k.

They had luncheon at a restaurant, The Sign of the Swan, kept by an old
English couple, who made a specialty of roast beef and English mustard.

"None of the ready mixed French stuff that is so mild you can eat it by
itself, but the good English brand that will really burn," said the
buxom madame, as she smilingly served great slabs of rare beef with
generous helpings of freshly mixed mustard.

"It burns all right, all right," exclaimed Kent between gulps of water.
"It would be invaluable for outside application, but I advise all of you
to go easy on how you place it in the interior. The English have stopped
wearing visible armor but my opinion is they have swallowed it to
protect their insides from the onslaught of their own mustard."

"I think it is delicious," said Molly.

"So do I," echoed Edwin. "I never tasted better."

Kent gave the professor a quizzical glance and then flicked his eyelid
at Judy. The young man was very far gone, he thought, if he could
swallow that mustard and make out he enjoyed it, since he, Kent,
happened to know that Edwin Green abhorred all highly seasoned food. But
forsooth, if Molly liked mustard he would like mustard, too.

Molly and Judy had expressed their desire to walk through the Forest to
Barbizon but Mrs. Brown was to take the diligence, as it was rather too
long a walk for her to attempt. Judy suddenly decided that she was tired
and would ride with Mrs. Brown, and Kent declared that he needed
assistance to carry the quantity of roast beef he had consumed at The
Sign of the Swan, and was delighted to be spared the walk of several
miles.

"I tell you, I almost sang my 'Swan Song' when I got that first mouthful
of mustard, and it would have been to the tune of 'It's a hot time in
the old town to-night.' If you and the professor are going to walk,
Molly, you had better start now and not wait for the diligence to be
off."

So Molly and Edwin did start on the walk that the young man had been
looking forward to for so many months. The Forest of Fontainebleau is a
wonderful spot and a fitting place for a young man to use as the setting
for his day dreams. Here he was actually doing the thing he had been
dreaming of, only it was more delightful than he had let himself think
it could be. Molly was all loveliness and sweetness. He blessed the
miles that made it necessary for Mrs. Brown to ride; he blessed the
unusual fatigue that had overtaken Judy; and above all, he blessed t