"Good day, uncle," she said, kissing him.
"Good day, my daughter," the general replied. He was accustomed to call her so. "Eh! eh! my child, you are very gay this morning."
And he returned with interest the caresses she had lavished upon him.
"Why should I not be gay, uncle? Thanks to God? we have just escaped a great peril; everything in nature seems to smile, the birds are singing upon every branch, the sun inundates us with warm rays; we should be ungrateful towards the Creator if we remained insensible to these manifestations of His goodness."
"Then the perils of last night have left no distressing impression upon your mind, my dear child?"
"None at all, uncle, except a deep sense of gratitude for the benefits God has favoured us with."
"That is well, my daughter," the general replied joyfully, "I am happy to hear you speak thus."
"All the better, if it please you, uncle."
"Then," the general continued, following up the idea of his preoccupation, "the life we are now leading is not fatiguing to you?"
"Oh, not at all; on the contrary, I find it very agreeable, and, above all, full of incidents," she said with a smile.