The Michons expected great things from this accession of fame to Buissac. They were enlarging the Ecu d'Or, and Madame Michon, sitting on a campstool in the shade of a large black umbrella, was graciously ready to give information to those who crowded round her. Madame Graham was staying at the Ecu d'Or, bien entendu. She was to unveil the monument and might now be expected to appear at any moment. Ce pauvre Monsieur Graham could not be with them. He had not yet recovered, Madame Michon gathered, from the effects of the terrible night when he and Madame had seen their beloved friend swept away before their eyes. But he was, at last, beginning to paint again. One saw the gladness in Madame's face when she spoke of it,—ah, she had suffered, the poor young lady; she was changed; aged. But still as charming as ever; gentille et avenante; full of thought for all her old friends. She was sending the little Germaine to a good school and Madame Jeannin had cause to bless her. But then—had it not been for Blaise Jeannin, Monsieur Graham would have perished with Mademoiselle Ludérac.
Blaise, indeed, in Sunday best, a watch-chain across his waistcoat, was a centre of interest. Many people here to-day had not seen him before and pressed round him as he recited, with the assurance of old custom, his reminiscences. He had climbed down the cliff to this very spot when his mother, on that night of disaster, had told him to follow the Monsieur anglais and help him in his search for the kid, and had seen Gra-
