"Where shall we go now?"
"Faith! monsieur, I had intended to go for a stroll on the Champs-Élysées. It's a fine day, and near the end of September; we must make the most of these last good days. And then, I am very fond of watching them play bowls."
"Very good! that suits me—that suits me to the very tick: let us go to the Champs-Élysées, and see them play bowls. Walking helps the digestion; it gives one an appetite. We will dine there; I know all the good restaurants on the Champs-Élysées. Oh! never fear, Papa Courbichon, you are with a buck who knows what good living is!"
"I don't doubt it, monsieur, but——"
"Sapristi! what a pretty cane! everybody admires it as they pass. It must have cost a lot?"
"I cannot tell you, monsieur; it's a present from my nephew."
"Ah, indeed! I was just saying to myself, that it's a surprising thing that Monsieur Courbichon should have bought a cane like that. Your nephew's a man of taste. What does he do?"
"He's in business. He has gone to America. This was his cane; he gave it to me, because, as he said, he was going to a country where there are plenty of canes, and it was useless for him to carry this one."
"Do you mean that he carries a piece of sugar-cane in his hand when he goes out to walk?"
"I can't tell you, I don't know. The cane suited me, because at need I could use it to defend myself."