They made the Béarnais relate his adventures; the battle in the street amused the servants immensely. They drank to Cédrille's courage and his cousin Miretta's; they drank to their mistresses, and to the peasant's safe return to his hearth and home.
By dint of drinking toasts in excellent wines, such as he had never tasted before, Cédrille felt considerably bewildered; and when he left the table and the house, to take a little walk about Paris, it was all the Béarnais could do to walk straight. He had not walked a hundred yards from the house, opening his eyes to their utmost extent and stopping constantly to straighten out his legs, when he felt an arm slip through his and heard a voice say to him:
"Sandioux! a happy meeting! I did not expect it, but I rejoice. I will say more: it causes me extreme pleasure, on my honor!—Why, my dear friend, you gaze at me with a surprised air, as if you did not recognize me! Can it be that you have forgotten a gallant knight who defended you sturdily this morning at a moment when your danger was most threatening?"
Cédrille, after straining his eyes and examining the long, lean, yellow man who had seized his arm, cried at last:
"Ah! why, yes, to be sure—your long face—that's so—I have seen it before; and this morning, when all those fine sparks tried to make me dismount, it was you who came and took our part—with your long sword, as long as a turnspit!"
"Ah! this is very fortunate; you recognize me at last, do you, my fine fellow?—If my sword is long, I trust that that didn't prevent my handling it rather prettily against your assailants this morning."
"Certainly not, monsieur le chevalier. Oh! you wasn't afraid!"
"Afraid! I! I never could understand how there could be such a thing as a coward!"
"Yes, yes! now I remember it all. What a pity that that tall black chevalier knocked your sword out of your hand at the first blow!"
"Sandis! my dear fellow, I will tell you why. Lean on me; you will walk more firmly."