This good woman had evidently no faith in new fashions; she
dressed as she did thirty years ago, and every dish that she cooked for me
was kept warm by a pewter brazier filled with embers from the hearth.
One of these dishes was a goose's liver half roasted, half stewed, and
sprinkled with capers.
While at Martel I was arrested as a spy by an old _garde champetre_, who,
seeing me taking notes of the church, wished to know who gave me permission
to 'make a plan of the town.' I did not reply to him with the politeness
that he evidently considered himself entitled to. It is probable that I
should have chosen my words with more circumspection had I guessed what an
important person he was; but as he wore a blouse, and was squatting upon
a heap of stones which he had been pulling about, I underestimated his
dignity. That he united the functions of _cantonnier_ and _garde_ did not
occur to me. He sprang to his feet, put on his official badge, and, seizing
me by the arm, shouted: 'I arrest you!' Then, when I took the liberty of
removing his hand, he called out: '_Au secours!_'
But those to whom he appealed were women, who preferred to let him manage
his own business, and who, moreover, were too much amused to interfere.
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