“And so you were running off all this time, were you, François?” asked Phil, who no longer had any difficulty in understanding what it meant.
“What would you haf me do, m’sieu?” demanded the chef, indignantly; “I haf von wife and five charming children at home. Who support zem eef I allow myself to be sacrificed to ze passion of zat madman? I am of ze brave family over in France, but I am also not ze fool.”
“And you managed to escape without him discovering you?” continued Phil.
“Aha! I slip in and out of ze trees. Heem so much taken up wif ze dance of ze gentlemen zat he nevaire see poor François. So I reach zis place and sink down to ze ground to recover my breath.”
“But he went away finally, I suppose?” Phil questioned.
“After he haf exhaust ze gentlemen, and haf hees leetle joke.”
“And no one lifted a hand to stay his departure, did they, François?”
“Ze guides would not, because zey haf to live up here in ze woods, and zey dare not make ze enemy of zat Terrible Badger. And ze three gentlemen could not walk over to ze cabin where zere guns were, zey were so exhausted.”
“But that happened all of half an hour ago, didn’t it, François?”
“I am not in ze condition to say, m’sieu. All I know is zat I haf not yet entirely recover from my knees knocking against each other; and as for my heart it keeps on jumping up into ze throat every time I hear a rustle close by. I zink zat man haf come back to get me, ze culprit, who is guilty of throwing ze boiling water on hees hound.”