"Still at the gate?
And say then, my father," this in low tones meant not to be overheard, "who is this monsieur ?" "He is the little boy," exclaimed the Pasteur, chuckling at his joke, "but you see he has grown in the train." "_Mon Dieu!_" exclaimed Madame, "I wonder if his bed will be long enough ?" "It is very amusing," remarked Juliette.
Then they both descended from the verandah, to greet him with foreign cordiality which, as they spoke rapidly in French, was somewhat lost on Godfrey.

Recognizing their kind intentions, however, he took off his hat and bowed to each in turn, remarking as he did so: "_Bonjour, oui.

Oui, bonjour_," the only words in the Gallic tongue that occurred to him at the moment.
"I speek Engleesh," said Juliette, with solemn grandeur.
"I'm jolly glad to hear it," replied Godfrey, "and I _parle Francais_, or soon shall, I hope." Such was Godfrey's introduction to his new home at Kleindorf, where very soon he was happy enough.

Notwithstanding his strange appearance and his awkwardness, Monsieur Boiset proved himself to be what is called "a dear old gentleman"; moreover, really learned, and this in sundry different directions.

Thus, he was an excellent astronomer, and the possessor of a first-rate telescope, mounted in a little observatory, on a rocky peak of ground which rose up a hundred feet or more in the immediate neighbourhood of the house, that itself stood high.