They went to the town hall and took the firemen's rifles, and the guns used for firing a salute on fete days; the mayor gave them the powder, and you heard---- "When I left Sairmeuse there were more than two hundred idiots before the presbytery, shouting: "_Vive Monseigneur! Vive le Duc de Sairmeuse_!" It was as d'Escorval had thought.
"The same pitiful farce that was played in Paris, only on a smaller scale," he murmured.

"Avarice and human cowardice are the same the world over!" Meanwhile, Chanlouineau was going on with his recital.
"To make the fete complete, the devil must have warned all the nobility in the neighborhood, for they all came running.

They say that Monsieur de Sairmeuse is a favorite with the King, and that he can get anything he wishes.

So you can imagine how they all greeted him! I am only a poor peasant, but never would I lie down in the dust before any man as these old nobles who are so haughty with us, did before the duke.

They kissed his hands, and he allowed them to do it.