ennons; a mass of clouds was moving
up from over Blois, and towards Mousseaux a film of rain dimmed the
horizon, while the four lights on the top of the towers sparkled against
the black sky.

There was a moment of hurry and confusion. Then the vessels went away
between the banks of yellow sand, one behind the other in the narrow
channels; while Vedrine, pleased by the brightness of the colours
beneath the stormy sky and by the striking figures of the boatmen,
standing in the bows and leaning hard on their long poles, turned to
his wife, who was kneeling in the punt packing in the children, the
colour-box, and the palette, and said, 'Look over there, mamma. I
sometimes say of a friend, that we are in the same boat. Well, there you
may see what I mean. As those boats fly in line through the wind, with
the darkness-coming down, so are we men and workers, generation after
generation. It's no use being shy of the fellows in your own boat; you
know them, you rub up against them, you are friends without wishing it
or even knowing it, all sailing on the same tack. But how the fellows
in front do loiter and get in the way! There's nothing in common between
their boat and ours. We are too far off, we cannot catch what they say.
We never trouble about them except to call out "Go ahead; get on, do!"
Meanwhile youth in the boat behind is pushing _us_; they would not mind
running us down; and we shout to them angrily, "Easy there! Where's
the hurry?" Well, as for me,' and he drew himself to his full height,
towering above the line of coast and river, 'I belong, of course, to my
own beat and I am fond of it. But the boat just ahead and the one coming
up interest me not less. I would hail them, signal to them, speak to
them all. All of us alike, those before and those behind, are threatened
by the same dangers, and every boat finds the current strong, the sky
treacherous, and the evening quick to close in... Now, my dears, we must
make haste; here comes the rain!'

CHAPTER XIII.

'Pray for the repose of the soul of the most noble Lord, the Duke
Charles Henri Francois Padovani, Prince d'Olmitz, formerly Member
of the Senate, Ambassador and Minister, Grand Cross of the Legion of
Honour, who departed this life September 20, 1880, at his estate of
Barbicaglia, where his remains have been interred. A mass for the
deceased will be celebrated on Sunday next in the private chapel, where
you are invited to attend.'

This quaint summ