me? I glanced about in every direction as we passed down the
old streets of Ussel. Suddenly my master turned into a shop behind the
market. Hanging outside the front were some old guns, a coat trimmed
with gold braid, several lamps, and some rusty keys. We went down three
steps and found ourselves in a large room where the sun could never have
entered since the roof had been put on the house. How could such
beautiful things as nailed shoes be sold in such a terrible place? Yet
Vitalis knew, and soon I had the pleasure of being shod in nailed shoes
which were ten times as heavy as my clogs. My master's generosity did
not stop there. He bought me a blue velvet coat, a pair of trousers, and
a felt hat.

Velvet for me who had never worn anything but cotton! This was surely
the best man in the world, and the most generous. It is true that the
velvet was creased, and that the woolen trousers were well worn, and it
was difficult to guess what had been the original color of the felt hat,
it had been so soaked with rain; but dazzled by so much finery I was
unconscious of the imperfections which were hidden under their aspect.

When we got back to the inn, to my sorrow and astonishment, Vitalis took
a pair of scissors and cut the two legs of my trousers to the height of
the knees, before he would let me get into them. I looked at him with
round eyes.

"That's because I don't want you to look like everybody else," he
explained. "When in France I'll dress you like an Italian; when in
Italy, like a French boy."

I was still more amazed.

"We are _artistes_, are we not? Well, we must not dress like the
ordinary folk. If we went about dressed like the country people, do you
think anybody would look at us? Should we get a crowd around us when we
stop? No! Appearances count for a great deal in life."

I was a French boy in the morning, and by night I had become an Italian.
My trousers reached my knees. Vitalis interlaced red cords all down my
stockings and twisted some red ribbon all over my felt hat, and then
decorated it with a bunch of woolen flowers.

I don't know what others thought of me, but to be frank I must admit
that I thought I looked superb; and Capi was of the same opinion, for he
stared at me for a long time, then held out his paw with a satisfied
air. I was glad to have Capi's approval, which was all the more
agreeable, because, during the time I had been dressing, Pretty-Heart
had seated himself opposite to me,