His hat—­the judicious use of which added such warmth, color, and picturesqueness to his style of delivery, now pressed to his chest, now raised aloft, now debased to the cobbles—­had once had some dignity and proportions.  Continual maltreatment had long since taken all the gay and frolicsome curl out of its brim, while the crown had so often collapsed that the scars of ill-usage were visible upon it.  And yet at a distance this relic of a former fashion, as handled by Baeader,—­it was so continually in his grasp and so seldom on his head, that you could never say it was worn,—­this hat, brushed, polished, and finally slicked by its owner to a state slightly confusing as to whether it were made of polished iron or silk, was really a very gay and attractive affair.

It was easy to see that the person before me had spared neither skill, time, nor expense to make as favorable an impression on his possible employers as lay in his power.

“At the moment of the arrival of ze depeche telegraphique,” Baeader continued, “I was in ze office of monsieur ze proprietaire.  It was at ze conclusion of some arrangement commercial, when mon ami ze proprietaire say to me:  ’Baeader, it is ze abandoned season in Paris.  Why not arrange for ze gentlemen in Normandy?  The number of francs a day will be at least’”—­here Baeader scrutinized carefully the governor’s face—­’"at least to ze amount of ten’—­is it not so, messieurs?  Of course,” noting a slight contraction of the eyebrows, “if ze service was of long time, and to ze most far-away point, some abatement could be posseeble.  If, par exemple, it was to St. Malo, St. Servan, Parame, Cancale speciale, Dieppe petite, Dinard, and ze others, the sum of nine francs would be quite sufficient.”

The governor had never heard Dieppe called “petite” nor Cancale “speciale,” and said so, lifting his eyebrows inquiringly.  Baeader did not waver.  “But if messieurs pretend a much smaller route and of few days, say to St. Michel, Parame, and Cancale,”—­here the governor’s brow relaxed again,—­“then it was imposseeble,—­if messieurs will pardon,—­quite imposseeble for less zan ten francs.”

So the price was agreed upon, and the hat, now with a decided metallic sheen, once more swept the cobblestones of the courtyard.  The ceremony being over, its owner then drew off the green kid gloves, folded them flat on his knee, guided them into the inside pocket of the brown coat with the assorted bindings as carefully as if they had been his letter of credit, and declared himself at our service.

It was when he had been installed as custodian not only of our hand luggage, but to a certain extent of our bank accounts and persons for some days, that he urged upon the governor the advisability of our at once proceeding to Cancale, or Cancale speciale, as he insisted on calling it.  I immediately added my own voice to his pleadings, arguing that Cancale must certainly be on the sea.  That, from my recollection of numerous water-colors and black-and-whites labeled in the catalogue, “Coast near Cancale,” and the like, I was sure there must be the customary fish-girls, with shrimp-nets carried gracefully over one shoulder, to say nothing of brawny-chested fishermen with flat, rimless caps, having the usual little round button on top.