"What! not a drop? and no wine shops near by!"
"A cheerful spot, the neighborhood of this horrible Pont-aux-Choux!—There is not a house in sight—not even a hovel!"
"Wait, my friends, wait.—Holà! Bruno!"
The Marquis de Sénange's valet approached the group.
"Bruno, do you not always carry a gourd, like the pilgrims when they set out on a long journey?"
"Yes, seigneur, I do."
"What is there in your gourd?"
"There is some—some very bad eau-de-vie."
"Very bad!—Ah! you rascal! from the way in which you say that, I would swear that you are lying. Give us your gourd; and we will judge whether its contents are so bad as you say."
"But, seigneur, I have been drinking from it, and I could not allow——"