" He muttered something farther in which
I caught the word "to-night." But I did not hear it all; or
understand any of it.
"Your lordships are going to Paris?" he resumed in a different
tone. When I said that we were, he looked at me in a shamefaced
way, half timid, half arrogant. "I have a small favour to ask of
you then," he said. "I am going to Paris myself. I am not
afraid of odds, as you have seen. But the roads will be in a
queer state if there be anything on foot in the city, and--well,
I would rather ride with you gentlemen than alone."
"You are welcome to join us," I said. "But we start in half-an-
hour. Do you know Paris well?"
"As well as my sword-hilt," he replied briskly, relieved I
thought by my acquiescence, "And I have known that from my
breeching. If you want a game at PAUME, or a pretty girl to
kiss, I can put you in the way for the one or the other."
The half rustic shrinking from the great city which I felt,
suggested to me that our swashbuckling friend might help us if he
would.
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