Use me as you would a vigilant watch-dog; I will obey you,
protect you, and never bark; neither will I condemn you. I ask only to
be of service to you. Your father has made Dumay keeper of the
hen-roost, take Butscha to watch outside,--poor Butscha, who doesn't
ask for anything, not so much as a bone."
"Well, I've give you a trial," said Modeste, whose strongest desire
was to get rid of so clever a watcher. "Please go at once to all the
hotels in Graville and in Havre, and ask if a gentleman has arrived
from England named Monsieur Arthur--"
"Listen to me, mademoiselle," said Butscha, interrupting Modeste
respectfully. "I will go and take a walk on the seashore, for you
don't want me to go to church to-day; that's what it is."
Modeste looked at her dwarf with a perfectly stupid astonishment.
"Mademoiselle, you have wrapped your face in cotton-wool and a silk
handkerchief, but there's nothing the matter with you; and you have
put that thick veil on your bonnet to see some one yourself without
being seen."
"Where did you acquire all that perspicacity?" cried Modeste,
blushing.
"Moreover, mademoiselle, you have not put on your corset; a cold in
the head wouldn't oblige you to disfigure your waist and wear half a
dozen petticoats, nor hide your hands in these old gloves, and your
pretty feet in those hideous shoes, nor dress yourself like a
beggar-woman, nor--"
"That's enough," she said.
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