cursing in abominable words. In the meanwhile, Rouget, Fouasse, and
Del-phin kept on sleeping. They did not succeed in standing up until
the dinner hour. They recollected nothing, they were conscious only of
having been treated to something extraordinary, something which they
did not understand. In the afternoon, as they were all three down at the
harbor, the Emperor tried to question them concerning the liquor, now
that they had recovered their senses. It was like, perhaps, eau-de-vie
with liquorice-juice in it; or rather one might say rum, sugared and
burned. They said "Yes"; they said "No." From their replies, the
Emperor suspected that it was ratafia; but he would not have sworn to
it. That day Rouget and his men had too many pains in their sides to
go a-fishing. Moreover, they knew that La Queue had gone out without
success that morning, and they talked of waiting until the next day
before visiting their jambins. All three of them, seated on blocks
of stone, watched the tide come in, their backs rounded, their mouths
clammy, half-asleep.

But suddenly Delphin woke up; he jumped on to the stone, his eyes on the
distance, crying: "Look, Boss, off there!"

"What?" asked Rouget, who stretched his limbs.

"A cask."

Rouget and Fouasse were at once on their feet, their eyes gleaming,
sweeping the horizon.

"Where is it, lad? Where is the cask?" repeated the boss, greatly moved.

"Off there--to the left--that black spot."

The others saw nothing. Then Rouget swore an oath. "Nom de Dieu!"

He had just spotted the cask, big as a lentil on the white water in a
slanting ray of the setting sun. And he ran to the "Baleine," followed
by Delphin and Fouasse, who darted forward tapping their backs with
their heels and making the pebbles roll.

The "Baleine" was just putting out from the harbor when the news that
they saw a cask out at sea was circulated in Coqueville. The children,
the women, began to run. They shouted: "A cask! a cask!"

"Do you see it? The current is driving it toward Grandport."

"Ah, yes! on the left--a cask! Come, quick!"

And Coqueville came; tumbled down from its rock; the children arrived
head over heels, while the women picked up their skirts with both hands
to descend quickly. Soon the entire village was on the beach as on the
night before.

Margot showed herself for an instant, then she ran back at full speed to
the house, where she wished to forestall her father, who was discussing
an