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"Good morning, gentlemen, good morning!" he said, in a perfectly good Yankee twang. "Can I do anything for you to-day in my line? Step in, gentlemen; I'm John Higginbotham." They entered and, behind the desk, sighted a stout woman of medium size, middle age, and moderately good appearance. "Hannah, these are two of our fellow townsfolk, calling. Excuse me, gentlemen, I didn't get your names."
A shrill laugh finished this outburst, but Martine knew who it was that spoke, and maintained her equanimity. "Is that you again, Marguerite?" she said, not unkindly "You will tire yourself to death wandering about the streets all day." Marguerite Valmond, "la folle" as she was called by the townsfolk, shook her head and smiled cunningly.
Among the townsfolk stockings and European shoes are common, but there are no native slippers to equal those of Morocco, and yellow ones are rare. I saw no natives riding in the town; though in the country it must be more common. The scarcity of four-footed beasts of burden is noticeable after the crowded Moorish thoroughfares.
I made the acquaintance of many of the townsfolk, and was struck by-the far higher standard of cleanliness to be found here than in Cetinje. The idea that the Montenegrin could teach civilization to the Albanian was patently absurd. Scutari was hotly excited over the bomb affair of Cetinje. The trial of the prisoners, who had been in close confinement for nearly a year, came on in May.
In carrying this edict into force, Richelieu found warm supporters in peasantry and townsfolk who had long suffered from the exactions and depredations of their noble but warlike neighbors. The ruins of many a chateau throughout modern France bear eloquent witness to the cardinal's activity. Another enduring monument to Richelieu was the centralization of French administration.
As Chamberlayne had been well known in the town, a good number of townsfolk met the body at the station and followed it to the cemetery. Of course, many of us who had been clients of Chamberlayne's were anxious to know how he had come to such a sudden end.
It began to unload the passengers and wares it brought from neighbouring manufacturing towns. It was the boat's last stopping-point, the river higher up being too shallow. For a while there was much bustle and noise on the float. The little tables were soon occupied by townsfolk and new arrivals, chiefly officials and landlords.
But the first to reach the gates had taken in hand to shut them, and so to prevent the townsfolk reaching the Corraterie. One of the great doors, half-closed, blocked his way, and instinctively ignorant how far behind him the pike-points were he sprang aside into the guard-room. His one chance now for he was cut off, and knew it lay in reaching the staircase and mounting to the roof.
It was always the same: he never could learn what their main interest was. The cathedral was ever empty, the old church of St. Martin, at the other end of the town, deserted. They shopped because they had to, and not because they wished to. The booths stood neglected, the stalls unvisited, the little cafés desolate. Yet the streets were always full, the townsfolk ever on the bustle.
The others generally are slab-sided, stoop-shouldered, but withey. The townsfolk and the valley farmers, being better nourished and more observant of the prime laws of wholesome living, are noticeably superior in appearance but not in stamina. Nearly all males of the back country have a grave and deliberate bearing.
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