her arm around Madame
Pelisson's waist, and without even wishing me good-night--and my
hand was being squeezed worse than ever.

"Ah ha! Lequel de nous deux est vole, petit coquin?" hissed an angry
male voice in my ear--(which of us two is sold, you little rascal?).

And I found my hand in that of Monsieur Pelisson, whose name was
something else--and I couldn't make it out, nor why he was so angry.
It has dawned upon me since that each of us took the other's hand by
Mistake for that of the English governess!

All this is beastly and cynical and French, and I apologize for
it--but it's true.

* * * * *

October!

It was a black Monday for me when school began again after that
ideal vacation. The skies they were ashen and sober, and the leaves
they were crisped and sere. But anyhow I was still _en quatrieme_,
and Barty was in it too--and we sat next to each other in "L'etude
des grands."

There was only one etude now; only half the boys came back, and the
pavillon des petits was shut up, study, class-rooms, dormitories,
and all--except that two masters slept there still.

[Illustration: MEROVEE RINGS THE BELL]

Eight or ten small boys were put in a small school-room in the same
house as ours, and had a small dormitory to themselves, with M.
Bonzig to superintend them.

I made up my mind that I would no longer be a _cancre_ and a
_cretin_, but work hard and do my little best, so that I might keep
up with Barty and pass into the _troisieme_ with him, and then into
_Rhetorique_ (seconde), and then into _Philosophie_ (premiere)--that
we might do our humanities and take our degree together--our
"_Bachot_," which is short for _Baccalaureat-es-lettres_. Most
Especially did I love Monsieur Durosier's class of French
Literature--for which Merovee always rang the bell himself.

My mother and sister were still at Ste.-Adresse, Havre, with my
father; so I spent my first Sunday that term at the Archibald
Rohans', in the Rue du Bac.

I had often seen them at Brossard's, when they came to see Barty,
but had never been at their house before.

They were very charming people.

Lord Archibald was dressing when we got there that Sunday morning,
and we sat with him while he shaved--in an immense dressing-room
where there were half a dozen towel-horses with about thirty pairs
of newly ironed trousers on them instead of towels, and quite thirty
pairs of shiny boots on trees were ranged along th