re in order?" said the gendarme. And when the _Arethusa_,
with a slight change of voice, admitted he had none, he was informed
(politely enough) that he must appear before the Commissary.

The Commissary sat at a table in his bedroom, stripped to the shirt and
trousers, but still copiously perspiring; and when he turned upon the
prisoner a large meaningless countenance, that was (like Bardolph's)
"all whelks and bubuckles," the dullest might have been prepared for
grief. Here was a stupid man, sleepy with the heat and fretful at the
interruption, whom neither appeal nor argument could reach.

_The Commissary:_ "You have no papers?"

_The Arethusa:_ "Not here."

_The Commissary:_ "Why?"

_The Arethusa:_ "I have left them behind in my valise."

_The Commissary:_ "You know, however, that it is forbidden to circulate
without papers?"

_The Arethusa:_ "Pardon me: I am convinced of the contrary. I am here on
my rights as an English subject by international treaty."

_The Commissary (with scorn):_ "You call yourself an Englishman?"

_The Arethusa:_ "I do."

_The Commissary:_ "Humph.--What is your trade?"

_The Arethusa:_ "I am a Scottish Advocate."

_The Commissary (with singular annoyance):_ "A Scottish Advocate! Do
you then pretend to support yourself by that in this Department?"

The _Arethusa_ modestly disclaimed the pretension. The Commissary had
scored a point.

_The Commissary:_ "Why, then, do you travel?"

_The Arethusa:_ "I travel for pleasure."

_The Commissary (pointing to the knapsack, and with sublime
incredulity):_ "_Avec ca? Voyez-vous, je suis un homme intelligent!_"
(With that? Look here, I am a person of intelligence!)

The culprit remaining silent under this home-thrust, the Commissary
relished his triumph for a while, and then demanded (like the postman,
but with what different expectations!) to see the contents of the
knapsack. And here the _Arethusa_, not yet sufficiently awake to his
position, fell into a grave mistake. There was little or no furniture in
the room except the Commissary's chair and table; and to facilitate
matters, the _Arethusa_ (with all the innocence on earth) leant the
knapsack on a corner of the bed. The Commissary fairly bounded from his
seat; his face and neck flushed past purple, almost into blue; and he
screamed to lay the desecrating object on the floor.

The knapsack proved to contain a change of shirts, of shoes, of socks,
and of linen trousers, a small d