Justo burst forth, "because I was
going to buy some medals for presents, and now I won't buy them."

Don Calixto smiled, and Caesar understood that the good Canon was taking
advantage of the information to save a penny.

XXI. DON CALIXTO IN THE CATACOMBS

Don Calixto and the Canon were very anxious to visit the Catacombs.
Caesar knew that the visit is not entirely agreeable, and attempted to
dissuade them from their intention.

"I don't know whether you gentlemen know that one has to spend the
entire day there."

"Without lunch?" asked the Canon.

"Yes."

"Oh, no; that is impossible."

"One has to sacrifice oneself for the sake of Christianity," said
Caesar.

"You haven't much desire to sacrifice yourself," retorted Don Calixto.

"Because I believe it is damp and unwholesome down there, and a
Christian bronchitis would not be wholly pleasant, despite its religious
origin. And besides, as you already know, one must go without food."

"We might eat something there," said Don Justo.

"Eat there!" exclaimed Caesar. "Eat a slice of ham, in front of the
niches of the Catacombs! It would make me sick."

"It wouldn't me," replied the Canon.

"In front of the tombs of martyrs and saints!"

"Even if they were saints, they ate too," replied the Canon, with his
excellent good sense.

Caesar had to agree that even if they were saints, they ate.

There was a French family at the hotel who were also thinking of going
to see the Catacombs, and Don Calixto and Don Justo decided to go the
same day with them. The French family consisted of a Breton gentleman,
tall and whiskered, who had been at sea; his wife, who looked like a
village woman; and the daughter, a slender, pale, sad young lady. They
had with them, half governess, half maid, a lean peasant-woman with a
suspicious air.

The young lady confessed to Caesar that she had been dreaming of the
Catacombs for a long while. She knew the description Chateaubriand gives
of them in _Les Martyres_ by heart.

The next day the French family in one landau, and Don Calixto with the
Canon and Caesar in another, went to see the Catacombs.

The French family had brought a fat, smiling abbe as cicerone.

Five persons couldn't get inside the landau, and the Breton gentleman
had to sit by the driver. Don Calixto offered him a seat in his
carriage, but the Breton, who must have been obstinate as a mule, said
no, that from the driver's seat he enjoyed more of the pa