Luckily they were
chained, and H.C.'s "Cave canem!" was superfluous. The church struck out
the hour. Placed in a sort of three-cornered square above the inn, the
tower stood out boldly against the background of sky, but it possessed
no beauty or merit. Away out of sight and hearing, we imagined the
glorious sea breaking and frothing over the rocks, and the points of
land that stretched out ruggedly towards the horizon; but we did not go
down to it. We felt out of tune with our surroundings, and only cared
for the moment when we should commence the long drive homeward. Had we
possessed some special anathema, some charm that would have placed our
driver under a mild punishment for twenty-four hours, I believe that we
should not have spared him.
So, on the whole, we were glad that our excursion to le Folgoet would
have to be done in part by train. We arranged it for the morrow, making
the most of our blue skies.
"You will have a charming day," said Madame Hellard, as we prepared to
set out the next morning. "I do not even recommend umbrellas. It is the
sort of wind that in Brittany never brings rain."
Our only objection was that there was rather too much of it.
Declining the omnibus, which rattled over the stones and was more or
less of a sarcophagus, without its repose, we mounted the interminable
Jacob's Ladder, and glanced in at our Antiquarian's. He was absent this
morning; had gone a little way into the country, where he had heard of
some Louis XIV.
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