after the noon dinner it was the custom in my uncle's house to sit for an hour or two in the entry-way of the house, that vestibule inlaid with flagstones and ornamented with a large, burnished, copper fountain, for it was the coolest place during the heated period of the day. here it was almost dark, for everything was closed; two or three rays of sunshine, in whose light the flies danced, filtered in through the cracks of the massive louis xiii door. in the silent village no one was astir, and one heard there only the everlasting clucking of the hens,—all other living creatures seemed asleep.

i, however, did not remain long in the cool vestibule. the bright sunshine lured me out; and, too, scarcely had i installed myself there in the circle before i heard a knocking at the street door: the three little peyrals had come to fetch me, and to apprise me of their presence they lifted the old iron knocker that was hot enough to burn their fingers.

then with hats pulled over our eyes and equipped with hammers, staffs and butterfly-nets we would start out in search of new adventures. first we passed through the narrow gothic streets paved with pebbles, then we struck into the paths that lay just beyond the village, paths that were always covered with wheat-chaff that got into our shoes, and into which we sank ankle deep; finally we reached the open country, the vineyards, and the roads that led to the woods, or better still those that brought us to the river which we forded by means of the flower-covered islets.

this wild liberty was a complete avengement for the monotony of my cribbed and cabined home life, ever the same all the year through; but i still lacked the companionship of little boys of my own age, i needed to clash with them,—and, too, this freedom lasted only a couple of months.