settled—­shall I tell you who it was now, or shall I keep it for a tit-bit at the end when I have quite finished about the carriage?  Yes, that will be better.  For the funniest things about the carriage have to be told yet.  Up on the box, in the coachman’s place, you understand, holding with an air of the utmost importance in one claw a pair of yellow silk reins, his tufted head surmounted by a gold-laced livery hat, which, however, must have had a hole in the middle to let the tuft through, for there it was in all its glory waving over the hat like a dragoon’s plume, sat, or stood rather, Houpet; while, standing behind, holding on each with one claw to the back of the carriage, like real footmen, were the two other chickens.  They, too, had gold-laced hats and an air of solemn propriety, not quite so majestic as Houpet’s, for in their case the imposing tuft was wanting, but still very fine of its kind.  And who do you think were the horses? for there were two—­or, to speak more correctly, there were no horses at all, but in the place where they should have been were harnessed, tandem-fashion, not abreast, Nibble the guinea-pig and Grignan the tortoise!  Nibble next to the carriage, Grignan, of all creatures in the world, as leader.

On sight of them Hugh began to laugh, so that he forgot to look more closely at the person in the carriage, whose face he had not yet seen, as it was turned the other way.  But the sound of his laughing was too infectious to be resisted—­the small figure began to shake all over, and at last could contain itself no longer.  With a shout of merriment little Jeanne, for it was she, sprang out of the carriage and threw her arms round Hugh’s neck.

“O Cheri,” she said, “I couldn’t keep quiet any longer, though I wanted to hide my face till you had got into the carriage, and then surprise you.  But it was so nice to hear you laugh—­I couldn’t keep still.”

Hugh felt too utterly astonished to reply.  He just stared at Jeanne as if he could not believe his own eyes.  And Jeanne did not look surprised at all!  That, to Hugh, was the most surprising part of the whole.

“Jeanne!” he exclaimed, “you here!  Why, Dudu told me you were ever so far away.”

“And so I am,” replied Jeanne, laughing again, “and so are you, Cheri.  You have no idea how far away you are—­miles, and miles, and miles, only in this country they don’t have milestones.  It’s all quite different.”

“How do you mean?” asked Hugh.  “How do you know all about it?  You have never been here before, have you?  I couldn’t quite understand Dudu—­he meant, I think, that it was only your thinking part or your fancying part, that was away.”

Jeanne laughed again, Hugh felt a little impatient.

“Jeanne,” he said, “do leave off laughing and speak to me.  What is this place? and how did you come here? and have you ever been here before?”

“Yes,” said Jeanne, “I think so; but I don’t know how I came.  And I don’t want to do anything but laugh and have fun.  Never mind how we came.  It’s a beautiful country, any way, and did you ever see anything so sweet as the little carriage they’ve sent for us, and wasn’t it nice to see Houpet and all the others?”