"One word, Pierre," said Jean; "unfortunately all our fellow-countrymen here do not think with you, do they? No doubt you are the only child of France to be found in Calais at the end of two hundred years, who has not turned his back upon his mother-country."
"You are wrong, Jean," replied the armorer; "I spoke in general, and not for myself alone. I do not say that every one who bears a French name, as I do, has not forgotten his origin; but many bourgeois families never have ceased to love France, and deeply regret their separation from her; and it is among these families that the Peuquoys like to select their wives. In the civic guard, of which I am a member against my will, there is many a citizen who would break his halberd in twain rather than turn it against a French soldier."
"That's a very good thing to know," muttered Jean Peuquoy, rubbing his hands; "and you must hold some rank in this same civic guard? So well thought of and respected as you are, that goes without saying."
"No, Jean; I have persistently refused all rank, so as to avoid all responsibility."
"So much the worse, and yet so much the better! Is the duty you have to perform a hard one, Pierre? And does your turn come often?"
"Well, yes," said Pierre, "the service is both frequent and hard, because in a place like Calais, the garrison is never large enough. My turn comes the 5th of every month."
"The 5th of every month regularly, Pierre? It seems to me that the English are not prudent to fix every man's day of service in advance."
"Oh," said the armorer, shaking his head, "there is not much danger after holding the place for two centuries. Besides, they can't help being a little suspicious at all times of the civic guard, and take care to station them only at points which are naturally impregnable; for instance, I always do sentry duty on the platform of the Octagonal Tower, which is much more efficiently protected by the sea than by me, and where none but sea-gulls can approach, I think."
"Aha! so you are always on sentry duty on the platform of the Octagonal Tower on the 5th of the month, Pierre?"
"Yes; from four to six in the morning. I was allowed to select my own time, and I prefer that because during three fourths of the year I can see the sun rise out of the ocean at that hour; and that is a divine spectacle even for a poor trader like myself."