y quite appeased.

They started off in the same way as they had come the day before, and
the little white horse started off with his quick, dancing trot. Under
the hot sun, their fun, which had been checked during dinner, broke out
again. The girls now were amused at the jolts which the wagon gave,
pushed their neighbors' chairs, and burst out laughing every moment, for
they were in the vein for it, after Rivet's vain attempt.

There was a haze over the country, the roads were glaring, and dazzled
their eyes, and the wheels raised up two trails of dust, which followed
the cart for a long time along the high road, and presently Fernande,
who was fond of music, asked Rosa to sing something, and she boldly
struck up the _Gros Cure de Meudon_, but _Madame_ made her stop
immediately, as she thought it a song which was very unsuitable for such
a day, and she added:

"Sing us something of Beranger's." And so, after a moment's hesitation,
she began Beranger's song, _The Grandmother_, in her worn-out voice, and
all the girls, and even _Madame_ herself, joined in the chorus:

"How I regret
My dimpled arms,
My well-made legs,
And my vanished charms."

"That is first rate," Rivet declared, carried away by the rhythm, and
they shouted the refrain to every verse, while Rivet beat time on the
shafts with his foot, and on the horse's back with the reins, who, as if
he himself were carried away by the rhythm, broke into a wild gallop,
and threw all the women in a heap, one on the top of the other, onto the
bottom of the conveyance.

They got up, laughing as if they were mad, and the song went on, shouted
at the top of their voices, beneath the burning sky, among the ripening
grain, to the rapid gallop of the little horse, who set off every time
the refrain was sung, and galloped a hundred yards, to their great
delight, while occasionally a stone breaker by the roadside sat up and
looked at the wild and shouting female load through his wire spectacles.

When they got out at the station, the carpenter said:

"I am sorry you are going; we might have had some fun together." But
_Madame_ replied very sensibly: "Everything has its right time, and we
cannot always be enjoying ourselves." And then he had a sudden
inspiration:

"Look here, I will come and see you at Fecamp next month." And he gave a
knowing look, with a bright and roguish eye.

"Come," _Madame_ said, "you must be sensible; you may come if you lik