successful expedition, growled out, "It won't bite you; you needn't be
afraid."

"I am not, but my dear Arnaut you might make allowances; I never had a
baby in my arms before in my life. I daresay I shall get used to it in
time; use is second nature, they say. But I say, I don't believe it
ought to be bundled up in this way; it can't breathe; it will be
suffocated; I shall open this shawl a little," said Léon, proceeding to
do so, and being immediately rewarded by a long, wailing cry from the
infant.

"There," said the baron, with an impatient exclamation, "now you have
woke it. Why didn't you leave it alone?"

"My dear fellow, it would never have woke again if I had; the poor
little creature was choking," said Léon, sitting the baby up on his
knees, as if it were a year old instead of a few months.

"It will cry the whole way now, and, if we meet anyone, betray our
secret," grumbled the baron.

"Well, I'd rather it cried than have it suffocated, as it infallibly
would have been but for me. Baby, in future years you may thank your
uncle Léon for saving your life. Perhaps if I whistle it will stop
howling. I'll try," said Léon, whistling, in which art he was a great
adept.

But whistling had no effect on the baby, unless it was to make it cry
louder, and Léon was in despair, and the baron getting furious, until it
suddenly occurred to the former to jump the child up and down, as he had