ero was
trimming his beard. Suddenly the window was thrown open and Tartarin's
head appeared, his face covered in soapsuds, waving a razor and shaving
brush and shouting "Sword-thrusts, gentlemen, sword-thrusts, not
pin-pricks!" Fine words but wasted on a bunch of brats about two bricks
tall.

Amid the general defection, the army alone stood firmly by Tartarin,
the brave Commandant Bravida continued to treat him with esteem. "He's a
stout fellow," He persisted in saying, and this affirmation was worth
a good deal more, I should imagine, than anything said by Bezuquet the
chemist.

The gallant Commandant had never uttered a word about the African
journey, but at last, when the public clamour became too loud to ignore,
he decided to speak.

One evening, the unhappy Tartarin was alone in his study thinking sad
thoughts, when the Commandant appeared, somberly dressed and gloved,
with every button fastened "Tartarin!" said the former captain, with
authority, "Tartarin, you must go!" and he stood, upright and rigid in
the doorway, the very embodiment of duty.

All that was implied in that "Tartarin you must go" Tartarin understood.
Very pale, he rose to his feet and cast a tender look round his
pleasant study, so snug, so warm, so well lit, and at the the large,
so comfortable armchair, at his books, his carpet and at the big white
blinds of his window, beyond which swayed the slender stems of the
little garden. Then advancing to the the brave Commandant, he took his
hand, shook it vigorously and in a voice close to tears said stoically,
"I shall go, Bravida." And he did go as he had said he would. Though not
before he had gathered the necessary equipment.

First, he ordered from Blompard two large cases lined with copper and
with a large plaque inscribed TARTARIN DE TARASCON. FIREARMS. The
lining and the engraving took a long time. He ordered from M. Tastevin
a magnificent log-book in which to write his journal. Then he sent to
Marseille for a whole cargo of preserved food, for pemmican tablets
to make soup, for a bivouac tent of the latest design, which could be
erected or struck in a few minutes, a pair of sea-boots, two umbrellas,
a waterproof and a pair of dark glasses to protect his eyes. Finally,
Bezuquet the chemist made up a medicine chest full of sticking plaster,
pills and lotions. All these preparations were made in the hope that
by these and other delicate attentions he could appease the fury of
Tartarin-S