showed no haste to be off. At length, one night Major Bravida went to
Baobab Villa and said very solemnly, "Tartarin, you must go!"

It was a terrible moment for Tartarin, but he realised the solemnity of
the words, and, looking around his cosy little den with a moist eye, he
replied at length in a choking voice, "Bravida, I shall go!" Having made
this irrevocable decision, he now pushed ahead his final preparations
with some show of haste. From Bompard's he had two large trunks, one
inscribed with "Tartarin of Tarascon. Case of Arms," and he sent to
Marseilles all manner of provisions of travel, including a patent
camp-tent of the latest style.


_II.--Tartarin Sets off to Lion-Land_


Then the great day of his departure arrived. All the town was agog. The
neighbourhood of Baobab Villa was crammed with spectators. About ten
o'clock the bold hero issued forth.

"He's a Turk! He's wearing spectacles!" This was the astonished cry of
the beholders, and, sure enough, Tartarin had thought it his duty to don
Algerian costume because he was going to Algeria. He also carried two
heavy rifles, one on each shoulder, a huge hunting-knife at his waist
and a revolver in a leather case. A pair of large blue spectacles were
worn by him, for the sun in Algeria is terribly strong, you know.

At the station the doors of the waiting-room had to be closed to keep
the crowd out, while the great man took leave of his friends, making
promises to each, and jotting down notes on his tablets of the various