In response to his knock there was a roar from within, and the door
opened enough to show the young lady in the doorway.
"Good evening," he said gravely. "I saw the light in here and decided
to accept its kindly invitation."
She glanced over her shoulder; but the airman, gently putting her to
one side, entered and looked serenely about the room, which appeared to
be kitchen, dining-room, and parlor in one. Beside the stove he noticed
the stooped figure of a man, whose huge black beard straggled over a
suit of overalls that had once been dark blue, but had become a dirty
white from constant association with flour.
"Good evening, monsieur." The airman handed his helmet to the girl and
proceeded to unbutton his coat. The miller's blotched eyes rose sulkily
to the visitor's face.
"What do you want here?" His voice was nasal and slovenly, and there
was a hoarse growl in the words, as though his throat was parched and
rusted.
"I am doing myself the honor of taking supper with you, monsieur." The
airman's face was full of melancholy dignity as he divested himself of
his coat.
The miller's mouth opened, and a rasping, deep snarl resonated
disagreeably. "There is the village, five kilometers that way."
"Ah--but that is five kilometers too far."
"You cannot stay here"--the miller's voice rose angrily--"there is but
food for two."
The Englishman tapped his pipe against his heel, and blew through it to
ensure its being empty. "Then, monsieur," he said, "you must go
hungry."
The Frenchman rose to his feet and brandished both arms above his head.
"Go!" he bellowed, and swore an oath that comprised a reference to the
sacred name of one dog and the sudden demise of the afore-mentioned ten
thousand devils who, it appeared, rested heavily on his conscience.
"Mademoiselle"--the young man turned politely to the girl--"I apologize
for this gentleman. Shall I throw him into the stream, or would a
cleansing spoil his particular style of mottled beauty?"
The miller became eloquent. His language was threatening, blasphemous,
and deafening. His whole ungainly body vibrated with a fury which, at
certain moments, grew to such a pitch that he would raise his chin
upwards until all that could be seen was a forest of beard, the while
he emitted an unearthly roar that could have been clearly heard on the
village road. The girl, who had been making preparations for supper,
glanced timidly at him, but continued her work. The cat, slumbering by
the stove, opened his eyes dreamily as if some sweet strain had come to
his ears then settled to slumber once more.
And the whole room resounded and quivered to the hurricane of sound.
With an air of complete imperturbability, the intruding guest slowly
backed towards the table and became engrossed in the task of refilling
his pipe, though beneath the glow-worm eyebrows his eyes (which were
very clear and blue, as though his excursions into the last free
element of nature had blown all the dust and grime away) held the
orator in a steady look.
"Fill your pipe?" he said cryptically, choosing a moment when his host
was swelling up with a breath that promised to burst his ribs.
The response was startling.
Exhausting the air from his lungs with the noise of steam escaping from
an overcharged boiler, the miller rushed blindly forward, crouching so
low that his beard against his discolored clothes suggested an ugly
bush against a background of slushy snow.
With the precision of a guardsman forming fours, the airman took one
pace to the rear with his left foot and one to the right with his right
foot. This maneuver, successfully completed, placed the table between
himself and his assailant, and, tilting it dexterously, he swiftly
thrust that article of furniture forward, where it came into violent
contact with the irate miller's knees and shins. With an indescribable
howl the worthy man fell back in a paroxysm of agony, grasping his
knees with both hands, and rocking to and fro like a demented dervish.
The airman bowed gravely to the girl. "I learned that," he said, "from
a gentleman by name of Charlie Chaplin. If you can oblige me with a
custard pie I shall hurl it at your uncle and thus complete the
Chaplinesque method of discounting violence."
The young woman's brows puckered. The spectacle of her uncle's
discomfiture had not disturbed her so much as this new kind of a person
who could bow so courteously, whose eyes twinkled humorously, and whose
words were full of gravity on the subject of custard pies. She came of
a race that coordinated gestures and the play of features with speech;
but this stranger of the air--_Sapristi!_
The moaning of the uncle grew less and his figure stopped its rocking;
but his red, blotchy eyes looked furtively at the young man, biding
their owner's time for a renewal of hostilities.
With an air of deep dejection the airman gazed at the unlovely
spectacle, then, very slowly, unfastened his holster and drew a
revolver.
"Monsieur," he said, "I offer peace. The alternative is--that I fill
you full of holes--which would interfere with your singing. I intend to
have supper here, because I saw hens outside. If they have given no
eggs, we shall eat the hens themselves as a punishment. We are allies,
you and I; let us be friends as well. Monsieur"--he struck a Napoleonic
attitude--"_Vive l'Entente!_"
The swarthy face of the miller, who had retained his posture on the
floor throughout, wrinkled hideously into a grin, which developed into
a roaring laugh that set a solitary vase jingling.
With a doubtful air of appreciation, the airman surveyed him, his head
inclining dubiously to one side. "Come, monsieur," he said, after the
miller's unpleasant mirth had subsided, "you sit there--at the far end
of the table; mademoiselle--when you have given us the supper
things--here; and I, at this end. Just to show how completely I trust
you, my host, I will keep my revolver beside my plate; and should it be
necessary for me to blow your brains out during the meal, it will be
with the very keenest regret that I lose a friend for whom I have
acquired such an instantaneous and profound affection."
Thus the young lady with the guileless eyes, the youth who had
descended from the clouds, and the stentorian miller with the painful
knees, sat down together for their evening repast.
And the mill-stream, chuckling as it sportively tumbled over the chute,
made a pleasant serenade.