y peasant can obtain a drink
that is palatable if weak. And, to add to the other miseries of this
_regale_, the tablecloth and napkins were so damp that, affected by
the tureen and plates, which were hot if they possessed no other
virtues--such as eatable food upon them--they smoked so much that the
guest could scarcely see his host across the table.

"Not the fare of Languedoc," this worthy divine muttered, once or
twice, "not the fare of Languedoc. Ah, Monsieur St. Georges, you must
come and see me in my bishopric if you want to live well. I can give
you a good supper there."

"So I have heard, monseigneur. With many other things as well. Music,
I hear, accompanies your feasts; the voices of silver-tongued
lads----"

"Ha!" chuckled the other, "you have heard that. Well, why not? The
choir is lazy, and--since it costs me nothing--may as well sing at my
table. Now, since I cannot persuade you to eat more," St. Georges
having pushed his plate away from him with an action of disgust, "let
us have a little talk.--Pierre, go away; we wish to be alone.
Though--stay--first of all bring a bottle of the old clos from the
buffet--the old clos, you understand, the '79 bottling."

The cavalryman wondered if the "old clos" was likely to be any better
than the vinaigrous stuff he had just been treated to, and sat waiting
its arrival with curiosity, if not impatience. Meanwhile, he regarded
his host from under his eyelids as well as he could through the mist
made by the still steaming napkins, and also by the wet, hissing logs
which spluttered and reeked in the grate close by which the table had
been drawn up. The old man, he saw, was perfectly cognizant that he
was being observed; occasionally from under _his_ eyelids he would
shoot a glance in his turn at the great form of the [2]_chevau-leger_
near him, and would then smile in what he evidently intended to be an
engaging manner; while at other times he would swiftly remove his eyes
and gaze meditatively into the green wood that smouldered on the
andirons.

[Footnote 2: Cheval-leger is a modern rendering of the old term.]

Then Pierre came back with a bottle that appeared, outwardly at least,
to give promise of containing good liquor within it, since it was
covered with dust and cobwebs, and, uncorking it and placing two long,
thin, tapering glasses by its side, withdrew--yet not before
Phelypeaux, with that remarkable persistency in mentioning his guest's
name which the la