him to learn his
profession his ideas had completely changed and he would not hear of
vegetating in the country.

[Illustration: A visit at the chateau.]

We had, too, sometimes a doctor from one of the neighbouring villages.
He had married an Englishwoman. They had a nice house and garden and he
often had English boys over in the summer to learn French. He brought
them occasionally to us for tea and tennis, begging us not to speak
English to them. But that was rather difficult, with the English terms
at tennis--horses and dogs always spoken to in English. One could not
speak French to a fox-terrier bred in Oxfordshire.

* * * * *

Another pretty, simple fete was the Blessing of the Flag given by
Francis to the Pompiers of Montigny, our little village in the woods
just above the chateau. My husband had always promised them a flag, but
he died before their society was formed. Three years after his death,
when we were living in the small place which now belongs to my son, a
deputation arrived from Montigny one Sunday afternoon to ask if Francis
would give the flag his father had promised. This of course he was
delighted to do. He knew all the men and they all knew him--had seen him
since he was a baby--all of them had worked in his father's woods, and
two or three of the older ones had taken care of him and his gun when he
first began to shoot.

His father gave him a gun when he was twelve years old--had it made at
Purdy's in London, a reduced model of his own. No one is allowed to
shoot in France till he is sixteen years old and then must have his
"permis de chasse" duly signed by the Mayor. So it was rather difficult
to get Francis and his gun into the woods--once there they were safe.
Nothing would have induced him to let any of the men carry it. He walked
beside the keeper with his gun over his shoulder just like him; they did
meet two gendarmes one day and quickly the gun was given to some one
else. I think the gendarmes quite realised the situation (Labbey, the
keeper, said they knew all about it), but they were friends of the
family, W.'s appointment, probably, and asked no questions.

It was necessary of course to consult the local authorities before
deciding such an important question as the presentation of a flag to the
Pompiers. Francis went over two or three days later and interviewed the
cure, the Mayor and the school-master, found out where the flag must be
ordered in P