CHAPTER IV. 



REPORTS HIMSELF AFTER A BRIEF VACATION. 



ES, Sir, for once and away — I add "and away" 

 because I have just returned from the Conti- 

 nong — I must claim to represent myself. My- 

 self eii vacance — myself in the enjoyment of a 

 short, alas ! too short, vacation. I travelled with my second 

 step-grandmother (my grandfather — Heaven rest him ! — 

 having married thrice, and left his last and youngest to bless 

 his memory), and a well-informed friend, who said before 

 we started that he had long ago visited the places where we 

 intended going, knew them all by heart, and could give us 

 every possible information. Wasn't he to be a very useful 

 person .^ Wouldn't any one have taken him on such a recom- 

 mendation (his own) ? No matter what you. Sir, would or 

 would not have done in a similar position, we did — we em- 

 braced him. Ma belle G^'ajid' mere la deicxihne, et moi — we 

 embraced him with effusion, considered that we had a 

 treasure, and consulted him as to the future of our route. 



Our united ages amounted to but this is unimportant 



as we were more than half-price on every line, and a child's 

 ticket was out of the question, though in La belle Grand^s 

 case it was at first worth consideration. 



