'Mesdames,' said I, 'we want rooms, if you please, to-night, and also dinner.'
'Monsieur,' replied the lady with the moustache, 'I am sorry, but—but—all our rooms are occupied.'
'You are afraid of us, madame?'
'Yes, monsieur, I am.'
This I thought very frank indeed; and I was turning over in my mind what I had better say next, when she continued:
'We never take travellers without baggage.'
'But,' said I, holding out my knapsack in one hand, and my boots in the other, 'I have baggage.' Perceiving that the expression did not change, I added:
'I have also a boat.'
'A boat!'
'Yes, a boat.'