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Godfrey recognized at once the fate in store for the wretched man. The spit was for him! The fire was to roast him at! Tartlet had not been mistaken, when, the previous evening, he had spoken of these folks as cannibals! It must be admitted that neither was he mistaken in saying that the adventures of Crusoes, real or imaginary, were all copied one from the other!
"How cheerfully would I breathe half a dozen sandwiches and a silverside of beef, just to give me an appetite!" And Tartlet plunged into a semi-sensuous reverie, in which he beheld succulent atmospheric dinners, and at them unconsciously opened his mouth and breathed his lungs full, oblivious that he had scarcely the wherewithal to feed upon in the ordinary way.
Godfrey, staggered by the return shock, stood in the midst of a rain of fire which showered around him. The lightning had ignited the dry branches above him. They were incandescent particles of carbon which crackled at his feet. Godfrey with a shout awoke his companion. "Fire! Fire!" "Fire!" answered Tartlet. "Blessed be Heaven which sends it to us!"
"Ah! how I wish I was sixteen again!" said Milly, with a profound sigh, as she gazed over the rim of a tartlet she happened to be eating, at the glittering sea and the far-off horizon. She was evidently recalling some very sad and ancient memories. "Why?" asked her companion, who exhibited a very slight tendency to laugh. "Because I was so light-hearted and happy at that age."
Whether his master had frightened him or not I do not know. He always spoke in a whisper, and with downcast eyes. He handled everything as if it was about to annihilate him, or he it, and looked as if he wouldn't bite even a tartlet. One day when I had finished my task, and we were alone, I bethought me of making some laughing gas, and trying the effect of it on the gentle youth.
And by a clever reptilian movement, which Tartlet imitated as well as he could, he managed, without showing his head above the grass, to reach the bend of the river. Thence he could command, at his ease, every part of the bank through which the river ran. An exclamation could not but escape him! His hand touched the professor's shoulder to prevent any movement of his! Useless to go further!
"Phina," said he gravely, "you should never remain on the 'sensible'!" And with the tip of his large finger he dropped vertically on to one of the keys and an "A natural" resounded through the room. If T. Artelett had been a Parisian, his compatriots would not have failed to nickname him Tartlet, but as he had already received this title we do not hesitate to describe him by it.
He immediately recognized them as "manzanillas," which serve as food to the Indians in certain parts of California. "At last," he exclaimed, "there is something which will be a change from our eggs and mussels." "What? Do you eat those things?" said Tartlet with his customary grimace. "You shall soon see!" answered Godfrey. And he set to work to gather the manzanillas, and eat them greedily.
At the ceremony Tartlet was perfect in bearing, in everything, and the pupil did honour to the celebrated professor of dancing and deportment. Now Tartlet had an idea. Not being able to mount his crocodile on a scarf-pin and much he regretted it he resolved to have it stuffed.
Godfrey then one day, the 10th of November, informed Tartlet that as soon as the weather began to mend a little he and Carefinotu would go out and collect some. Tartlet, who was never in a hurry to run a couple of miles across a soaking prairie, decided to remain at home during Godfrey's absence.
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