CHAPTER IV
THE MATERNAL HOUSE
"Well," asked Mother Barberin, when we entered, "what did the mayor say?"
"We didn't see him."
"How! You didn't see him?"
"No, I met some friends at the Notre-Dame café and when we came out it was too late. So we'll go back to-morrow."
So Barberin had given up the idea of driving a bargain with the man with the dogs.
On the way home I wondered if this was not some trick of his, returning to the house, but his last words drove all my doubts away. As we had to go back to the village the next day to see the mayor, it was certain that Barberin had not accepted Vitalis' terms.