The little fellow tried first of all to obtain possession of the visitor's stick, and to gallop round the table astride it; they could not succeed in making him behave except by promising him that, if he would repeat his verses nicely, he should play with a rabbit which was very gentle and which was sometimes brought into the salon to entertain the company.

At last, Master Aristoloche took his stand in front of his great-aunt, and recited without stopping to take breath:

"'Ah! quel bonheur, en ce beau jour, De vous prouver tout mon amour!
Du plaisir, je suis dans l'attente,
Quand je dois aller chez ma tante!
En amour comme en amitiÉ
Sachez tout mettre de moitiÉ.'"

"It is easy to see that our papa knows a maker of mottoes," thought Cherami.

"What do you think of my husband's poetry?" asked Madame Capucine.

"It is the more ingenious in that it can be adapted to any possible occasion."

"And you, aunt?"

Madame Duponceau was delighted with the verses, and said to the boy, after giving him a kiss:

"Go and find the maid, and tell her to give you Coco to play with."

Master Aristoloche disappeared; it was his brother's turn to recite his congratulations; but young Narcisse was sulky; he rebelled.

"Well, monsieur," said his mother, "come and repeat your poetry to your aunt."

"No, I won't; it makes me sick."

"What do I hear, Monsieur Narcisse? What is the meaning of that answer?"

"I mean what I say; you always let Aristoloche play with Coco, and never let me."

"Will you hold your tongue—a great tall boy like you! just beginning to learn to write. You, want to play with the little rabbit!"

"Yes, I like rabbits, and I want to play with 'em."

"It seems to me," said Cherami, "that you ought not to be too hard on the child for liking rabbits; this is a good school for that. By dint of eating a thing, one sometimes ends by acquiring a taste for it. When I was a boy, I remember, I could not endure bread-soup, but they made me eat it every day to force me to like it."

"And you ended by liking it?"

"No; I detest it!"

"Come, Narcisse, come and recite your poetry to your dear aunt—if you don't, she won't give you another beautiful hat with feathers."

"I don't want any more of her feathers; they make me blind. Somebody told me that I looked like a trained dog in that hat."

"Look out, Monsieur Narcisse, or we shall be cross with you! Your poetry, this minute!"

"No, I won't!"

"Ah! we'll see about that, you little rascal!"

Madame Capucine left the table, seized Cherami's switch, which was standing in a corner, and advanced upon her son; but young Narcisse, when he saw what he was threatened with, began to run around the table, thus compelling his mother, still armed with the formidable switch, to run after him, striking blindly in every direction. Thinking that she was chastising her son, she twice brought the switch down on Cherami's shoulders, who found the manoeuvre executed by the stout woman and her son far from amusing, although it reminded him somewhat of a circus performance.

At last, seeing that he was on the point of being captured, Narcisse changed his tactics, and slipped under the table. Madame Capucine, although disconcerted for a moment by this evolution, soon found a way to profit by it; she thrust her switch under the table, striking at random to right and left. Thereupon, the old aunt began to cry out: her niece was switching her legs. Luckily, Cherami succeeded in pulling Narcisse out from under the table; he was forced to stand in front of Madame Duponceau; and his mother stationed herself by his side, with her stick in the air, saying in a threatening tone:

"Your poetry, quick!"

Master Narcisse, although still in the sulks, decided to obey, and muttered in a drawling voice:

"'Ah! que je suis—Ah! que je suis donc content!
De vous—de vous—de vous——'"

"De vous, what, idiot?"

"I forget."

"You just wait, and I'll freshen your memory, you bad boy!"

"'De vous fÊter, objet charmant——'"

"It can't be objet charmant! I know that's wrong."

"Why do you think it can't be objet charmant, niece, I should like to know?" said Madame Duponceau, pursing up her lips.

"Because, aunt, I am perfectly sure it's something else."

"In my judgment," interposed Cherami, "objet charmant should be allowed to remain; the expression is most appropriate."

The old aunt was so delighted by the compliment, that she left her seat and embraced her guest again.

"That will teach me to hold my tongue!" said Cherami to himself.

"Come, monsieur; go on with your poetry," continued Madame Capucine.

"'De vous—de vous—fÊter en ce moment,'"

began Narcisse.

"You see!" cried Madame Capucine; "I knew it wasn't objet charmant."

"It's hardly worth while to interrupt just for that, niece. Go on, my boy."

But young Aristoloche had entered the dining-room, holding in his arms a little white rabbit, which he was tickling with a stick. That spectacle sadly distracted the attention of Master Narcisse, whom his mother continued to threaten with the switch to make him finish his lines. But Narcisse, as he recited, kept turning to look at his brother.

"'Quand je me trouve À votre table—À votre table——'

I'll fix you, if you don't give me the rabbit when I get through."

"No, they gave the rabbit to me—see!"

"'À votre table—À votre table—
Ah! que le temps——'

I'll box your ears——

'est agrÉable!'"

"Mamma, brother says he'll lick me!"

"Don't listen to him, darling; he's the one who'll be licked, if he doesn't say his poetry better for his aunt. Come, Monsieur Narcisse."

"'Voulez-vous lire dans mon coeur——'

Wait till you want my battledore again!"

"I don't want it; papa'll give me another."

"'Dans mon coeur——'

Let Coco go."

"No, I won't let him go."

"All right; I'll fix you in a minute——

'Dans mon coeur—vous y verrez mon ardeur.'"

"You said that as badly as you could, monsieur! but you'll have to say it better at breakfast to-morrow."

"Oh! mamma, mamma; he's trying to take Coco away from me."

Narcisse, having finished his congratulations, had run after his brother and was trying to obtain possession of the rabbit; Madame Capucine, to put an end to the dispute, turned her elder son out of the dining-room, with an accompaniment of kicks in the posterior; then returned to her seat beside Cherami.

"And, after all," she said, "my husband didn't come!"

"And he probably won't come now, for it's almost nine o'clock. I am very sorry for that; I wanted to speak to him."

"About that little bill? Oh! there's no hurry about that."

"It was about something else."

"Well, I am going to have a very uncomfortable night of it. You must know that I'm very timid in the country. It's foolish of me, I know that well enough; for nothing ever happens to my aunt, who lives here alone with her servant; but what can I do? one can't control those things. When my husband's in bed beside me, that gives me courage, and I can sleep a little. But without him—why, I can't close my eyes. If we only had a man in the house; but nothing but women and children! What would become of us if we should be attacked?"

"What's the meaning of this attempt to entrap me?" thought Cherami, stroking his whiskers; "I can see myself passing the night here, to eat more rabbit to-morrow morning! On the contrary, I can't be off soon enough."

"Well, Monsieur Cherami," continued Madame Capucine, with a tender glance at her neighbor, "do you refuse to watch over us to-night? You are your own master; what is there to prevent you from sleeping here? If you would, I should feel perfectly safe, and I should have a quiet night. There's a guest-chamber just opposite mine."

The last words were accompanied by a sidelong glance ending in a sigh. Cherami began to cough in a significant fashion, and whispered:

"On the same floor?"

"Yes; you can understand what a relief it will be to me."

"I understand perfectly."

"Then you'll stay with us, won't you? When the children have gone to bed, we'll play a game of loto."

"That is a very seductive prospect."

"You shall draw the numbers."

"You will see how well I do it!"

At that moment, Madame Duponceau's servant rushed into the dining-room and exclaimed in dismay:

"O madame! madame! if you knew!"

"What is it, then, FranÇoise, for heaven's sake? You frighten me!"

"There's reason enough!"

"Is the house on fire?"

"Is it robbers?"

"No; but your rabbits. That little scamp of a Narcisse has opened all the hutches, and the rabbits are all loose; they're running everywhere—into the yard, and the cellar, and upstairs."

"Oh! mon Dieu! what do you mean? We must catch them! Niece, Monsieur Cherami, come quick, I beg you! Bring candles! Oh! my poor rabbits!"

Everybody hurried into the yard. In the confusion, Cherami did not fail to take his hat and cane; but, instead of going to the yard, he headed for the front door, crying:

"There go two of them into the road! I'll run after them."

"Do you think so?"

"I saw them."

"How could they have got out?"

"Under the gate. They scratched till they made a hole. But don't be disturbed; I'll catch them, if I have to chase them to Vincennes!"

And Cherami ran out into the road, leaving the ladies and the servant to hunt the rabbits.