ven
there by the terrible force of the blast that came with it, and asks--

"'Hey, in the cafe there! Is there any coffee to be had?'

"'Coming, sir, coming,' cried Mariette.

"She gets up from her chair, a little benumbed. Without a word she
looks at her self in our bit of a mirror, touches her hair lightly, and
says quite simply, the good lass--

"'I am going to make coffee for everybody.'

"When that was drunk off, we had all of us to go. Besides, customers
turned up every minute.

"'Hey, la p'tite mere,' they cried, shoving their noses in at the
half-open window, 'let's have a coffee--or three--or four'--'and two
more again,' says another voice.

"We go up to Mariette to say good-by. They knew they had played
gooseberry that night most damnably, but I could see plainly that they
didn't know if it would be the thing to say something about it or just
let it drop altogether.

"Then the Bulgarian made up his mind: 'We've made a hell of a mess of
it for you, eh, ma p'tite dame?'

"He said that to show he'd been well brought up, the old sport.

"Mariette thanks him and offers him her hand--'That's nothing at all,
sir. I hope you'll enjoy your leave.'

"And me, I held her tight in my arms and kissed her as long as I
could--half a minute--discontented--my God, there was reason to be--but
glad that Mariette had not driven the boys out like dogs, and I felt
sure she liked me too for not doing it.

"'But that isn't all,' said one of the leave men, lifting the skirt of
his cape and fumbling in his coat pocket; 'that's not all. What do we
owe you for the coffees?'

"'Nothing, for you stayed the night with me; you are my guests.'

"'Oh, madame, we can't have that!'

"And how they set to to make protests and compliments in front of each
other! Old man, you can say what you like--we may be only poor devils,
but it was astonishing, that little palaver of good manners.

"'Come along! Let's be hopping it, eh?'

"They go out one by one. I stay till the last. Just then another
passer-by begins to knock on the window--another who was dying for a
mouthful of coffee. Mariette by the open door leaned forward and cried,
'One second!'

"Then she put into my arms a parcel that she had ready. 'I had bought a
knuckle of ham--it was for supper--for us--for us two--and a liter of
good wine. But, ma foi! when I saw there were five of you, I didn't
want to divide it out so much, and I want still less now. There's the
ham, the