"Pardieu! I am not mistaken," said the officer sitting behind; "it is really you, my dear Rémy!"
The priest gazed in astonishment. However, his face gradually cleared as light dawned on him, and his lips turned from amazement to smiles.
"Ah!" he said at length, "it is you!"
"Why you (vous)?"
"It is thou (toi) then, Antoine."
"Yes, it is I, Antoine de Bougainville."
"Mon Dieu! What have you been doing with yourself during the twenty-five years since we parted?"
"What have I been doing with myself, dear friend?" repeated Bougainville. "Come and sit down by me a few minutes and I will tell you."
"But ..." The priest looked round him uneasily, as though he were afraid to go far away from his home, Bougainville understood his fear.
"Do not be anxious; we will go at a walking pace," he replied.