Pitou had, in addition to this, become somewhat of an advocate.
No one could have listened to the resolutions passed at the Hôtel de Ville, to the orations of Monsieur Bailly, the harangues of Monsieur de Lafayette, without becoming somewhat of an orator; above all, if he had already studied the Latin Conciones, of which French eloquence at the close of the eighteenth century was rather a pale, though a tolerably correct, imitation.
Furnished with these two powerful modes of argument, to which two vigorous fists were no mean adjuncts, and possessing a rare amenity of smile and a most interesting appetite, Pitou journeyed on agreeably towards Villers-Cotterets.
For the curious in politics he had news, besides which he could manufacture them in case of need, having resided in Paris, where, from that period, their fabrication has been always remarkable.
He related how Monsieur Berthier had left immense buried treasures, which the Government would some day manage to dig up; how Monsieur de Lafayette, the paragon of all glory, the pride of provincial France, was no longer considered in Paris but as a half-used-up doll, whose white horse was a fertile subject for the concoction of jests and caricatures; how Monsieur Bailly, whom Monsieur de Lafayette honored with his most intimate friendship, as well as all the members of his family, was an aristocrat, and that people addicted to scandal said even worse things of him.
When he related all this, Pitou raised tempests of anger against him, but he possessed the quos ego of all these storms. He would then relate unpublished anecdotes of the “Austrian woman.”
His inexhaustible fancy procured for him an uninterrupted succession of excellent repasts, until he arrived at Vauciennes,—the last village on the road before reaching Villers-Cotterets.
As Sebastien, on the contrary, ate little or nothing; as he did not speak at all; as he was a pale and sickly-looking youth,—every one who felt interested in Sebastien, admired the vigilant and paternal care of Pitou towards him, who caressed, cosseted, attended on the boy, and into the bargain, ate his part of the dinners, without seeming to have any other motive than that of being agreeable to him.
When they arrived at Vauciennes, Pitou appeared to hesitate. He looked at Sebastien; Sebastien looked at Pitou.
Pitou scratched his head. This was his mode of expressing his embarrassment.
Sebastien knew enough of Pitou to be aware of this peculiarity.
“Well, what is the matter, Pitou?” asked Sebastien.
“The matter is, that if it were the same thing to you, and if you were not too tired, instead of continuing our way straight on, we would return to Villers-Cotterets through Haramont.”
And Pitou, honest lad, blushed while expressing this wish, as Catherine would have blushed when expressing a less innocent desire.
Sebastien at once understood him.
“Ah, yes!” said he, “it was there our poor mother Pitou died.”
“Come, my brother, come.”
Pitou pressed Sebastien to his heart with an energy that almost suffocated him; and taking the boy’s hand, he began running down the cross-road which leads along the valley of Wuala, and so rapidly that after going a hundred paces, poor Sebastien was completely out of breath, and was obliged to say:—
“Too fast, Pitou, too fast!”
Pitou stopped; he had not perceived that he was going too fast, it being his usual pace.
He saw that Sebastien was pale and out of breath.
He took him on his shoulders and carried him.
In this way Pitou might walk as fast as he pleased.
As it was not the first time that Pitou had carried Sebastien, Sebastien made no objection.
They thus reached Largny. There Sebastien, feeling that Pitou was panting, declared that he had rested long enough, and that he was ready to walk at any pace that might suit Pitou.
Pitou, being full of magnanimity, moderated his pace.
Half an hour after this, Pitou was at the entrance of Haramont, the pretty village where he first saw the light, as says the romance of a great poet,—a romance the music of which is of more value than the words.
When they reached it, the two boys cast a look around them to discover their old haunts.