"
The Little Parisian was sobbing.
The Little Parisian was sobbing.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v20 - Phi to Qui
His grandfather's
His grandfather's curse and his
old friend's madness had absorbed him. But this fear, once pre-
sented to his mind, took entire possession of it. Intense curios-
ity was mingled with acute, overpowering terror. He longed
for night that he might begin his search, and counted the trees
meanwhile to distract his thoughts. After each number a loud
voice sounded in his ear, repeating, "Has some one carried off
your gun? "
At nightfall he stole out, took a circuitous route, and when
nearer to the spot laid one ear to the ground to listen,— the
frost had hardened the soil and made it sonorous: there was no
one about. Then he crept into the bushes on his hands and
knees.
When he reached the break in the ground caused by the ditch
he felt among the brushwood. No gun was there! He broke
into a sweat; he went back into the wood to where the stag had
stood. Here was the holly behind which Jean was posted. He
felt the trees, one after the other, to the path. What a pity
that the night was so dark! He had made a miscalculation of
several feet.
The next time he hit upon the place. The frosty leaves
cracked; the earth crumbled; something harder opposed itself to
his touch. It was the gun!
"My blessed old gun! I've got you at last! How they must
have hunted for you! But you were so little hidden that I don't
wonder they didn't find you. "
This speech exactly describes the simple cunning of the peas-
ant mind.
The gun, full of mold and more rusty than when it served as
a pipe, could not have attracted the attention of the most suspi-
cious keeper. Proud and joyful, he carried it away in his arms.
## p. 11931 (#565) ##########################################
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11931
He spent three nights in taking it to pieces, oiling and fur-
bishing it. A fresh hole in the left barrel necessitated a new
patch. When he had set it to rights, the climber became
thoughtful. He was afraid of everything now. If they came
to search his hut? Marcel was too cunning,—the gun must be
hidden. He took up a plank in the cellar, slipped the gun into
its place as if into a case, with all the powder and ball he had
left, hid the opening with a bit of wood covered with dust, cast
a threatening glance in the direction of Le Plantis, and returned
to put away his oil in the kitchen. He had an inward struggle.
Should he go out shooting this very morning? The temptation
was strong. But he reflected that it was better to go to see his
old friend Mother Chauvin.
For some days the crazy woman had not spoken to him. A
sort of shudder passed over her when she saw him, showing that
she had a vague perception of his presence. But the recollec-
tion vanished before it became clear. She looked at him with
astonished curiosity, touched his blouse, smiled as she followed
him with her eyes round the room, because he brought food
with him: this was the only reason. She often spoke of him
just as she spoke of Marcel and the officials, believing him to
be absent. Her incoherent, voluble utterances all related to the
damaged fruit-trees, the prison, and her Chauvin's broken skull.
Now and then she broke out into a fury; Jean was not always
able to master her. Every night and morning he came to look
after her, and brought food. Mélanie came at noon to make the
soup.
When he entered her room this Wednesday morning she was
madder than ever. She was pacing the room on tiptoe, uttering
threatening sounds. In her hand was a burning log, which she
threw upon the bed; it exhaled a sour smell of scorching rags,
and a volume of black smoke rose up.
"Wretched woman! " exclaimed Renaud, rushing to the pal-
"do you want to set he place on fire? "
let,
"Let be, Cinet," she cried, clapping her hands: "the house of
the accursed must burn! >>
Filled with horror, the youth threw the log into the fireplace,
and pulled out the blankets already streaked with red. She
rushed at him and bit his arm.
Jean put out the fire, hid the matches, did his best to make
her sit down, set a basin of milk on her lap, and shut her in.
## p. 11932 (#566) ##########################################
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JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
"She will get
When he was out of the house he listened.
hungry," he thought: "that will quiet her fancies. "
He heard the basin crash upon the ground, and the sounds
of her crutch showed that the widow was again wandering about
the room. Jean was at his wits' end. It was impossible to leave
this poor creature to herself. On the other hand, the sun was
already high in the heavens, and Besnardeau was expecting him
to fell a beech. It was not safe to be unpunctual with Marcel or
Besnardeau.
-
"I have it, I'll go and fetch Mélanie, and come back
soon as my work is done. "
He ran to call her.
as
"Mother Chauvin's head is quite turned this morning: most
likely it's the new moon, but perhaps she is gone quite mad for
good. Could you look after her till midday? "
"Why not? Give me time to feed my chickens, and I'll
climb the hill. "
The girl made haste, put her knitting in her pocket and set
out, the Little Parisian following her. The child got upon a
stone, opened the latch, and passed first through the door.
widow had heard them, for they were talking as they approached.
She was standing just behind the door, resting on her crutch.
The white hairs on her chin stood on end; her eyes were staring
wildly. She was drawing deep breaths at regular intervals, like
a mother hushing an infant.
The moment the Little Parisian entered she seized him by
the arm. The child, pale with fear and pain, gave a piercing
cry.
"Here you are then, my little Marcel," she said in a coaxing
voice. "Your apple-trees must be in blossom by this time? "
She struck the cupboard with her crutch, and continued:
"Well, then, you won't show my mitten to the law officers-
you'll give it back to me. "
The Little Parisian, frightened almost out of his wits, strug-
gled to get away from her horrible grasp. The madwoman
screamed with anger.
"Won't you give it back to me? "
Mélanie got hold of the child's clothes at the back, and tried
to draw him towards her. But the madwoman's claw-like fingers
held him as tightly as if she had been a bird of prey.
The boy uttered despairing cries: "My 'Lanie! my 'Lanie! "
## p. 11933 (#567) ##########################################
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The strong girl darted forward, and stood suddenly in front
of her adopted child. She threw her arms round the old woman,
and cried, "Let him alone, or it'll be the worse for you! "
On seeing Mélanie's face so close to her own, the lunatic
forgot the child. She was so surprised that no recollection was
awakened. "I don't know you at all! Why won't you let Marcel
give me back my mitten?
You ought
"Mother Chauvin, listen to me. I am Mélanie.
to go to bed. "
But the old woman shook with rage.
You're a witch,
"Ah, I know: it's you as had me locked up.
and you've bewitched me! Chauvin, my love, make haste, the
nightingale is singing at our wedding. We will dance with the
keeper. "
She paced the room, her arms stretched over her head.
Mélanie was frightened now, and tried to walk backward to the
door, hiding the Little Parisian with her skirts.
As soon as they got out they set off running.
vin caught sight of them and pursued them, shouting:-
"The witch is carrying off Marcel! Beware of the summons! "
«< Come, come, Jacques! " Mélanie repeated, dragging along her
little companion.
But he is overwhelmed by terror; his legs give way. He
tries his utmost, but cannot stir, as if in a bad dream.
Mother Chauvin catches up to them at the end of the yard,
with a triumphant yell. Mélanie again places herself before the
child.
Mother Chau-
"Don't touch my boy, Mother Chauvin! "
"Wicked girl! it's you that drew away the rope from the
falling tree, long ago, to make my husband fall! I have found
you at last.
I insist on your giving me back my mitten. "
"O God! " cried Mélanie: "what will become of us? "
The old woman had lost all trace of humanity. She held her
crutch with her two hands,- the crutch was pointed, made out
of a thorn hardened in the fire,- and waved it to and fro.
"Will you give it me back? "
She burst into hysterical laughter; and while Mélanie, mov-
ing backward, was looking on all sides for help, Mother Chauvin
struck her a violent blow on the chest. She gave a deep sigh
and fell like a shot.
## p. 11934 (#568) ##########################################
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JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
The madwoman, forgetting the Little Parisian, sat down on
the heath, singing:-
--
"My sweetest friend has begged of me
My breast-knot ribbon white and fair. "
Jean Renaud was kept by Besnardeau at the top of his
tree till after three o'clock. He had left his old friend in a
state which caused him great anxiety. He hastily unbuckled his
cramp-hooks and carried his things into a shelter, as snow was
beginning to fall. Some workmen from another felling-place were
warming themselves on their wa
"Yonder's a dreadful business," said one. "She almost
crushed her with the blow. "
"Though she's old, her arms are strong; and then your mad
folks are stronger than such as we," added another.
The climber, although he did not know what they were talk-
ing about, shuddered. He was not in the habit of gossiping, but
he could not refrain from questioning them.
"Who are you talking about, pray? "
"Don't you know? Mother Chauvin's gone crazy. "
――
"She has as good as killed Mélanie. The gendarmes have
come, the chief one, along with the new one who is pitted
with small-pox: she's going to be shut up in the asylum, they
say. "
"It's a great pity. The girl was a brave one, and not vicious
at all. Nassiquet the widower was thinking of marrying her. "
Renaud had already set out, hoping that there might be some
mistake. He kept on saying to himself, "No, no: it's impos-
sible. " His head was on fire; he could hear his heart beating.
The snow was falling in heaps and blinding him. Against his
habit he turned into the path. He beheld a sad sight in the
road below. Mother Chauvin was seated in an open cart between
two gendarmes, one of whom held her wrists on either side.
Wrapped in the black cloak, with a hood which is called a capot
and worn by all old peasant women, she was rocking backward
and forward with the movement of the vehicle, her mouth con-
tracted by a hideous grimace. A villager in heavy nailed boots
led the pony by the bridle.
Renaud gave a piercing cry on seeing the old friend who
had loved him when first he became an orphan. Oh, the way in
## p. 11935 (#569) ##########################################
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11935
which she looked back at the trees was not like a madwoman,
for she seemed to be bidding adieu to the forest; and the cabin
up there would soon be smothered in briers, never again to be
the home of the poor, good old woman.
I am
"Stop, stop! " he exclaimed: "I want to speak to her.
sure she'll know my voice. I want to ask her to forgive me,
for her misfortunes are partly my fault. Mother Chauvin, my
Mother Chauvin! "
She looked at him with a glassy eye, and without moving a
muscle, she said in a solemn voice:-
-
"It seems that the people are bewitched here! "
Her head fell heavily on her breast; prostration was setting in.
"Go on," cried the gendarme.
The driver pushed Renaud aside with his whip, and the cart
went on softly through the snow.
The climber let himself fall on the bank. Within him all
was dark-all was over. No one in his own home - no grand-
father-no Mother Chauvin. He was alone in the world; no
one would smile on him or call him by his name again. Work
as hard as he would, there was no one to give his earnings to.
In the long evenings he would have no one moving on the
other side of the fire. The owls are happier than he would be,
for they have their nests; and when one hoots in the dark there
is another to answer him. No doubt he still had his dear forest
and its soft breezes, the sweet honeysuckles and green pine-trees;
but a forester who goes home and finds no human creature is
forlorn and pitiable.
Renaud, in despair, thought of his lost friends, and longed to
die. It was getting late.
"To-morrow," he said, "I will let go the rope, like Father
Chauvin. "
At this moment he heard the faint sound of a bell at regular
intervals. A boy in a surplice was ringing it, preceding an old
priest who was hurrying along the path, dressed in full canon-
icals, and carrying, with both hands pressed against his chest,
the holy sacrament, the cup covered by a square fringed cloth.
They wended silently along the lonely path, their forms looking
shadowy as seen through the soft-falling snow, on which no foot-
step was heard.
Now and then they stumbled over a hidden
stone; but the priest continued on his way, squaring his elbows
to protect his charge.
## p. 11936 (#570) ##########################################
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JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
The acolyte entered the forest. Renaud removed his cap.
"Where are you taking the sacrament? "
The boy rang his bell, and whispered: -
"To Mélanie. "
"Ah," sighed the poacher, "I sent her to her death. Poor
girl! I must at least bid her good-by. "
He followed the priest who was bearing the last consolation
to the dying woman through the dark night.
Numbers of people had found their way into the yard. This
always happens in the forest. At the slightest disturbance, and
on the most deserted spot, a crowd collects. Whence they come
and how the rumor reaches them, it is impossible to say. No
doubt the sonorous echoes in the forest and the sagacity of its
inhabitants are the real causes. They were watching the priest
vanishing through the snow, and talking together.
"Here's a funeral won't be worth much to the parson. "
"She had a brother who's at work somewhere.
her heir? "
-
Will he be
“Ah, she was like me: she had only her bits of furniture, not
worth paying duty on. "
In the cottage the mother, with the ghastly eagerness of her
class, had taken possession of the body to lay it out.
"It's a great loss," said the father with a sigh. "Poor girl!
"
The Little Parisian was sobbing.
"Will that boy ever let us have any peace? " said the father.
After a pause he continued:-
"We must decide at once what to do with the bastard. "
"I shall soon have done here. Do you mean to feed him? "
The forester gave them a look of extreme astonishment.
"Feed him? one must be able to. One poor girl brought
him up with her own money: that was her affair. But I am
growing old; my work is too much for me already. It's too
much to be expected to bring up other folks' brats. "
The mother replied in a low but bitter tone:
"Well, then, it's best to decide at once. When you go to
register the death, take this brat to the maire. He'll make his
usher write to Paris. "
"Is it possible that you mean to forsake your girl's adopted
child? " protested Renaud.
"What right have you to meddle? " said the man; and the
old woman grumbled between her teeth, "Prison leavings! "
――――――――――――
## p. 11937 (#571) ##########################################
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11937
The climber drew the Little Parisian out of the cabin.
For a
minute Jean walked on without speaking. The Little Parisian
sank down, stupefied, on a stone. Night had come; there was
nothing to be seen but the snow, covering the ground like a
shroud; a leaden sky overhead. Renaud meditated. This poor
little shivering creature was alone in the world like himself,-
a bastard without shelter, together with a despised poacher!
Mélanie had loved him; now he was to be turned out of the
forest—to be taken before a lot of clerks with their pens behind
their ears. He was
was so pretty-a darling-like Jean's little.
brother! Would he even have anything to eat next day? Poor,
sad, deserted child! you have the same fate as Renaud; the
deserted Renaud is your only friend.
"Isn't your name Jacques? " he asked at length.
"Yes, Jean, but they always call me the Little Parisian. "
"Well then, Jacques, as they have sent you away from here,
will you come to me in my home? "
The child opened great, wondering eyes.
"What for? "
"To be my brother. I will do my best for you. We'll talk
about your 'Lanie. I'll make you a good fire. And in summer
we'll go ever so far into the woods to gather raspberries. "
"That I will," the boy replied; "but if my 'Lanie wakes up
again I'll come back. "
Jean made only one bound to the door. "Good people, don't
bother about the Little Parisian,- I'm taking him off with me. "
He carried him away in his arms; the falling snow lulled the
child to sleep.
XX-747
## p. 11938 (#572) ##########################################
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From The Woodman': Copyright 1892, by Harper & Brothers
[The poacher Renaud takes pity on the delicate, friendless orphan lad
before mentioned, and cares for him as far as his scanty forest resources
and wild life permit. ]
BROTHERLY LOVE
Every morning and even-
ing, instead of eating with the methodical deliberation char-
acteristic of the peasant, he hastened his meal to have time
to clean up his home. He swept away the dust, rubbed up the
metals, and put everything in order. He turned himself into a
woman to make his little charge comfortable.
When he reached the felling-place, with what a good heart
he set to work! At the end of the week he was as keen as a
miser after his pay. On Saturday evenings he came home by
the town, in order to bring some fresh bread for the child, and
almost always a beautiful sweetmeat tied on to a card, or even
a red horse in barley-sugar. And how merrily he rubbed his
hands when he opened the door! The urchin walked round him
in delight, asking anxiously:-
"Have you got anything for little Jacques? "
"To be sure. Look in. "
TH
HIS adoption transformed our hero.
―
―
The Little Parisian felt in Jean's pockets and wallet, and at
length found the expected dainty, laughing and skipping round
his big friend.
On fine days they went together to the felling-place. The
little fellow carried the gourd with the comical solemnity peculiar
to children when they think they are of use. Renaud carried
his tools, and learned to think aloud to amuse his boy. He tried
to limp less; for every species of love has its coquettish desire to
please. But Jacques was no longer aware of his friend's infirm
ity, thanks to habit, which had gradually turned what was at
first a subject of astonishment into a matter of course. He
would have been more likely to ask the other foresters why they
did not limp like Jean.
They ate their dinner in a wooden shelter, with their feet on
the grass; and while the climber was felling his tree the Little
Parisian roamed about, stirring the ants' nests with a thin stick
to see what would happen. On Sundays, when they left the
## p. 11939 (#573) ##########################################
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11939
cemetery, they went into the forest. Jean taught the child how
to make a way for himself through the thicket with his arm.
The little fellow learned with astonishing facility to share the
tastes and habits of his guide. He loved the forest; its sounds,
far from frightening him, were sweet in his ears as the voice of
a friend. When spring came, it was wonderful to see his interest
in every new flower.
"You too like the covert? " the poacher asked, with some
emotion.
"Oh yes: it's so amusing to run about in it,-one finds all
sorts of things. I used to come sometimes with my 'Lanie, but
not as far as this. "
"But, dear Jean, as you
hurt them with your axe ?
at them. "
"The farther one goes, the more beautiful it seems. "
are so fond of the trees, why do you
You look quite angry when you hit
"Oh no, I'm not angry. I've known those old fellows ever
since I was born; and I love them, too; and when the wind
whispers among them I can almost make out what the leaves are
saying. But when I've got to strip one, and I see him standing
up before me with his branches stretched out, he seems to say
that I am too weakly. Then I get excited, and there's a singing
in my ears. Sometimes when I reach the top, the tree shakes
with passion, like a horse shaking off a fly. Then I strike so
hard that my heart beats; the branch hits my head in falling,
and I strike still harder; I don't know what I'm doing.
But as
soon as the top is down I'm sorry: the foot trembles so oddly
one would think it was alive. "
Jacques began to laugh: he was puzzled by a new idea.
"Don't laugh," said Jean: "be sure there's some life in their
hearts. Look at my blouse: don't the spots the bark makes look
like blood? and when we put a green log on the fire, doesn't it
sob? "
<< Well, then, we mustn't cut down any more trees. "
"Nay, it's a kindness to cut them down when they are stag-
headed, they would rot. And there are the young ones stifled
underneath that want to get up. Every one must have his turn. "
As they proceed, the child questions Renaud on all the life
around them. The poacher knows his forest by heart; he can
tell its stories, from the largest beech to the smallest insect.
"What is it one hears in the hole in that tree? "
―――――
## p. 11940 (#574) ##########################################
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JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
"It's a swarm of bees. We'll smoke them out to-morrow, and
you shall have the honey. "
"And that bird with an acorn in its beak? "
"That's a jay. He's collecting his provisions for the winter;
but as he's silly, he'll forget where he puts them, and will starve
with the rest. "
"Have some creatures more sense than others? »
"Yes: it's just like us, there are rascals and fools. Any one
who notices their ways knows they understand. "
"But they can't talk like us? »
"You may be sure that they make each other understand in
their own way. "
"And perhaps they're not so bad as us, for they don't want
gendarmes. "
This last word reminded the child of the poacher's capture:
'Lanie's father had so often talked about it before him. He
longed to question his friend, hesitated at last said:-
"Tell me, Jean, is it true? "
―
"What? "
"Is it true that you had a sweetheart at Vibraye? »
The climber turned as red as a cherry.
<< Stuff and nonsense! I've never set foot in the place. "
"I believe you- but I've heard it said - But tell me, what's
the meaning of a sweetheart ? »
"I've never had one; but from what they say, it's a sort
of lass that one dances with at the assemblies, and takes home
through the lanes, and kisses in the dusk. "
"Did you ever meet any in the forest? "
"No, never, because I get out of their way. Girls make too
much noise with their chatter, and they make me feel quite silly
when they fix their eyes on me. And then it's a waste of time,
for what's the good of kissing the hussies? »
"But you had other company in the forest, Renaud. I'm told
you went there with -»
"Little goose! with whom? "
"With a gun. ”
Jean hung his head without answering.
"Is it true? Oh, how I should have liked to see it. You
haven't got it any longer? "
The poacher stammered out:-
"Don't ever talk about that.
___
I have no gun. ”
## p. 11941 (#575) ##########################################
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11941
"What a pity. I should have so liked to hear you make it
say 'Bang! We would have gone out together, and you would
have shot some nice little creatures for me. "
Jean Renaud trembled all over. He had left off poaching,
in order to devote himself to the child. He feared danger now
that he had become a father, and the spiders spun their webs
undisturbed over the plank which concealed his gun. He had
given up thinking about it. The child's caresses had lulled the
passion to sleep, and here was the boy awakening it! That gun
is at home-actually under his hands. Oh, if he might take
the good weapon out of its hiding-place, and aim at a bound-
ing fawn, and smell powder once more! It all comes back to his
memory; the fierce passion lights up again;-but no, the orphan
has need of him; he must not be imprisoned now. He turns
pale with the effort, but he masters himself.
"Let's be off," he says sadly.
"Those are all lies,- the gun
was broken long ago. "
The Little Parisian asked every Sunday to be taken farther
into the forest; but he was too weak for so much fatigue.
Renaud made for him a sort of wheelbarrow with long arms,
like those the milkmaids use to carry their milk. He lined it
thickly with grass, and insisted on his dear Jacques sitting in it
when they went a long way. He wheeled it all along the paths,
carefully avoiding the stones and ruts so as not to shake the
child.
"You will see quite as well," he said, "and you won't get
tired. "
Sometimes the little fellow, overcome by so much fresh air,
would fall asleep in the midst of the woods. Renaud, his per-
ception sharpened by love, would stop on some pretext or other;
for it never does to tell a child he is sleepy. It was Jean, the
indefatigable Jean, who complained of fatigue. He stretched
himself, and said he wanted to go home.
"Oh, I'm not a bit tired," said Jacques, pouting. And his
little eyes closed in spite of his efforts. Jean would rest the
curly head softly on his shoulder, lifting the little sleeper care-
fully, carry him to the barrow, and wheel him slowly home.
It was at this time that the forester learned to sew in order
to mend the orphan's clothes. As soon as the little blouse got
torn in the brushwood, this man, whose tenderness made a
woman of him, might be seen sitting outside his door, gravely
1
I
## p. 11942 (#576) ##########################################
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JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
and patiently using his needle with his awkward fingers. The
white thread made strange figures on the mended hole.
He was
so busily engaged that he hardly gave himself time to breathe,
he tried so hard to make his darn strong and neat. Often on
a Sunday morning he was heard washing a child's shirt in the
river, beating it with a wooden beetle.
The two companions lived in this way for about ten months.
September had already reddened the first leaves of the maple.
They met Mélanie's father at the stone quarry. His manner was
never very pleasant; this time he only answered curtly:-
"Good-day. "
"Are you going for a walk? "
"Nay, I'm looking for my new spade that I've lost. "
"Shall we lend a hand? "
"I don't care much for your company. "
"And the child, won't you speak to him? "
"What should I say? I don't admire the way you're bringing
him up. "
"Really, do you want him to go into the saw-pit at his age? '
"No-nonsense. I should like him to go to church. He's
But as your grand-
been trusted to you, and you misuse him.
father said before me, you're more like a wolf than a man.
Renaud had never thought on the subject. The voices of the
forest, and another voice within himself, had whispered to him
that there was something greater than the woods and the wood-
cutters-up there where the stars were shining. But his faith,
too abstract not to be vague, was not in any way connected with
the Christian ceremonies, which he did not understand. His aspi-
rations were religious, but ignorantly unbelieving when he tried
to reason.
« as
"I think I should be bored in heaven," he used to say,
they have nothing to do but sit still and sing psalms. I'd rather
roam about in the woods. "
"'Lanie would have taken the boy to church," resumed the
old man, "and when he was old enough, to confirmation. You
are no better than an arquelier. "
An arquelier means a mischievous vagabond. It is evidently
a contemptuous diminutive of the word arquebusier, and has
remained in use among our country-folk ever since the Middle
Ages, when the peasantry suffered from the depredations of the
hired soldiery.
## p. 11943 (#577) ##########################################
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11943
"I don't hold much to such devout folks," retorted Renaud.
"Isn't every one free to do what he thinks right? But wherever
Mélanie would have taken the boy I'll take him. "
From that day he took the Little Parisian every Sunday to
mass. The two were to be seen standing, silent and motionless,
at the entrance near the font. When the priest went up into
the pulpit to preach, Jean coughed and spit in imitation of other
people; the rest of the time he was perfectly quiet. When the
blessed bread was distributed, he put his piece carefully into his
cap, to give it to the little one when they left the church.
His grandfather's curse and his
old friend's madness had absorbed him. But this fear, once pre-
sented to his mind, took entire possession of it. Intense curios-
ity was mingled with acute, overpowering terror. He longed
for night that he might begin his search, and counted the trees
meanwhile to distract his thoughts. After each number a loud
voice sounded in his ear, repeating, "Has some one carried off
your gun? "
At nightfall he stole out, took a circuitous route, and when
nearer to the spot laid one ear to the ground to listen,— the
frost had hardened the soil and made it sonorous: there was no
one about. Then he crept into the bushes on his hands and
knees.
When he reached the break in the ground caused by the ditch
he felt among the brushwood. No gun was there! He broke
into a sweat; he went back into the wood to where the stag had
stood. Here was the holly behind which Jean was posted. He
felt the trees, one after the other, to the path. What a pity
that the night was so dark! He had made a miscalculation of
several feet.
The next time he hit upon the place. The frosty leaves
cracked; the earth crumbled; something harder opposed itself to
his touch. It was the gun!
"My blessed old gun! I've got you at last! How they must
have hunted for you! But you were so little hidden that I don't
wonder they didn't find you. "
This speech exactly describes the simple cunning of the peas-
ant mind.
The gun, full of mold and more rusty than when it served as
a pipe, could not have attracted the attention of the most suspi-
cious keeper. Proud and joyful, he carried it away in his arms.
## p. 11931 (#565) ##########################################
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11931
He spent three nights in taking it to pieces, oiling and fur-
bishing it. A fresh hole in the left barrel necessitated a new
patch. When he had set it to rights, the climber became
thoughtful. He was afraid of everything now. If they came
to search his hut? Marcel was too cunning,—the gun must be
hidden. He took up a plank in the cellar, slipped the gun into
its place as if into a case, with all the powder and ball he had
left, hid the opening with a bit of wood covered with dust, cast
a threatening glance in the direction of Le Plantis, and returned
to put away his oil in the kitchen. He had an inward struggle.
Should he go out shooting this very morning? The temptation
was strong. But he reflected that it was better to go to see his
old friend Mother Chauvin.
For some days the crazy woman had not spoken to him. A
sort of shudder passed over her when she saw him, showing that
she had a vague perception of his presence. But the recollec-
tion vanished before it became clear. She looked at him with
astonished curiosity, touched his blouse, smiled as she followed
him with her eyes round the room, because he brought food
with him: this was the only reason. She often spoke of him
just as she spoke of Marcel and the officials, believing him to
be absent. Her incoherent, voluble utterances all related to the
damaged fruit-trees, the prison, and her Chauvin's broken skull.
Now and then she broke out into a fury; Jean was not always
able to master her. Every night and morning he came to look
after her, and brought food. Mélanie came at noon to make the
soup.
When he entered her room this Wednesday morning she was
madder than ever. She was pacing the room on tiptoe, uttering
threatening sounds. In her hand was a burning log, which she
threw upon the bed; it exhaled a sour smell of scorching rags,
and a volume of black smoke rose up.
"Wretched woman! " exclaimed Renaud, rushing to the pal-
"do you want to set he place on fire? "
let,
"Let be, Cinet," she cried, clapping her hands: "the house of
the accursed must burn! >>
Filled with horror, the youth threw the log into the fireplace,
and pulled out the blankets already streaked with red. She
rushed at him and bit his arm.
Jean put out the fire, hid the matches, did his best to make
her sit down, set a basin of milk on her lap, and shut her in.
## p. 11932 (#566) ##########################################
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JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
"She will get
When he was out of the house he listened.
hungry," he thought: "that will quiet her fancies. "
He heard the basin crash upon the ground, and the sounds
of her crutch showed that the widow was again wandering about
the room. Jean was at his wits' end. It was impossible to leave
this poor creature to herself. On the other hand, the sun was
already high in the heavens, and Besnardeau was expecting him
to fell a beech. It was not safe to be unpunctual with Marcel or
Besnardeau.
-
"I have it, I'll go and fetch Mélanie, and come back
soon as my work is done. "
He ran to call her.
as
"Mother Chauvin's head is quite turned this morning: most
likely it's the new moon, but perhaps she is gone quite mad for
good. Could you look after her till midday? "
"Why not? Give me time to feed my chickens, and I'll
climb the hill. "
The girl made haste, put her knitting in her pocket and set
out, the Little Parisian following her. The child got upon a
stone, opened the latch, and passed first through the door.
widow had heard them, for they were talking as they approached.
She was standing just behind the door, resting on her crutch.
The white hairs on her chin stood on end; her eyes were staring
wildly. She was drawing deep breaths at regular intervals, like
a mother hushing an infant.
The moment the Little Parisian entered she seized him by
the arm. The child, pale with fear and pain, gave a piercing
cry.
"Here you are then, my little Marcel," she said in a coaxing
voice. "Your apple-trees must be in blossom by this time? "
She struck the cupboard with her crutch, and continued:
"Well, then, you won't show my mitten to the law officers-
you'll give it back to me. "
The Little Parisian, frightened almost out of his wits, strug-
gled to get away from her horrible grasp. The madwoman
screamed with anger.
"Won't you give it back to me? "
Mélanie got hold of the child's clothes at the back, and tried
to draw him towards her. But the madwoman's claw-like fingers
held him as tightly as if she had been a bird of prey.
The boy uttered despairing cries: "My 'Lanie! my 'Lanie! "
## p. 11933 (#567) ##########################################
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11933
The strong girl darted forward, and stood suddenly in front
of her adopted child. She threw her arms round the old woman,
and cried, "Let him alone, or it'll be the worse for you! "
On seeing Mélanie's face so close to her own, the lunatic
forgot the child. She was so surprised that no recollection was
awakened. "I don't know you at all! Why won't you let Marcel
give me back my mitten?
You ought
"Mother Chauvin, listen to me. I am Mélanie.
to go to bed. "
But the old woman shook with rage.
You're a witch,
"Ah, I know: it's you as had me locked up.
and you've bewitched me! Chauvin, my love, make haste, the
nightingale is singing at our wedding. We will dance with the
keeper. "
She paced the room, her arms stretched over her head.
Mélanie was frightened now, and tried to walk backward to the
door, hiding the Little Parisian with her skirts.
As soon as they got out they set off running.
vin caught sight of them and pursued them, shouting:-
"The witch is carrying off Marcel! Beware of the summons! "
«< Come, come, Jacques! " Mélanie repeated, dragging along her
little companion.
But he is overwhelmed by terror; his legs give way. He
tries his utmost, but cannot stir, as if in a bad dream.
Mother Chauvin catches up to them at the end of the yard,
with a triumphant yell. Mélanie again places herself before the
child.
Mother Chau-
"Don't touch my boy, Mother Chauvin! "
"Wicked girl! it's you that drew away the rope from the
falling tree, long ago, to make my husband fall! I have found
you at last.
I insist on your giving me back my mitten. "
"O God! " cried Mélanie: "what will become of us? "
The old woman had lost all trace of humanity. She held her
crutch with her two hands,- the crutch was pointed, made out
of a thorn hardened in the fire,- and waved it to and fro.
"Will you give it me back? "
She burst into hysterical laughter; and while Mélanie, mov-
ing backward, was looking on all sides for help, Mother Chauvin
struck her a violent blow on the chest. She gave a deep sigh
and fell like a shot.
## p. 11934 (#568) ##########################################
11934
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
The madwoman, forgetting the Little Parisian, sat down on
the heath, singing:-
--
"My sweetest friend has begged of me
My breast-knot ribbon white and fair. "
Jean Renaud was kept by Besnardeau at the top of his
tree till after three o'clock. He had left his old friend in a
state which caused him great anxiety. He hastily unbuckled his
cramp-hooks and carried his things into a shelter, as snow was
beginning to fall. Some workmen from another felling-place were
warming themselves on their wa
"Yonder's a dreadful business," said one. "She almost
crushed her with the blow. "
"Though she's old, her arms are strong; and then your mad
folks are stronger than such as we," added another.
The climber, although he did not know what they were talk-
ing about, shuddered. He was not in the habit of gossiping, but
he could not refrain from questioning them.
"Who are you talking about, pray? "
"Don't you know? Mother Chauvin's gone crazy. "
――
"She has as good as killed Mélanie. The gendarmes have
come, the chief one, along with the new one who is pitted
with small-pox: she's going to be shut up in the asylum, they
say. "
"It's a great pity. The girl was a brave one, and not vicious
at all. Nassiquet the widower was thinking of marrying her. "
Renaud had already set out, hoping that there might be some
mistake. He kept on saying to himself, "No, no: it's impos-
sible. " His head was on fire; he could hear his heart beating.
The snow was falling in heaps and blinding him. Against his
habit he turned into the path. He beheld a sad sight in the
road below. Mother Chauvin was seated in an open cart between
two gendarmes, one of whom held her wrists on either side.
Wrapped in the black cloak, with a hood which is called a capot
and worn by all old peasant women, she was rocking backward
and forward with the movement of the vehicle, her mouth con-
tracted by a hideous grimace. A villager in heavy nailed boots
led the pony by the bridle.
Renaud gave a piercing cry on seeing the old friend who
had loved him when first he became an orphan. Oh, the way in
## p. 11935 (#569) ##########################################
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
11935
which she looked back at the trees was not like a madwoman,
for she seemed to be bidding adieu to the forest; and the cabin
up there would soon be smothered in briers, never again to be
the home of the poor, good old woman.
I am
"Stop, stop! " he exclaimed: "I want to speak to her.
sure she'll know my voice. I want to ask her to forgive me,
for her misfortunes are partly my fault. Mother Chauvin, my
Mother Chauvin! "
She looked at him with a glassy eye, and without moving a
muscle, she said in a solemn voice:-
-
"It seems that the people are bewitched here! "
Her head fell heavily on her breast; prostration was setting in.
"Go on," cried the gendarme.
The driver pushed Renaud aside with his whip, and the cart
went on softly through the snow.
The climber let himself fall on the bank. Within him all
was dark-all was over. No one in his own home - no grand-
father-no Mother Chauvin. He was alone in the world; no
one would smile on him or call him by his name again. Work
as hard as he would, there was no one to give his earnings to.
In the long evenings he would have no one moving on the
other side of the fire. The owls are happier than he would be,
for they have their nests; and when one hoots in the dark there
is another to answer him. No doubt he still had his dear forest
and its soft breezes, the sweet honeysuckles and green pine-trees;
but a forester who goes home and finds no human creature is
forlorn and pitiable.
Renaud, in despair, thought of his lost friends, and longed to
die. It was getting late.
"To-morrow," he said, "I will let go the rope, like Father
Chauvin. "
At this moment he heard the faint sound of a bell at regular
intervals. A boy in a surplice was ringing it, preceding an old
priest who was hurrying along the path, dressed in full canon-
icals, and carrying, with both hands pressed against his chest,
the holy sacrament, the cup covered by a square fringed cloth.
They wended silently along the lonely path, their forms looking
shadowy as seen through the soft-falling snow, on which no foot-
step was heard.
Now and then they stumbled over a hidden
stone; but the priest continued on his way, squaring his elbows
to protect his charge.
## p. 11936 (#570) ##########################################
11936
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
The acolyte entered the forest. Renaud removed his cap.
"Where are you taking the sacrament? "
The boy rang his bell, and whispered: -
"To Mélanie. "
"Ah," sighed the poacher, "I sent her to her death. Poor
girl! I must at least bid her good-by. "
He followed the priest who was bearing the last consolation
to the dying woman through the dark night.
Numbers of people had found their way into the yard. This
always happens in the forest. At the slightest disturbance, and
on the most deserted spot, a crowd collects. Whence they come
and how the rumor reaches them, it is impossible to say. No
doubt the sonorous echoes in the forest and the sagacity of its
inhabitants are the real causes. They were watching the priest
vanishing through the snow, and talking together.
"Here's a funeral won't be worth much to the parson. "
"She had a brother who's at work somewhere.
her heir? "
-
Will he be
“Ah, she was like me: she had only her bits of furniture, not
worth paying duty on. "
In the cottage the mother, with the ghastly eagerness of her
class, had taken possession of the body to lay it out.
"It's a great loss," said the father with a sigh. "Poor girl!
"
The Little Parisian was sobbing.
"Will that boy ever let us have any peace? " said the father.
After a pause he continued:-
"We must decide at once what to do with the bastard. "
"I shall soon have done here. Do you mean to feed him? "
The forester gave them a look of extreme astonishment.
"Feed him? one must be able to. One poor girl brought
him up with her own money: that was her affair. But I am
growing old; my work is too much for me already. It's too
much to be expected to bring up other folks' brats. "
The mother replied in a low but bitter tone:
"Well, then, it's best to decide at once. When you go to
register the death, take this brat to the maire. He'll make his
usher write to Paris. "
"Is it possible that you mean to forsake your girl's adopted
child? " protested Renaud.
"What right have you to meddle? " said the man; and the
old woman grumbled between her teeth, "Prison leavings! "
――――――――――――
## p. 11937 (#571) ##########################################
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
11937
The climber drew the Little Parisian out of the cabin.
For a
minute Jean walked on without speaking. The Little Parisian
sank down, stupefied, on a stone. Night had come; there was
nothing to be seen but the snow, covering the ground like a
shroud; a leaden sky overhead. Renaud meditated. This poor
little shivering creature was alone in the world like himself,-
a bastard without shelter, together with a despised poacher!
Mélanie had loved him; now he was to be turned out of the
forest—to be taken before a lot of clerks with their pens behind
their ears. He was
was so pretty-a darling-like Jean's little.
brother! Would he even have anything to eat next day? Poor,
sad, deserted child! you have the same fate as Renaud; the
deserted Renaud is your only friend.
"Isn't your name Jacques? " he asked at length.
"Yes, Jean, but they always call me the Little Parisian. "
"Well then, Jacques, as they have sent you away from here,
will you come to me in my home? "
The child opened great, wondering eyes.
"What for? "
"To be my brother. I will do my best for you. We'll talk
about your 'Lanie. I'll make you a good fire. And in summer
we'll go ever so far into the woods to gather raspberries. "
"That I will," the boy replied; "but if my 'Lanie wakes up
again I'll come back. "
Jean made only one bound to the door. "Good people, don't
bother about the Little Parisian,- I'm taking him off with me. "
He carried him away in his arms; the falling snow lulled the
child to sleep.
XX-747
## p. 11938 (#572) ##########################################
11938
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
From The Woodman': Copyright 1892, by Harper & Brothers
[The poacher Renaud takes pity on the delicate, friendless orphan lad
before mentioned, and cares for him as far as his scanty forest resources
and wild life permit. ]
BROTHERLY LOVE
Every morning and even-
ing, instead of eating with the methodical deliberation char-
acteristic of the peasant, he hastened his meal to have time
to clean up his home. He swept away the dust, rubbed up the
metals, and put everything in order. He turned himself into a
woman to make his little charge comfortable.
When he reached the felling-place, with what a good heart
he set to work! At the end of the week he was as keen as a
miser after his pay. On Saturday evenings he came home by
the town, in order to bring some fresh bread for the child, and
almost always a beautiful sweetmeat tied on to a card, or even
a red horse in barley-sugar. And how merrily he rubbed his
hands when he opened the door! The urchin walked round him
in delight, asking anxiously:-
"Have you got anything for little Jacques? "
"To be sure. Look in. "
TH
HIS adoption transformed our hero.
―
―
The Little Parisian felt in Jean's pockets and wallet, and at
length found the expected dainty, laughing and skipping round
his big friend.
On fine days they went together to the felling-place. The
little fellow carried the gourd with the comical solemnity peculiar
to children when they think they are of use. Renaud carried
his tools, and learned to think aloud to amuse his boy. He tried
to limp less; for every species of love has its coquettish desire to
please. But Jacques was no longer aware of his friend's infirm
ity, thanks to habit, which had gradually turned what was at
first a subject of astonishment into a matter of course. He
would have been more likely to ask the other foresters why they
did not limp like Jean.
They ate their dinner in a wooden shelter, with their feet on
the grass; and while the climber was felling his tree the Little
Parisian roamed about, stirring the ants' nests with a thin stick
to see what would happen. On Sundays, when they left the
## p. 11939 (#573) ##########################################
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
11939
cemetery, they went into the forest. Jean taught the child how
to make a way for himself through the thicket with his arm.
The little fellow learned with astonishing facility to share the
tastes and habits of his guide. He loved the forest; its sounds,
far from frightening him, were sweet in his ears as the voice of
a friend. When spring came, it was wonderful to see his interest
in every new flower.
"You too like the covert? " the poacher asked, with some
emotion.
"Oh yes: it's so amusing to run about in it,-one finds all
sorts of things. I used to come sometimes with my 'Lanie, but
not as far as this. "
"But, dear Jean, as you
hurt them with your axe ?
at them. "
"The farther one goes, the more beautiful it seems. "
are so fond of the trees, why do you
You look quite angry when you hit
"Oh no, I'm not angry. I've known those old fellows ever
since I was born; and I love them, too; and when the wind
whispers among them I can almost make out what the leaves are
saying. But when I've got to strip one, and I see him standing
up before me with his branches stretched out, he seems to say
that I am too weakly. Then I get excited, and there's a singing
in my ears. Sometimes when I reach the top, the tree shakes
with passion, like a horse shaking off a fly. Then I strike so
hard that my heart beats; the branch hits my head in falling,
and I strike still harder; I don't know what I'm doing.
But as
soon as the top is down I'm sorry: the foot trembles so oddly
one would think it was alive. "
Jacques began to laugh: he was puzzled by a new idea.
"Don't laugh," said Jean: "be sure there's some life in their
hearts. Look at my blouse: don't the spots the bark makes look
like blood? and when we put a green log on the fire, doesn't it
sob? "
<< Well, then, we mustn't cut down any more trees. "
"Nay, it's a kindness to cut them down when they are stag-
headed, they would rot. And there are the young ones stifled
underneath that want to get up. Every one must have his turn. "
As they proceed, the child questions Renaud on all the life
around them. The poacher knows his forest by heart; he can
tell its stories, from the largest beech to the smallest insect.
"What is it one hears in the hole in that tree? "
―――――
## p. 11940 (#574) ##########################################
I 1940
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
"It's a swarm of bees. We'll smoke them out to-morrow, and
you shall have the honey. "
"And that bird with an acorn in its beak? "
"That's a jay. He's collecting his provisions for the winter;
but as he's silly, he'll forget where he puts them, and will starve
with the rest. "
"Have some creatures more sense than others? »
"Yes: it's just like us, there are rascals and fools. Any one
who notices their ways knows they understand. "
"But they can't talk like us? »
"You may be sure that they make each other understand in
their own way. "
"And perhaps they're not so bad as us, for they don't want
gendarmes. "
This last word reminded the child of the poacher's capture:
'Lanie's father had so often talked about it before him. He
longed to question his friend, hesitated at last said:-
"Tell me, Jean, is it true? "
―
"What? "
"Is it true that you had a sweetheart at Vibraye? »
The climber turned as red as a cherry.
<< Stuff and nonsense! I've never set foot in the place. "
"I believe you- but I've heard it said - But tell me, what's
the meaning of a sweetheart ? »
"I've never had one; but from what they say, it's a sort
of lass that one dances with at the assemblies, and takes home
through the lanes, and kisses in the dusk. "
"Did you ever meet any in the forest? "
"No, never, because I get out of their way. Girls make too
much noise with their chatter, and they make me feel quite silly
when they fix their eyes on me. And then it's a waste of time,
for what's the good of kissing the hussies? »
"But you had other company in the forest, Renaud. I'm told
you went there with -»
"Little goose! with whom? "
"With a gun. ”
Jean hung his head without answering.
"Is it true? Oh, how I should have liked to see it. You
haven't got it any longer? "
The poacher stammered out:-
"Don't ever talk about that.
___
I have no gun. ”
## p. 11941 (#575) ##########################################
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
11941
"What a pity. I should have so liked to hear you make it
say 'Bang! We would have gone out together, and you would
have shot some nice little creatures for me. "
Jean Renaud trembled all over. He had left off poaching,
in order to devote himself to the child. He feared danger now
that he had become a father, and the spiders spun their webs
undisturbed over the plank which concealed his gun. He had
given up thinking about it. The child's caresses had lulled the
passion to sleep, and here was the boy awakening it! That gun
is at home-actually under his hands. Oh, if he might take
the good weapon out of its hiding-place, and aim at a bound-
ing fawn, and smell powder once more! It all comes back to his
memory; the fierce passion lights up again;-but no, the orphan
has need of him; he must not be imprisoned now. He turns
pale with the effort, but he masters himself.
"Let's be off," he says sadly.
"Those are all lies,- the gun
was broken long ago. "
The Little Parisian asked every Sunday to be taken farther
into the forest; but he was too weak for so much fatigue.
Renaud made for him a sort of wheelbarrow with long arms,
like those the milkmaids use to carry their milk. He lined it
thickly with grass, and insisted on his dear Jacques sitting in it
when they went a long way. He wheeled it all along the paths,
carefully avoiding the stones and ruts so as not to shake the
child.
"You will see quite as well," he said, "and you won't get
tired. "
Sometimes the little fellow, overcome by so much fresh air,
would fall asleep in the midst of the woods. Renaud, his per-
ception sharpened by love, would stop on some pretext or other;
for it never does to tell a child he is sleepy. It was Jean, the
indefatigable Jean, who complained of fatigue. He stretched
himself, and said he wanted to go home.
"Oh, I'm not a bit tired," said Jacques, pouting. And his
little eyes closed in spite of his efforts. Jean would rest the
curly head softly on his shoulder, lifting the little sleeper care-
fully, carry him to the barrow, and wheel him slowly home.
It was at this time that the forester learned to sew in order
to mend the orphan's clothes. As soon as the little blouse got
torn in the brushwood, this man, whose tenderness made a
woman of him, might be seen sitting outside his door, gravely
1
I
## p. 11942 (#576) ##########################################
11942
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
and patiently using his needle with his awkward fingers. The
white thread made strange figures on the mended hole.
He was
so busily engaged that he hardly gave himself time to breathe,
he tried so hard to make his darn strong and neat. Often on
a Sunday morning he was heard washing a child's shirt in the
river, beating it with a wooden beetle.
The two companions lived in this way for about ten months.
September had already reddened the first leaves of the maple.
They met Mélanie's father at the stone quarry. His manner was
never very pleasant; this time he only answered curtly:-
"Good-day. "
"Are you going for a walk? "
"Nay, I'm looking for my new spade that I've lost. "
"Shall we lend a hand? "
"I don't care much for your company. "
"And the child, won't you speak to him? "
"What should I say? I don't admire the way you're bringing
him up. "
"Really, do you want him to go into the saw-pit at his age? '
"No-nonsense. I should like him to go to church. He's
But as your grand-
been trusted to you, and you misuse him.
father said before me, you're more like a wolf than a man.
Renaud had never thought on the subject. The voices of the
forest, and another voice within himself, had whispered to him
that there was something greater than the woods and the wood-
cutters-up there where the stars were shining. But his faith,
too abstract not to be vague, was not in any way connected with
the Christian ceremonies, which he did not understand. His aspi-
rations were religious, but ignorantly unbelieving when he tried
to reason.
« as
"I think I should be bored in heaven," he used to say,
they have nothing to do but sit still and sing psalms. I'd rather
roam about in the woods. "
"'Lanie would have taken the boy to church," resumed the
old man, "and when he was old enough, to confirmation. You
are no better than an arquelier. "
An arquelier means a mischievous vagabond. It is evidently
a contemptuous diminutive of the word arquebusier, and has
remained in use among our country-folk ever since the Middle
Ages, when the peasantry suffered from the depredations of the
hired soldiery.
## p. 11943 (#577) ##########################################
JULES QUESNAY DE BEAUREPAIRE
11943
"I don't hold much to such devout folks," retorted Renaud.
"Isn't every one free to do what he thinks right? But wherever
Mélanie would have taken the boy I'll take him. "
From that day he took the Little Parisian every Sunday to
mass. The two were to be seen standing, silent and motionless,
at the entrance near the font. When the priest went up into
the pulpit to preach, Jean coughed and spit in imitation of other
people; the rest of the time he was perfectly quiet. When the
blessed bread was distributed, he put his piece carefully into his
cap, to give it to the little one when they left the church.
