But Belhomme could contain himself no longer; he began howling as though his soul were being torn from his body.  The priest was obliged to hold his head for him.  They asked Cesaire Horlaville to stop at the nearest house.  It was a farmhouse at the side of the road.  Belhomme was carried into it and laid on the kitchen table in order to repeat the operation.  Caniveau advised mixing brandy and water in order to benumb and perhaps kill the insect.  But the priest preferred vinegar.

They poured the liquid in drop by drop this time, that it might penetrate down to the bottom, and they left it several minutes in the organ that the beast had chosen for its home.

A bowl had once more been brought; Belhomme was turned over bodily by the priest and Caniveau, while the schoolmaster was tapping on the healthy ear in order to empty the other.

Cesaire Horlaville himself, whip in hand, had come in to observe the proceedings.

Suddenly, at the bottom of the bowl appeared a little brown spot, no bigger than a tiny seed.  However, it was moving.  It was a flea!  First there were cries of astonishment and then shouts of laughter.  A flea!  Well, that was a good joke, a mighty good one!  Caniveau was slapping his thigh, Cesaire Horlaville snapped his whip, the priest laughed like a braying donkey, the teacher cackled as though he were sneezing, and the two women were giving little screams of joy, like the clucking of hens.

Belhomme had seated himself on the table and had taken the bowl between his knees; he was observing, with serious attention and a vengeful anger in his eye, the conquered insect which was twisting round in the water.  He grunted, “You rotten little beast!” and he spat on it.

The driver, wild with joy, kept repeating:  “A flea, a flea, ah! there you are, damned little flea, damned little flea, damned little flea!” Then having calmed down a little, he cried:  “Well, back to the coach!  We’ve lost enough time.”

DISCOVERY

The steamer was crowded with people and the crossing promised to be good.  I was going from Havre to Trouville.

The ropes were thrown off, the whistle blew for the last time, the whole boat started to tremble, and the great wheels began to revolve, slowly at first, and then with ever-increasing rapidity.

We were gliding along the pier, black with people.  Those on board were waving their handkerchiefs, as though they were leaving for America, and their friends on shore were answering in the same manner.

The big July sun was shining down on the red parasols, the light dresses, the joyous faces and on the ocean, barely stirred by a ripple.  When we were out of the harbor, the little vessel swung round the big curve and pointed her nose toward the distant shore which was barely visible through the early morning mist.  On our left was the broad estuary of the Seine, her muddy water, which never mingles with that of the ocean, making large yellow streaks clearly outlined against the immense sheet of the pure green sea.