re present. He was not,
however; sorry to leave their imposing circle. Above all, he was glad
to escape from the clear-sighted, critical eyes of Madame de Nailles.
On the other hand, to be sent off to the girls' corner, after
being insulted by being told he had not grown, hurt his sense of
self-importance.

Meantime Jacqueline was taking him back to her own corner, where he was
greeted by two or three little exclamations of surprise, shaking hands,
however, as his former playmates drew their skirts around them, trying
to make room for him to sit down.

"Young ladies," said Jacqueline, "I present to you a 'bordachien'--a
little middy from the practice-ship the Borda."

They burst out laughing: "A bordachien! A middy from the practice-ship!"
they cried.

"I shall not be much longer on the practice-ship," said the young man,
with a gesture which seemed as if his hand were feeling for the hilt of
his sword, which was not there, "for I am going very soon on my first
voyage as an ensign."

"Yes," explained Jacqueline, "he is going to be transferred from
the 'Borda' to the 'Jean-Bart'--which, by the way, is no longer the
'Jean-Bart', only people call her so because they are used to it.
Meantime you see before you "C," the great "C," the famous "C," that is,
he is the pupil who stands highest on the roll of the naval school at
this moment."

There was a vague murmur of applause. Poor Fred was indeed in need of
some appreciation on the score of merit, for he was not much to look
upon, being at that trying age when a young fellow's moustache is only
a light down, an age at which youths always look their worst, and are
awkward and unsociable because they are timid.

"Then you are no longer an idle fellow," said Dolly, rather teasingly.
"People used to say that you went into the navy to get rid of your
lessons. That I can quite understand."

"Oh, he has passed many difficult exams," cried Giselle, coming to the
rescue.

"I thought I had had enough of school," said Fred, without making any
defense, "and besides I had other reasons for going into the navy."

His "other reasons" had been a wish to emancipate himself from
the excessive solicitude of his mother, who kept him tied to her
apron-strings like a little girl. He was impatient to do something for
himself, to become a man as soon as possible. But he said nothing of
all this, and to escape further questions devoured three or four little
cakes that were offered him.