We had to take to the canal in the course of the afternoon; because, where it crossed the river, there was, not a bridge, but a siphon.  If it had not been for an excited fellow on the bank, we should have paddled right into the siphon, and thenceforward not paddled any more.  We met a man, a gentleman, on the tow-path, who was much interested in our cruise.  And I was witness to a strange seizure of lying suffered by the Cigarette:  who, because his knife came from Norway, narrated all sorts of adventures in that country, where he has never been.  He was quite feverish at the end, and pleaded demoniacal possession.

Moy (pronounce Moy) was a pleasant little village, gathered round a chateau in a moat.  The air was perfumed with hemp from neighbouring fields.  At the Golden Sheep we found excellent entertainment.  German shells from the siege of La Fere, Nurnberg figures, gold-fish in a bowl, and all manner of knick-knacks, embellished the public room.  The landlady was a stout, plain, short-sighted, motherly body, with something not far short of a genius for cookery.  She had a guess of her excellence herself.  After every dish was sent in, she would come and look on at the dinner for a while, with puckered, blinking eyes.  ’C’est bon, n’est-ce pas?’ she would say; and when she had received a proper answer, she disappeared into the kitchen.  That common French dish, partridge and cabbages, became a new thing in my eyes at the Golden Sheep; and many subsequent dinners have bitterly disappointed me in consequence.  Sweet was our rest in the Golden Sheep at Moy.

LA FERE OF CURSED MEMORY

We lingered in Moy a good part of the day, for we were fond of being philosophical, and scorned long journeys and early starts on principle.  The place, moreover, invited to repose.  People in elaborate shooting costumes sallied from the chateau with guns and game-bags; and this was a pleasure in itself, to remain behind while these elegant pleasure-seekers took the first of the morning.  In this way, all the world may be an aristocrat, and play the duke among marquises, and the reigning monarch among dukes, if he will only outvie them in tranquillity.  An imperturbable demeanour comes from perfect patience.  Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.

We made a very short day of it to La Fere; but the dusk was falling, and a small rain had begun before we stowed the boats.  La Fere is a fortified town in a plain, and has two belts of rampart.  Between the first and the second extends a region of waste land and cultivated patches.  Here and there along the wayside were posters forbidding trespass in the name of military engineering.  At last, a second gateway admitted us to the town itself.  Lighted windows looked gladsome, whiffs of comfortable cookery came abroad upon the air.  The town was full of the military reserve, out for the French Autumn Manoeuvres, and the reservists walked speedily and wore their formidable great-coats.  It was a fine night to be within doors over dinner, and hear the rain upon the windows.