The Craze of Christina — page 184: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

180 The Craze of Christina. that it takes a long time for the little French horses to clamber up ‘to the town; at any rate, to Clifford the upward drive seemed to be in- terminable. " Nevertheless he comforted himself by reflect- ing that here, at last, he should run his fair fugitive to earth. The very beauty of the ro- mantizally situated town gave him a conviction of this, because nobody, however callous, could possibly arrive at Laon and refuse to linger a while on its fascinating heights. Imagine, then, his» horror and dismay when upon alighting in the dark and old-fashioned courtyard of the Hotel de l’Oiseau he was once more met by a landlord, whose opening words in reply to his now accustomed question were: **Mais, m’sieur, je suis desol6é——”’ “Pas partie! nong! ne dites moi pas quelle est partie!’’ he shouted so furiously and loudly that the timid host stepped back in evident an- ticipation of a bodily attack. “‘Ces Anglais brutals!’’ he murmured, and began gesticulating and bowing and holding out his upturned palms in an endeavor to make his meaning clear. ‘Mais permettez moi—if I am permitied to eggsplain, zur—’’—this landlord also knew a little English, Comichooks.co