nt.

"Well, stupid?" he said.

As though to excuse herself, she said:

"I was taken aback. I'm a stranger here and I don't know where
Saint-Pipoy is."

"You won't be lost; you are to go in the carriage," said the manager.
"Here, William...."

M. Paindavoine's horse and carriage, which had been standing in the
shade, now drew up.

"Here's the girl," said the manager to a young man. "Take her to M.
Paindavoine quickly."

Perrine was already down the steps, and was about to take her seat
beside William when he stopped her with a sign of his hand.

"Not here; take the back seat," he said.

There was a narrow seat for one person at the back. She got up into it
and they started off at a brisk trot.

When they had left the village behind William, slacking the horse's
speed, turned round to Perrine.

"You're going to have a chance to please the boss," he said.

"How so?" asked Perrine.

"He's got some English mechanics come over to put a machine together,
and they can't understand each other. He's got M. Mombleux there, who
says he can speak English, but if he does it isn't the same English as
these Englishmen speak. They keep on jabbering, but don't seem to
understand, and the boss is mad. It makes you split your sides to hear
'em. At last M. Mombleux couldn't go on any longer, and to calm the boss
he said that he knew of a girl named Aurelie in the factory who spoke
English, and the boss made me come off at once for you."

There was a moment's silence; then he turned round again to Perrine.

"If you speak English like M. Mombleux," he said mockingly, "perhaps
it'd be better if you didn't go any farther.

"Shall I put you down?" he added with a grin.

"You can go on," said Perrine, quietly.

"Well, I was just thinking for you; that's all," he said.

"Thank you; but I wish to go on, please."

Yet in spite of her apparent coolness, little Perrine was very nervous,
because, although she was sure of her English, she did not know what
sort of English the engineer spoke. As William had said mockingly, it
was not the same that M. Mombleux understood. And she fully realized
that there would be many technical words that she would not be able to
translate. She would not understand, and she would hesitate, and then
probably M. Paindavoine would be angry with her, the same as he had been
with M. Mombleux.

Above the tops of the poplars she could already see the great smoking
chimneys of the factories of Saint-P