ur had selected and were eating their
luncheon. No doubt they were the owners of the sculls, for they were in
boating costume. They were stretched out, almost lying on the chairs;
they were sun-browned and their thin cotton jerseys, with short sleeves,
showed their bare arms, which were as strong as a blacksmith's. They
were two strong, athletic fellows, who showed in all their movements
that elasticity and grace of limb which can only be acquired by exercise
and which is so different to the deformity with which monotonous heavy
work stamps the mechanic.

They exchanged a rapid smile when they saw the mother and then a glance
on seeing the daughter.

"Let us give up our place," one of them said; "it will make us
acquainted with them."

The other got up immediately, and holding his black and red boating cap
in his hand, he politely offered the ladies the only shady place in
the garden. With many excuses they accepted, and that it might be more
rural, they sat on the grass, without either tables or chairs.

The two young men took their plates, knives, forks, etc., to a table a
little way off and began to eat again, and their bare arms, which they
showed continually, rather embarrassed the girl. She even pretended to
turn her head aside and not to see them, while Madame Dufour, who was
rather bolder, tempted by feminine curiosity, looked at them every
moment, and, no doubt, compared them with the secret unsightliness of
her husband. She had squatted herself on ground, with her legs tucked
under her, after the manner of tailors, and she kept moving about
restlessly, saying that ants were crawling about her somewhere. Monsieur
Dufour, annoyed at the presence of the polite strangers, was trying to
find a comfortable position which he did not, however, succeed in doing,
and the young man with the yellow hair was eating as silently as an
ogre.

"It is lovely weather, monsieur," the stout lady said to one of the
boating men. She wished to be friendly because they had given up their
place.

"It is, indeed, madame," he replied. "Do you often go into the country?"

"Oh, only once or twice a year to get a little fresh air. And you,
monsieur?"

"I come and sleep here every night."

"Oh, that must be very nice!"

"Certainly it is, madame." And he gave them such a practical account
of his daily life that it awakened afresh in the hearts of these
shopkeepers who were deprived of the meadows and who longed for country
walks