"Que voulez vous?" he said, with the usual shrug. "Voila, mademoiselle, there are forty boys in this village. Among so many, must there not be one vaurien anywhere?"
And sundry visions of refractory ragamuffins, and hours of anguish spent in Sunday schools, forced us to admit that, even in our own land, the percentage of vauriens was probably no less.
It was dusk in the salle à manger when we re-entered for our dinner, which, to give every one their due, was far from a bad one.
As soon as it was accomplished we blew out the lights, and leaning out of the windows, whence we had previously had the family linen removed, found plenty of amusement in watching village life in the little street below.
It was lively in the extreme, and swarmed with men and women, children and animals. Little groups of three or four men lounged slowly up and down, whilst women stood at the doors knitting,—or hanging their heads out of an upper window. The children chased each other shouting, across the narrow street, tumbling over innumerable pigs, dogs, and kids. Cows and mules occasionally strolled in and out with a reflective air, as being quite at their ease, and accustomed to the liberty of their evening saunter; and some magnificent goats, one coal black and the other snow white, lay on the pavement beneath our window, regarding the merry scene calmly, whilst chewing the cud of contemplation, and receiving the caresses of many of the passers-by with a proud indifference.
Occasionally, a couple of dogs got up a fight for the general amusement; and as it grew darker the kids became more lively, standing on their hind legs to waltz with each other.
We were sorry when darkness and late hours compelled us to close the windows, and retire to our uninviting chambers. But we scarcely anticipated the miseries of that horrible night. In point of discomfort, the rooms were much the same as at the other smaller inns.
An old wine-bottle and pudding-basin again did duty for washing apparatus; soap, of course, there was none, and the one towel was a bit of coarse canvas about a foot square. The luxury of a looking-glass we had almost forgotten, and its want distressed us but little.
But what afflicted us chiefly was the number of old chests and boxes, and of family petticoats, hung up in every direction; and the general dirt of the wooden floors and plaster walls.
The good woman of the house explained to me that they had but one guests' room, and that mine had been vacated by herself and spouse for my use. When I heard that dreadful piece of intelligence, I knew what to expect.