But 1 was dong injustice to these peaceable young Hainauters．When the Cigarette went off to make inquiries，I got out upon the bank tO smoke a pipe and superintend the boats，and became at once the center of much amiable curiosity．The children had been joined by this time by a young woman and a mild lad who had lost an man；and this gave me more security．When I let slip my first word or so in French，a little girl nodded her head with a comical grown-up air．“Ah，you see，”she said，“he understands well enough now：he was just making believe．”And the 1ittle group laughed together very good-naturedly． They were much impressed when they heard we came from England； and the little girl proffered the information that England was an island“and a far way from here--bien loin d’ici．’’
“Aye，you may say that，a far way from here，’’said the lad withOne aITn． 1 was nearly as homesick as ever 1 was in my life；they seemed tomake it such an incalculable distance to the place where I first saw theday． They admired the canoes very much．And I observed one piece ofdelicacy in these children which is worthy of record．They had beendeafening US for the last hundred yards with petitions for a sail；aye，andthey deafened US to the same tune next morning when we came to start；but then，when the canoes were lying empty，there was no word of any such petition．Delicacy?Or perhaps a bit of fear for the water in SO crank a vessel?I hate cynicism a great deal worse than I do the devil；unless perhaps，the two were the same thing?And yet is a good tonic；the coldtub and bath towel of sentiments；and positively necessary to life in cases of advanced sensibility．
From the boats they turned to my costume．They could not make enough of my red sash；and my knife filled them with awe．
“They make them like that in England，’’said the boy with one arm．1 was glad he did not know how badly we make them in England nowadays．“They are for people who go away to sea，”he added，“andto defend one’S life against great fish．’’