"You know," he said, "that Paris is showing a most admirable spirit."
"Really? How can you judge of it?"
"Come along!"
He gave me a hand by which to pull myself up. We went out. In the street I was at once struck by all the windows decked with flags flapping in the wind, the serenity written on the faces of the people walking about, the tranquil hum. I had seen the city look like this during the mobilisation.
"Has there been—a victory?" I murmured.
"It will come all in good time!" De Valpic said gaily. "Don't be in such a hurry!"
Bells were beginning to ring.
"It's Sunday," he continued. "What luck to be here on a Sunday!"
We took a few steps. It was a clear, spring-like morning; a gentle breeze made the sunlit tree-tops quiver. A troop of little children ran up brandishing sticks and spades.
"Hurrah for the soldiers!" they cried.