“I don’t understand,” said Jacques de Cadde.
“Well, you must try to understand,” said Henri Léon.
“Do you think I’m a blockhead?”
“You can say it if you think so; you won’t annoy me. I don’t pretend to be an intellectual. Besides, I’ve noticed that the clever men fight against our ideas and beliefs, that they want to destroy all that we cherish. So I should be exceedingly sorry to be what is called a clever man. I’d rather be a fool and think what I think and believe what I believe.”
“And you are quite right,” said Léon. “We have only to remain what we are. And if we are not fools we must behave as if we are. It is folly that succeeds best in this world. The clever men are the fools. They don’t get anywhere.”
“What you say is very true,” cried Jacques de Cadde.
Jambe-d’Argent sang:
“Vive le Roi! ce cri de ralliement
Des vrais Français est le seul qui soit digne.