"'Excuse me?' the host replied.
"'I asked if you had any bear.'
"'No, monsieur, none.'
"And, for the moment, the incident was closed. Then one, two days or a week later, a second traveller puts his alpenstock in the comer behind the door, flings his hat on a chair, shakes the dust from his shoes and says to the maître de l'hôtel—
"'Ah! I am at Martigny, surely?'
"'Yes, monsieur.'
"'At the Hôtel de la Poste?'
"'This is the Hôtel de la Poste.'
"'It is here one can get bear to eat then.'