"Yessir," she said, putting down her tea-caddy, and arranging both her hands on her hips, in which position she would hold them until the dispute was finished.
"And you do not refuse me entertainment?" he went on, with the same unpleasant smile. "You cannot, I think, as this is a public house, and you have no just reason for excluding me from it."
"My aunt," said Bidiane, flashing around to her in a towering passion, "if you do not immediately turn this man out-of-doors, I shall never speak to you again."
"I be dèche," sputtered the confused landlady, "if I see into this hash. Look at 'em, Claudine. This genl'man'll be mad if I do one thing, an' Biddy'll take my head off if I do another. Sakerjé! You've got to fit it out yourselves."
"Listen, my aunt," said Bidiane, excitedly, and yet with an effort to control herself. "I will tell you what happened. On my way here I was in a hotel in Halifax. I had gone there with some people from the steamer who were taking charge of me. We were on our way to our rooms. We were all speaking English. No one would think that there was a French person in the party. We passed a gentleman, this gentleman, who stood outside his door; he was speaking to a servant. 'Bring me quickly,' he said, 'some water,—some hot water. I have been down among the evil-smelling French of Clare. I must go again, and I want a good wash first.'"
Mirabelle Marie was by no means overcome with horror at the recitation of this trespass on the part of her would-be guest; but Claudine's eyes blazed and flashed on the stranger's back until he moved slightly, and shrugged his shoulders as if he felt their power.
"Imagine," cried Bidiane, "he called us 'evil-smelling,'—we, the best housekeepers in the world, whose stoves shine, whose kitchen floors are as white as the beach! I choked with wrath. I ran up to him and said, 'Moi, je suis Acadienne'" (I am an Acadienne). "Did I not, sir?"
The stranger lifted his eyebrows indulgently and satirically, but did not speak.
"And he was astonished," continued Bidiane. "Ma foi, but he was astonished! He started, and stared at me, and I said, 'I will tell you what you are, sir, unless you apologize.'"