"Come," I said sternly, "the stables are large, and your horses
cannot fill them. Some room must be found for mine."
"To be sure! Make way for the king!" he retorted. While one
jeered "VIVE LE ROI!" and the rest laughed. Not good-
humouredly, but with a touch of spitefulness.
Quarrels between gentlemen's servants were as common then as they
are to-day. But the masters seldom condescended to interfere.
"Let the fellows fight it out," was the general sentiment. Here,
however, poor Jean was over-matched, and we had no choice but to
see to it ourselves.
"Come, men, have a care that you do not get into trouble," I
urged, restraining Croisette by a touch, for I by no means wished
to have a repetition of the catastrophe which had happened at
Caylus. "These horses belong to the Vicomte de Caylus. If your
master be a friend of his, as may very probably be the case, you
will run the risk of getting into trouble."
I thought I heard, as I stopped speaking, a subdued muttering,
and fancied I caught the words, "PAPEGOT! Down with the Guises!"
But the spokesman's only answer aloud was "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he repeated, flapping his arms in defiance.
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