"M'sieu', figurez-vous!—It occurred to me last evening—tiens! there ought to be a few odds and ends to pick up in Ausone—a few miserable chiffons which nobody wants—little fragments of no value, you understand—what with the bombardment and all those ruined houses——"
"You went looting!"
"M'sieu'!" he said in pained surprise. "It was nothing like that! No! I said to myself, 'Tenez, mon vieux, to rake over a pile of rubbish is no crime in Paris. On peut ramasser des bouts d'cigares comme ça. Eh, bien, quoi?' I said to myself, 'Asticot, en route!'
"So I borrowed a boat——"
"Borrowed? From whom?"
"I could not find any owner, M'sieu'. So, as I say, I offered myself a boat, and I took the fishing pole which was in it, and I rowed boldly up the river.
"I suppose, seeing the fishing pole, nobody stopped me. Besides, there were a few freshly caught fish in the boat. These I held up, offering to sell to the soldiers I saw—a precaution, M'sieu', which rendered my voyage very easy."
"It's a wonder you did not get yourself shot!"
"It was dark enough after a while. And there are no troops beyond the second mill; and no vedettes disturbed me.
"At the Impasse d'Alcyon I tied my boat. The alley and the square were full of the poor people of Ausone, returning to look among the ruins for what had been their homes. Me, I said I was looking for mine, also——"