There must have been somewhere at the back of so unnatural a submission, of such a persistency in a purely self-imposed and unnecessary discipline, a sort of romantic smack of mediævalism.... The “sedulous _escholier_” ‹so warmly commended by Saint Louis› was found awake and already absorbed in his search for lore as returning day began to whiten his window.
The net result was a couple of hours of really earnest work before it was time to dispatch the morning bowl of _café au lait_ and the _pain de gruau_ and hasten to the ascent of Mons Martis, where impatient Mr. Gilchrist looked for his scholar’s appearance at eight sharp. It was very special reading—English History—a subject with which the _cours d’histoire_ at the Lycée could only deal in a sketchy manner; but the early-rising _escholier_, greedy of new knowledge, was fortunately helped by the appearance in that year of Green’s “Short History of the English People,” and fell under the charm of the captivating work.
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I have said that it is not on memory’s record that the whilom schoolboy, now in his mediæval student mood, failed to rise at the appointed clock crow. Of a truth he rarely had less than his eight hours good sleep, glad enough as he was to retire to rest at nine—“curfew time.” But it must be admitted that on one occasion or two he succumbed to the weakness of compounding with his studious resolutions. The French equivalent of playing truant is _faire l’école buissonière_—a taking term, redolent of the allurement of hedgerows and free green fields. And it is the memory of one of these _écoles buissonières_—or rather, in this case, _écoles riveraines_—that, through the usual devious paths, brings me back to the forgotten question of _soupe à l’oignon_.
It must have been a very early day in May, for at a quarter before five, when the imperative rattle was sprung, sun-rays were just beginning to dart between the curtains. The birds in the Champs Elysées kept up their concert through the morning silence of the gardens with more persistent enthusiasm than usual. And on looking out of window, under such a pure sky, the out-of-door world looked quite extraordinarily inviting. It would have been folly to decline such an invitation!