"Ah, diable! Anyhow, it was brave of you to sit still when he came and looked at you in the white of the eyes! it was just the right thing to do; ces Anglais! je n'en reviens pas! à quatorze ans! hein, ma femme?" "Pardi!" said Barty, "I was in such a blue funk [j'avais une venette si bleue] that I couldn't have moved a finger to save my life!" At this, old Polyphemus went into a Homeric peal of laughter. "Ces Anglais! what originals--they tell you the real truth at any cost [ils vous disent la vraie vérité, coûte que coûte]!" and his affection for Barty seemed to increase, if possible, from that evening. [Illustration: FANFARONNADE] Now this was Barty all over--all through life. He always gave himself away with a liberality quite uncalled for--so he ought to have some allowances made for that reckless and impulsive indiscretion which caused him to be so popular in general society, but got him into so many awkward scrapes in after-life, and made him such mean enemies, and gave his friends so much anxiety and distress. (And here I think it right to apologize for so much translating of such a well-known language as French; I feel quite like another Ollendorf--who must have been a German, by-the-way--but M. Laferté's grammar and accent would sometimes have puzzled Ollendorf himself!) * * * * * Towards the close of September, M. Laferté took it into his head to make a tour of provincial visits _en famille_. He had never done such a thing before, and I really believe it was all to show off Barty to his friends and relations. It was the happiest time I ever had, and shines out by itself in that already so unforgettably delightful vacation. We went in a large charabancs drawn by two stout horses, starting at six in the morning, and driving right through the Forest of la Tremblaye; and just ahead of us, to show us the way, M. Laferté driving himself in an old cabriolet, with Josselin (from whom he refused to be parted) by his side, singing or talking, according to order, or cracking jokes; we could hear the big laugh of Polyphemus! We travelled very leisurely; I forget whether we ever changed horses or not--but we got over a good deal of ground. We put up at the country houses of friends and relations of the Lafertés; and visited old historical castles and mediæval ruins--Châteaudun and others--and fished in beautiful pellucid tributaries of the Loire--shot over "des chiens anglais"--danced half the night with charming people--wandered in lovely parks and woods, and beautiful old formal gardens with fishponds, terraces, statues, marble fountains; charmilles, pelouses, quinconces; and all the flowers and all the fruits of France! And the sun shone every day and all day long--and in one's dreams all night. And the peasants in that happy country of the Loire spoke the most beautiful French, and had the most beautiful manners in the world. They're famous for it. It all seems like a fairy tale.