in the same life as if nothing untoward had happened. Still, the
mask of jovial heedlessness glued by pride on his face would
sometimes be suddenly detached. Then, in lieu of laughter, one saw
grief and indignation. Thus it was that one morning, when the little
blackguards yelped "Muster Jarvey's Roifle" beneath his window,
the wretches' voices rose even into the poor great man's room,
where he was shaving before the glass. (Tartarin wore a full beard,
but as it grew very thick, he was obliged to keep it trimmed
orderly.)

All at once the window was violently opened, and Tartarin
appeared in shirt-sleeves and nightcap, smothered in lather,
flourishing his razor and shaving-brush, and roaring with a
formidable voice:

"Let's have it out with swords, gentlemen, not pins!"

Fine words, worthy of history's record, with only the blemish that
they were addressed to little scamps not higher than their boot-
boxes, and who were quite incapable of holding a smallsword.



XII.
A memorable Dialogue in the little Baobab Villa.


AMID the general falling off, the army alone stuck out firmly for
Tartarin. Brave Commandant Bravida (the former captain in the
Army Clothing Department) continued to show him the same