give us back the money we
have spent on bait.'

"Then the fat woman in the cotton dress said in her turn: 'Do you mean to
call us thieves, madame?' Explanations followed and compliments began to
fly. Oh, Lord! those creatures know some good ones. They shouted so loud
that our two witnesses, who were on the other bank, began to call out by
way of a joke: 'Less noise over there; you will interfere with your
husbands' fishing.'

"The fact is that neither the little man nor I moved any more than if we
had been two tree stumps. We remained there, with our eyes fixed on the
water, as if we had heard nothing; but, by Jove! we heard all the same.
'You are a thief! You are nothing better than a tramp! You are a regular
jade!' and so on and so on. A sailor could not have said more.

"Suddenly I heard a noise behind me and turned round. It was the other
one, the fat woman, who had attacked my wife with her parasol. Whack,
whack! Melie got two of them. But she was furious, and she hits hard when
she is in a rage. She caught the fat woman by the hair and then thump!
thump! slaps in the face rained down like ripe plums. I should have let
them fight it out: women together, men together. It does not do to mix
the blows. But the little man in the linen jacket jumped up like a devil
and was going to rush at my wife. Ah! no, no, not that, my friend! I
caught the gentleman with the end of my fist, and crash! crash! One on
the nose, the other in the stomach. He threw up his arms and legs and
fell on his back into the river, just into the hole.

"I should have fished him out most certainly, Monsieur le President, if I
had had time. But, to make matters worse, the fat woman had the upper
hand and was pounding Melie for all she was worth. I know I ought not to
have interfered while the man was in the water, but I never thought that
he would drown and said to myself: 'Bah, it will cool him.'

"I therefore ran up to the women to separate them and all I received was
scratches and bites. Good Lord, what creatures! Well, it took me five
minutes, and perhaps ten, to separate those two viragos. When I turned
round there was nothing to be seen.

"The water was as smooth as a lake and the others yonder kept shouting:
'Fish him out! fish him out!' It was all very well to say that, but I
cannot swim and still less dive.

"At last the man from the dam came and two gentlemen with boathooks, but
over a quarter of an hour had passed. He was found at