“Oh! do not you go in, madame; allow me,” said Andrée.
“The Rue St. Claude, my pretty ladies?” said a cheerful voice. “Are you asking for the Rue St. Claude?”
The two ladies turned towards the voice, and saw, leaning against the door of the shop, a man who, in spite of the cold, had his chest and his legs quite bare.
“Oh! a naked man!” cried the young lady, half hiding behind her companion; “are we among savages?”
“Was not that what you asked for?” said the journeyman baker, for such he was, who did not understand her movement in the least, and, accustomed to his own costume, never dreamed of its effect upon them.
“Yes, my friend, the Rue St. Claude,” said the elder lady, hardly able to keep from laughing.
“Oh, it is not difficult to find; besides, I will conduct you there myself;” and, suiting the action to the words, he began to move his long bony legs, which terminated in immense wooden shoes.
“Oh, no!” cried the elder lady, who did not fancy such a guide; “pray do not disturb yourself. Tell us the way, and we shall easily find it.”
“First street to the right,” said he, drawing back again.
“Thanks,” said the ladies, who ran on as fast as they could, that he might not hear the laughter which they could no longer restrain.