ah! Now it comes to me!” And he started again: “Good health to you, my dear and illustrious uncle. It gives me the most——” “Fiddlesticks!” interposed Uncle Pablôt, laughing. “—the most great pleasure to welcome you, and——” “Yes, yes—” said Uncle Pablôt, cutting him short again. “But what do you say to this?” and he reached into the folds of his cape and handed Philippe something small and shining. “What is it?” asked Philippe. “Ho! That is better. At least you did not learn that by heart, did you, my boy? Here, I will show you.” Whereupon he put the bright present to his lips and blew a shrill blast that rattled the pots and made Grandmother drop her sausages in alarm. (She dusted them very carefully before putting them in the hot pan that was waiting to cook them.) “A _whistle_!” shouted Philippe, dancing with joy. Then he ducked under the table to show his beautiful new present to Avril. “And here is a present for the other little one,” said Uncle Pablôt, handing the shyly smiling girl a toy spade with a bright green handle and a wreath of early spring flowers painted on the tiny blade. [Illustration] What a feast they had in honor of their distinguished guest! “I suppose,” said Grandmother to Uncle Pablôt, “that you have traveled a great distance since last you visited us?” “Yes, yes,” said Uncle Pablôt, flourishing the wing of a duck. “I have breezed about a bit, here, there, and everywhere. Would you like to hear a little about my travels?” “Oh, _please_!” begged Philippe, although the question had not been addressed to him.