I was agreeable to that, too.  So he called the chauffeur and the chauffeur disentangled his whiskers from the steering gear and came and joined us.  The chauffeur and I each had a small glass of light wine, but the general took brandy.  Then ensued a spirited dialogue between him and the woman who kept the shop.  Assuming that I had no interest in the matter, I studied the pictures behind the bar.  Presently, having reduced the woman to a state of comparative silence, he approached me.

“M’sieur,” he said, “I regret that this has happened.  Because you are a foreigner and because you know not our language, that woman would make an overcharge; but she forgot she had me to deal with.  I am on guard!  See her!  She is now quelled!  I have given her a lesson she will not soon forget.  M’sieur, the correct amount of the bill is two-francs-ten.  Give it to her and let us begone!”

I still have that guide’s name and address in my possession.  At parting he pressed his card on me and asked me to keep it; and I did keep it.  I shall be glad to loan it to any American who may be thinking of going to Paris.  With the card in his pocket, he will know exactly where this guide lives; and then, when he is in need of a guide he can carefully go elsewhere and hire a guide.

I almost failed to mention that before we parted he tried to induce us to buy something.  He took us miles out of our way to a pottery and urged us to invest in its wares.  This is the main purpose of every guide:  to see that you buy something and afterward to collect his commission from the shopkeeper for having brought you to the shop.  If you engage your guide through the porter at your hotel you will find that he steers you to the shops the hotel people have already recommended to you; but if you break the porter’s heart by hiring your guide outside, independently, the guide steers you to the shops that are on his own private list.

Only once I saw a guide temporarily stumped, and that was in Venice.  The skies were leaky that day and the weather was raw; and one of the ladies of the party wore pumps and silk stockings.  For the protection of her ankles she decided to buy a pair of cloth gaiters; and, stating her intention, she started to go into a shop that dealt in those articles.  The guide hesitated a moment only, then threw himself in her path.  The shops hereabout were not to be trusted—­the proprietors, without exception, were rogues and extortioners.  If madame would have patience for a few brief moments he would guarantee that she got what she wanted at an honest price.  He seemed so desirous of protecting her that she consented to wait.