nued:

"He will not come now. I know what these elegant females are, reeking
with perfume. They are true demons that dig their nails in when they
clutch, and it is necessary to cut off their hands in order to loosen
them.... And the boat as useless now as though it were aground, while
the others are filling themselves with gold!... Believe me, my son,
this is the only truth in the world."

And he concluded by gulping in one draft all that was left in the
second glass.

Meanwhile the boy was forming in his mind an idea prompted by his
pleasant intoxication. What if he should go to Naples in order to bring
his father back!...

At this moment everything seemed possible to him. The world was
rose-colored as it always was when he looked at it, glass in hand, near
to Uncle Caragol. All obstacles would turn out to be trifling:
everything would arrange itself with wonderful facility. Men were able
to progress by bounds.

But hours afterward when his thoughts were cleared of their beatific
visions, he felt a little fearful when recollecting his absent parent.
How would he receive him upon his arrival?... What excuses could he
give his father for his presence in Naples?... He trembled, recalling
the image of his scowling brow and angry eyes.

On the following day a sudden self-confidence replaced this uneasiness.
He recalled the captain as he had seen him many times on the deck of
his vessel, telling of his escapades when rowing in the harbor of
Barcelona, or commenting to friends on his son's strength and
intelligence. The image of the paternal hero now came to his mind with
good-humored eyes and a smile passing like a fresh breeze over his
face.

He would tell him the whole truth. He would make him understand that he
had come to Naples just to take him away with him, like a good comrade
who comes to another's rescue in time of danger. Perhaps he might be
irritated and give him a blow, but he would eventually accede to his
proposition.

Ferragut's character was reborn in him with all the force of decisive
argument. And if the voyage should prove absurd and dangerous?... All
the better! So much the better! That was enough to make him undertake
it. He was a man and should know no fear.

During the next two weeks he prepared his flight. He had never taken a
long journey. Only once he had accompanied his father on a flying
business trip to Marseilles. It was high time that he should go out in
the world like the man that