THE BATTLE OF FRANCE
It was Bill, madame,9 the airmen chorused, 'it was
Bill. . . and he's going to make it all right/
Bill, in his own French, explained that he was
more than sorry, that he was willing to pay the cost
of the repairs, the broken bottles and the spilled
milk. . « . The milkwoman shook her head.
*The money,' she said, 'is nothing. But who is
there to mend my cart?'
cWell,' said Bill, 'surely there are carpenters in
this village.5
'No, my good monsieur: all the wheelwrights
have been mobilized.'
A neighbour intervened.
'Wait,' she said, 'there is that joiner * . . Laplume.
Surely you know him.'
'No,' said the milkwoman.
'Surely you must. The one with the red hair,
who married the chair-maker.'
*Ah!' said the milkwoman, 'that's not Laplume:
it's Laprune you mean/
And then began a long and impassioned dialogue
between the two women on the subject of Laprune,
his ancestry, his political opinions, his calling, while
the airmen, still waiting, shouted:
'Pay up, Bill. Tout de suitel Let's get started/
Timidly Bill interrupted the saga of the Laprune
family:
'Madame, if you'll tell me how much, I will
pay . . . tout de suite'
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