The Bath Keepers Volume I Part 25

Pa.s.sedix took his place in front of the supper, the Bohemian being opposite; Cedrille was still standing, and seemed undecided as to what he should do.

"Well, young man, is my company not agreeable to you, that you do not take a seat with us?" said the old man, glancing at the Bearnais peasant.

"Your company cannot help flattering him!" cried Pa.s.sedix, stuffing enormous slices of omelet into his mouth, and pieces of bread of equal dimensions. "Sandioux! who wouldn't be happy to drink with such a venerable old man, who has the grip of a Hercules?--Come, comrade Cedrille, sit you down there."

"Oh! I'll tell you what," replied Cedrille, as he seated himself; "I don't feel a bit hungry, and that blow made me sick!"

"The idea of a man of your age paying any attention to that little tap!

you are strong enough to stand harder knocks than that!--Come! drink, as you are not hungry, and we will eat for you."

"Well said, venerable Bohemian! He need have no fear, I will eat his share; but let us drink; one can always drink, even when one is not thirsty."

The Bohemian was careful not to leave the gla.s.ses of his guests empty; and Cedrille, led on by the example set him, finally decided to partake of the omelet.

"All the same," he muttered, "I haven't enjoyed myself much here!"

"Bigre! my boy, you are hard to please! You see before you a delicious supper--with two jovial companions; this venerable Bohemian fills your gla.s.s every instant; this wine is very good--and you are not satisfied.

Is it because we had a quarrel with two boors? But in Paris it rarely happens that one pa.s.ses a day without an affair, more or less serious.

Why, I myself, as you see me, when I return home at night without having drawn my sword, am not content with my day; I feel that something is lacking.--You must know, respected Bohemian, that this young man has been in Paris only since this morning; he cannot as yet be acquainted with our customs; but I have undertaken his education, and I will push him!"

"Thanks!" said Cedrille to himself; "if he pushes me the way he has this evening, I shall risk nothing by keeping on my guard."

"Yes, yes," said the old man, caressing his beard, "I know that this young man arrived in Paris to-day, with his cousin, a very pretty young woman--a fascinating brunette."

"I say! you know that?" exclaimed Cedrille, staring at the old man in amazement. "You're a sorcerer, are you?"

"That is my profession."

"And I bow before your magic power!" cried Pa.s.sedix, emptying his gla.s.s at a draught.

"But they burn sorcerers!" muttered the peasant, moving his chair away from the table and looking at the Bohemian with a distrustful expression.

"And so I fully expect to be roasted some day! But meanwhile I must make merry during the time I still have to pa.s.s on this earth.--Waiter, eau-de-vie--a large measure!"

Pa.s.sedix grasped the Bohemian's hand and shook it effusively, saying:

"If anyone should ever be so ill-advised as to touch a hair of your head!--You know that I am devoted to you and that I am fearless?--I will undertake to deliver you, even from the Bastille, if they should imprison you there!"

Poussinet brought the eau-de-vie, for which the old man paid on the spot.

Meanwhile, most of the drinkers and habitues of the establishment had gone; and the proprietor, approaching our three friends, bowed to them, very respectfully this time, and said:

"Messeigneurs, the curfew has rung; I must warn you that I shall soon be obliged, to my regret, to send you away; for if the watch should see a light in my shop, I----"

"Very good, very good, my man!" replied the Bohemian; "we are drinking quietly, we are making no disturbance, and we have some time before us still. Moreover, there are ways of arranging matters with the watch."

As he spoke, the old man slipped into the cabaretier's hand a piece of silver which he took from his belt.

The proprietor of the Loup de Mer bowed again, saying:

"Well, messeigneurs, do as you please; my first duty is to satisfy my customers."

"Sandis! let the watch come!" cried Pa.s.sedix, drinking eau-de-vie as if it were wine. "We will give them a warm reception; they'll find someone to talk to, eh! friend Cedrille?--Let us take a drink! this young new-comer hangs back!"

"No, I don't; but my eye pains me!"

"An additional reason for drinking! this eau-de-vie is nectar.--Here's the health of the man who treats us so courteously! Our host is a sly rascal! he pretends to be afraid of the watch, but the watch isn't so strict, so severe, as formerly. It doesn't date from yesterday, you know; as long ago as the time of Clotaire II, every large town in the kingdom had a night watch. In 595, an edict was issued, of which the princ.i.p.al provisions were:

"When a robbery is committed at night, those who are of the watch in the quarter will be held responsible if they do not arrest the robber; if the robber, fleeing from them, is seen in another quarter, and the guard of that other quarter, being forthwith notified, fail to arrest him, the loss occasioned by the robbery shall fall upon them, and they will be condemned in addition to pay a fine of five sous; and in like manner from quarter to quarter.--Peste! there was no joking about such matters in those days!"

"What I admire most of all, monsieur le chevalier," said the Bohemian, filling the gla.s.ses, "is your profound erudition; you know everything--yes, everything! I will wager that you are able to quote the _Capitulaires_ of Charlemagne."

"In truth, I am rather well informed; and but for this infernal vocation for the sword and for fighting, I believe that I should have become a troubadour, a trouvere, of the first rank; I should have contended for the palm with Clemence Isaure and all her supporters!--Delicious eau-de-vie! it is like whey!"

"Come, come, Seigneur Cedrille; you do not drink, you do not follow your gallant companion's example!"

"Oh! you see, I am not empty, like the chevalier; I had a good lot to drink at the hotel."

"At the hotel where you lodge?"

"No; at the Hotel de Mongarcin, where I took my cousin Miretta and left her."

"Ah! so your pretty cousin is at the Hotel de Mongarcin?"

"Yes, on Rue Saint-Honore--close by."

"On this same street, eh?"

"She has a fine place there with the young lady of the house; and I--they are kind enough to keep me too, as long as I stay in Paris. But I shall not stay long; I have no desire to enjoy myself every evening the way I have this evening."

The Bohemian seemed to reflect; Pa.s.sedix, whose eyes were beginning to close and his utterance to thicken, heaved a profound sigh and muttered:

"Look you, comrade Cedrille, I am going to tell you something in confidence: you can't be in love with your cousin, as you leave her here in Paris and go back to your mountains!"

"You think I ain't in love with her, do you? Well, that is where you are mistaken! On the contrary, I love Miretta with all my heart, and I'd have liked right well to marry her! But she won't have me! So all I can do is make the best of it! She refused me flat, and she's a girl with a very strong will! When she says no, that's the end of it; she never changes her mind."

"Since she has refused you, we are friends once more; for you are no longer my rival."

"Your rival?"

"Sandis! yes! I do not choose to dissemble any longer. I am in love with your enchanting cousin! Ah! so much in love that it would make me an idiot if that were possible! And with me, I venture to think that she will not say _no_!"

Cedrille rubbed his uninjured eye, and stared for several seconds at the long, lank, yellow chevalier, who had declared his love for his pretty cousin; then, without replying, he began to laugh heartily.

This outburst of hilarity seemed to displease Pa.s.sedix, who said:

"What are you laughing at, young countryman? I am not fond of having anyone laugh at me without telling me why, capedebious! I am your friend, but you must not presume upon the rights which that t.i.tle gives you."