and out under the trees, waiting
for the dinner, which was to be furnished mainly by the guests, the
contribution of the charcoal-men being limited to a huge pot of potatoes
which the patroness was cooking over the fire, kindled in front of the
hut.

The arrival of Julien and Claudet, attended by the small cowboy, puffing
and blowing under a load of provisions, was hailed with exclamations
of gladness and welcome. While one of the assistants was carefully
unrolling the big loaves of white bread, the enormous meat pastry, and
the bottles encased in straw, Reine Vincart appeared suddenly on the
scene, accompanied by one of the farm-hands, who was also tottering
under the weight of a huge basket, from the corners of which peeped the
ends of bottles, and the brown knuckle of a smoked ham. At sight of the
young proprietress of La Thuiliere, the hurrahs burst forth again, with
redoubled and more sustained energy. As she stood there smiling, under
the greenish shadow cast by the ashtrees, Reine appeared to Julien
even more seductive than among the frosty surroundings of the previous
occasion. Her simple and rustic spring costume was marvellously
becoming: a short blue-and-yellow striped skirt, a tight jacket of
light-colored material, fitted closely to the waist, a flat linen collar
tied with a narrow blue ribbon, and a bouquet of woodruff at her bosom.
She wore stout leather boots, and a large straw hat, which she threw
carelessly down on entering the hut. Among so many faces of a different
type, all somewhat disfigured by hardships of exposure, this lovely face
with its olive complexion, lustrous black eyes, and smiling red lips,
framed in dark, soft, wavy hair resting on her plump shoulders, seemed
to spread a sunshiny glow over the scene. It was a veritable portrayal
of the "queen of the woods," appearing triumphant among her rustic
subjects. As an emblem of her royal prerogative, she held in her hand an
enormous bouquet of flowers she had gathered on her way: honeysuckles,
columbine, all sorts of grasses with shivering spikelets, black alder
blossoms with their white centres, and a profusion of scarlet poppies.
Each of these exhaled its own salubrious springlike perfume, and a light
cloud of pollen, which covered the eyelashes and hair of the young girl
with a delicate white powder.

"Here, Pere Theotime," said she, handing her collection over to the
master charcoal-dealer, "I gathered these for you to ornament the roof