It was the grizzly bear, shuffling and swaying, licking bloodstained lips.

The Toureg of the desert, the Malay pirate, the Corsican bandit.

In a word it was "Them!" Alas it was fruitless for the fearless Tartarin to challenge them...

they never appeared; but though it seemed unlikely that they would come to Tarascon, Tartarin was always ready for them, particularly in the evenings when he went to the club..