ecause I am sick of fiddling do you
suppose I am going to send you adrift? We shall settle down for the
winter. Some capital. Which one would you like, Asticot?"

"Buda-Pesth," said I at random.

"Very well," said Paragot, "the day after tomorrow we start for
Buda-Pesth. Now let me go to sleep."

We took exactly two months getting to Buda-Pesth. The only incident of
our journey which I clearly remember is a week's sojourn at the farm of
La Haye near Chartres where we had carted manure, and where we renewed
our acquaintance with Monsieur and Madame Dubosc.

CHAPTER X

IN Buda-Pesth three things happened.

First, Paragot slipped in the street and broke his ankle bone, so that
he lay seven weeks in hospital, during which time Blanquette and I and
Narcisse lived like sparrows on the housetops, dazed by the
incomprehensibilities of the strange city.

Secondly, Paragot's aunt, his mother's sister, died intestate leaving a
small sum of money which he inherited as her nearest surviving relative.

Thirdly, Paragot fell into the arms of Theodor Izelin the painter, an
old friend of Paris student days.

The consequences of the first accident, though not immediate, were
lasting. Paragot walked for ever afterwards with a slight limp, and his
tramps along the high-roads of Europe had to be abandoned.

The consequence of the second was that Paragot went to London. Some
legal formality, the establishment of identity or what not, necessitated
his presence. I daresay he could have arranged matters through consuls
and lawyers and such-like folk, but Paragot who was childishly simple in
business matters obeyed the summons to London without question.

As a consequence of the third I became an inmate of the house of Theodor
Izelin.

It was all very bewildering.

It was arranged that during Paragot's absence in England I should board
with Izelin, Blanquette with Izelin's elderly model, a lady of
unimpeachable respectability and a rough and ready acquaintance with the
French language, and that Narcisse should alternate between the two
establishments. Paragot's business concluded, he would return to
Buda-Pesth, collect us and go whither the wind might drift him. I was
provided with a respectable outfit and with detailed instructions as to
correct behaviour in a lady's house. Theodor Izelin's wife was a
charming woman.

Everything was arranged; but who could reckon on Paragot?

On the night before his departure--indeed