All that was implied in that "Tartarin you must go" Tartarin understood.
Very pale, he rose to his feet and cast a tender look round his
pleasant study, so snug, so warm, so well lit, and at the the large,
so comfortable armchair, at his books, his carpet and at the big white
blinds of his window, beyond which swayed the slender stems of the
little garden. Then advancing to the the brave Commandant, he took his
hand, shook it vigorously and in a voice close to tears said stoically,
"I shall go, Bravida." And he did go as he had said he would. Though not
before he had gathered the necessary equipment.

First, he ordered from Blompard two large cases lined with copper and
with a large plaque inscribed TARTARIN DE TARASCON. FIREARMS. The
lining and the engraving took a long time. He ordered from M. Tastevin
a magnificent log-book in which to write his journal. Then he sent to
Marseille for a whole cargo of preserved food, for pemmican tablets
to make soup, for a bivouac tent of the latest design, which could be
erected or struck in a few minutes, a pair of sea-boots, two umbrellas,
a waterproof and a pair of dark glasses to protect his eyes. Finally,
Bezuquet the chemist made up a medicine chest full of sticking plaster,
pills and lotions. All these preparations were made in the hope that
by these and other delicate attentions he could appease the fury of
Tartarin-Sancho, which, since the departure had been decided, had raged
unabated by day and by night.




Chapter 10.

At last the great day arrived. From first light the whole of Terascon