[1] See le curé de Boulogne, p. 59 of vol. ii. of Bric-à-Brac.
[CHAPTER X]
Story of Bougainville and his friend the curé of Boulogne
On 14 November of the year 1766, an open carriage, drawn by post-horses, containing three naval officers, one seated on the front seat and the other two on the back one,—which signified a decided difference in their rank,—was driving along the Bois de Boulogne, coming from the barrière de l'Étoile> and going towards the Avenue de Saint-Cloud. By the Château de la Muette it passed a priest who was walking slowly along in one of the side-walks reading his breviary.
"Hi! postillion!" shouted the officer sitting at the back of the carriage; "stop a moment, please."
The postillion stopped. This request, given in a loud voice, and the noise the postillion made pulling up his horses, naturally led to the priest raising his head and fixing his eyes on the carriage and its three occupants.