"It is all the same to me," said M. de Bévallan. "Have you a knife, Alain?"
"A knife?" said Mlle. Marguerite, surprised.
"Yes, a knife. Please allow me ... I know what I mean to do."
"But what do you mean to do with a knife?"
"I mean to cut a switch," said M. de Bévallan.
The girl looked at him gravely.
"I thought," she murmured, "that you were going to swim for it."
"To swim!" said M. de Bévallan; "excuse me, mademoiselle.... Firstly, I am not in swimming costume; next, I must admit that I cannot swim."
"If you cannot swim," she said dryly, "the question of costume is not important."
"You are quite right," said M. de Bévallan, with amusing coolness; "but you are not particularly anxious that I should drown myself, are you? You want your handkerchief, that is the point. When I have got it, you will be satisfied. Isn't that so?"