Non-Fiction > Books > London, 1878 - Inland voyage

Pont-siLv-Sambre, 55
rather a doubtful type of civilisation : like rag
and bone men, the Cigarette imagined. " These
gentlemen are pedlars ? " — Ces messieurs sont des
inarchands ? — asked the landlady. And then,
without waiting for an answer, which I suppose
she thought superfluous in so plain a case,
recommended us to a butcher who lived hard by
the tower and took in travellers to lodge.
Thither went we. But the butcher was flit-
ting, and all his beds were taken down. Or else
he didn't like our look. As a parting shot, we
had *' These gentlemen are pedlars .'' "
It began to grow dark in earnest. We could
no longer distinguish the faces of the people
who passed us by with an inarticulate good
evening. And the householders of Pout seemed
very economical with their oil ; for we saw not
a single window lighted in all that long village.
I believe it is the longest village in the world ;
but I daresay in our predicament every pace