"Yes, yes, my friend," said the wife, pressing her husband's
arm, "I noticed it; I even said, as you must remember, 'Here is
a bad place; I would rather pass here by day than at night.'"

"Oh! madame," said a young man whose voice affected to slur his
r's after the fashion of the day, and who probably assumed to
lead the conversation at the table d'hote, on ordinary occasions,
"you know the Companions of Jehu know no day or night."

"What! citizen," asked the lady still more alarmed, "were you
attacked in broad daylight?"

"In broad daylight, citizeness, at ten o'clock in the morning."

"And how many were there?" asked the stout gentleman.

"Four, citizen."

"Ambushed beside the road?"

"No; they were on horseback, armed to the teeth and masked."

"That's their custom," said the young frequenter of the table
d'hote, "and they said, did they not: 'Do not defend yourself,
we will not harm you. We only want the government money.'"

"Word for word, citizen."

"Then," continued this well-informed young man, "two dismounted