"That is the manager of the fête, madame," said Edouard.
"But he made my eyes smart terribly! I thought that either the sun or the moon had entered the room. Pray, what has the man got on?"
"It is his buttons, which are so brilliant."
"Ah! you must agree that when a man wears such buttons, he ought at least to give people some warning."
"It certainly is difficult to look at that gentleman without squinting," said Monsieur Berlingue.
Monsieur Férulus darted out of the room again like an arrow, and soon musket shots announced the beginning of the fête. The noise of the fusillade almost made Eudoxie ill; but she took pains to fall into the arms of Edouard, who was beginning to be bored by her fainting spells, but who could not, however, avoid offering her his arm. Everybody ran out upon the balcony, and to the windows, whence they could see the sports which were to take place in the courtyard. Uncle Mignon alone remained behind, for it was necessary to find two pins for his niece Cornélie, and to fetch a glass of water to restore his other niece to consciousness. The peasants from the neighborhood, who had received permission to attend the fête, were drawn up on two sides of the courtyard. The servants were under the balcony; even Mademoiselle Cheval had left her kitchen to enjoy the sports, and especially to find out what was to be done with the greased poles, which aroused her curiosity.--Meanwhile the orchestra, which was supposed to play, did not begin, because the blind man, who was terribly afraid of the musket shots, had crawled under the bench during the discharge, and persisted in refusing to come out, although Férulus exhausted himself in arguing to prove that he was in no danger.
The company waited for the performance to begin. Robineau leaned over the balcony and shouted to Férulus:
And Monsieur Férulus, who was on the point of coming to blows with the first violin, shouted back:
"You know very well that it begins with foot races in the garden. Go and walk there with the ladies, monseigneur."
But the ladies were tired by their ride and did not care to walk. Moreover, they were impatient to witness the sports. François ran to assist Férulus to pull the blind man out from under the bench. At last the music struck up, and six tall Auvergnats, nude from the head to the waist, appeared in the arena arranged in the middle of the courtyard. The ladies started in surprise at sight of the singular costume of the combatants; Madame de Hautmont had another slight attack of faintness; but Monsieur Férulus, who had ascended the stoop, cried: