with a sad little smile, 'Ah, Monsieur! we look to you as our
defender!'

'And me too!' cried little Ulysse, making a violent demonstration with
his tiny blade, and so nearly poking out his uncle's eye that the
article was relegated to the same hiding-place as 'Monsieur Arture's,'
and the boy was assured that this was a proof of his manliness.

He had quite recovered his spirits, and as his mother and sister were
still exhausted with weeping, he was not easy to manage, till Arthur
took heart of grace, and offering him a perch on his knee, let him look
out at the window, explaining the objects on the way, which were all
quite new to the little Parisian boy. Fortunately he spoke French
well, with scarcely any foreign accent, and his answers to the little
fellow's eager questions interspersed with observations on 'What they
do in my country,' not only kept Ulysse occupied, but gained Estelle's
attention, though she was too weary and languid, and perhaps, child as
she was, too much bound by the requirements of sympathy to manifest her
interest, otherwise than by moving near enough to listen.

That evening the party reached the banks of one of the canals which
connected the rivers of France, and which was to convey them to the
Loire and thence to the Rhone, in a huge flat-bottomed barge, called a
coche d'eau, a sort of ark, with cabins, where travellers could be
fairly comfortable, space where the berlin could be stowed away in the
rear, and a deck with an awning where the passengers could disport
themselves. From the days of Sully to those of the Revolution, this
was by far the most convenient and secure mode of transport, especially
in the south of France. It was very convenient to the Bourke party;
who were soon established on the deck. The lady's dress was better