between my two nymphs and served the company merrily, first my
niece, then Marcoline, then my brother, and finally Possano. No water was
drunk at table, so we each emptied a bottle of excellent Burgundy, and
when we had finished supper the rowers rested on their oars, although the
wind was very light. I had the lamps put out and went to bed with my two
sweethearts, one on each side of me.

The light of dawn awoke me, and I found my darlings still sleeping in the
same position. I could kiss neither of them, since one passed for my
niece, and my sense of humanity would not allow me to treat Marcoline as
my mistress in the presence of an unfortunate brother who adored her, and
had never obtained the least favour from her. He was lying near at hand,
overwhelmed with grief and seasickness, and watching and listening with
all his might for the amorous encounter he suspected us of engaging in. I
did not want to have any unpleasantness, so I contented myself with
gazing on them till the two roses awoke and opened their eyes.

When this delicious sight was over, I got up and found that we were only
opposite Final, and I proceeded to reprimand the master.

"The wind fell dead at Savona, sir;" and all the seamen chorused his
excuse.

"Then you should have rowed instead of idling."

"We were afraid of waking you. You shall be at Antibes by tomorrow."

After passing the time by eating a hearty meal, we took a fancy to go on
shore at St. Remo. Everybody was delighted. I took my two nymphs on land,
and after forbidding any of the others to disembark I conducted the
ladies to an inn, where I ordered coffee. A man accosted us, and invited
us to come and play biribi at his house.

"I thought the game was forbidden in Genoa," said I. I felt certain that
the players were the rascals whose bank I had broken at Genoa, so I
accepted the invitation. My niece had fifty Louis in her purse, and I
gave fifteen to Marcoline. We found a large assemblage, room was made for
us, and I recognized the knaves of Genoa. As soon as they saw me they
turned pale and trembled. I should say that the man with the bag was not
the poor devil who had served me so well without wanting to.

"I play harlequin," said I.

"There isn't one."

"What's the bank?"

"There it is. We play for small stakes here, and those two hundred louis
are quite sufficient. You can bet as low as you like, and the highest
stake is of a louis."

"That's all very well, but my l