his cottage, and Terence and his
companion, who had been lying down 200 yards away, joined them just
as they were going down to the boat.

"You are from Saint Malo, I suppose?" an old peasant said to
Terence.

The latter nodded.

"We have got a month's leave from our ship," he said. "She has been
knocked about by an English cruiser, and will be in the
shipwright's hands for five or six weeks, before she is ready for
sea again."

"You are not from this part of the country," the peasant, who was
speaking in the patois of Normandy, remarked.

"No, we come from the south; but one of our comrades comes from
Cherbourg and, as he cannot get away, we are going to see his
friends and tell them that he is well. It is a holiday for us, and
we may as well go there as anywhere else."

The explanation was simple enough for the peasant, and Terence
continued chatting with him until they landed.

"You do not need to go through Avranches," the latter said. "Take
the road by the coast through Granville to Coutances."

"How far is it to Coutances?"

"About twenty miles. At least, so I have heard, for I have never
been there."

After walking a few miles, they went down on to the seashore and
lay down among some rocks until evening. At eight o'clock they
started again and walked boldly through Granville, where their
sailor's dress would, they felt sure, attract no attention. It was
about nine o'clock when they entered the place. Their reason for
doing so at this hour was that they wished to lay in a stock of
provisions, as they did not intend to enter Coutances until late at
night; when they hoped to be able to get hold of a boat, at once.
They had just made their purchases when they met a fat little man,
with a red sash--which showed him to be the Maire of the place, or
some other public functionary.

"Where are you going, and what ship do you belong to?" he asked
pompously.

"We are sailors on our way from Saint Malo to Cherbourg," Terence
replied.

"You have papers, of course?"

"Of course, Monsieur le Maire."

"I must see them," the Maire said. "Come with me to my house, close
by."

There were several persons near, and a man in civil uniform was
with the Maire. Therefore Terence gave an apparently willing assent
and, followed by the functionary, they went into a house close by.
A lamp was burning on the table in the hall.

"Light these candles in my office," the Maire said. "The women have
gone up to bed."