They saw the force of this reasoning, and we descended with much gravity till we came in sight of the _Mairie_, still half an hour off, when Rosset cried out that he smelled supper, and rushed off at an infectious pace down the remainder of the mountain-side.
We reached the _Mairie_ at six o'clock, and sat down at once 'to eat something.' The first course was bread and kirsch; and when that was finished, six boiled eggs appeared, and a quart _carafe_ of white wine.
These having vanished, their place was taken by a dish of sodden cabbage, and another quart of wine; but, to save the credit of the maire and the schoolmaster, I will not say how often the former functionary descended to the cellar with a quart pitcher, with increasing impetuosity.

Next came a dish of onions, with a pretence of _mange-tout,_ broiled brown after boiling, and served in a compound fat; and then haricots with a like condiment, and with a flavour reminiscent of the previous course.

There was some talk of a _poulet_; but the bird still lived, and the talk came to nothing.

The dinner ended with the haricots, and we then relapsed into dessert, namely, bread and kirsch.
The mayoress came in with the dessert, and sat on the end of the bench, below the hats and the bread-tin, eating the remaining onions off the dish with the spoon of nature.
During one of the maire's frequent visits to the cellar, I propounded a question to the schoolmaster which had puzzled me for some time: Was I to pay the maire?
M.Rosset said that it was certainly not _necessary_, but I had better propose it, and I should then see how M.
Metral took it.

This I accordingly did, when the adieux in the house had been said, and my host was showing me the way to Thorens, where I was to sleep, he, also, declared that it was not necessary--the pleasure he had experienced in accompanying me had already fully recompensed him: still, if I wished to reimburse him for that which I had actually cost, he was a man reasonable, and in all cases content.
I calculated that the dinner and wine which had fallen to my share would be dear at a franc, and the day's wage of a substitute to do the maire's neglected work could not come to much, so I boldly and unblushingly gave that great man four francs, and he said regretfully that it was more than enough.