that instead of passing through it I thought it best to wait till
daybreak, for it would be desperately dark under the trees, and
sometimes there are pretty rough fellows to be met with there; so
I slept in a shed until an hour before daybreak and then started,
and I lost no time in getting through it, I can tell you. What
can you give me now?"

"The usual thing," the man said, shrugging his shoulders. "Bread
and beer and black sausage."

"It might be worse," Hector said as he seated himself. The food
was soon placed before him. He ate a hearty meal.

"I have a long way to go," he said when he had finished, "and as
I am blessed with a good appetite it will not be long before I am
hungry again. I suppose there is no one in the village that sells
bread and sausage, so if you will let me I will buy a whole one
from you and a couple of loaves."

"I will sell them to you willingly enough; but you will come to
another village three miles on."

"I sha'n't be hungry enough by that time," Hector laughed. "Besides,
I like to choose my own place and time and sit down by the wayside
and eat my meal. One need never go very far without coming upon
a stream; and though I like beer better than water, I can put up
with it when there is nothing stronger to be had."

"Nothing but bread and sausage again, Paolo," Hector said as he
joined his comrade a quarter of a mile beyond the village.