striped with blue, with great pockets on the outside, and her
linen corsage with shoulder-straps, and her old shoes. She was
spinning away, with her eyes cast down, looking very sober, her great
thin arms naked to the elbow, and her gray hair twisted up in her neck
without any cap. "Poor Aunt Gredel," thought I, "she is thinking of us
no doubt--and she is so obstinate in her vexation. It is sad though,
all the same, to live alone and never see her children." It made me
sad to see her.

At that moment the door opened on the side next the street, and Father
Goulden walked in with Catherine, as happy as possible, exclaiming:

"Ha! Mother Gredel, you do not come to see us any more, therefore I
have brought your children to see you, and have come myself to embrace
you. You will have to get us a good dinner, do you hear? and that
will teach you a lesson." He seemed a little grave with all his joy.

On seeing them, aunt sprang up and embraced Catherine, and then she
fell into Mr. Goulden's arms and hung on his neck:

"Ah! Mr. Goulden, how happy I am to see you. You are a good man; you
are worth a thousand of me."

Seeing that matters had taken a pleasant turn, I ran round to the door
and found them both with their eyes full of tears. Father Goulden said:

"We will talk no more politics!"

"No! but whether one is Jacobin or anything else you will, the
principal thing is to keep in good temper."

She then came and embraced me, and said:

"My poor Joseph! I have been thinking of you from morning till night.
But all is well now and I am satisfied."

She ran into the kitchen and commenced bustling among the kettles to
prepare something to regale us with, while Mr. Goulden placed his cane
in a corner and hung his great hat upon it, and sat down with an air of
contentment near the hearth.

"What fine weather!" he exclaimed, "how green and flourishing
everything is! How happy I should be to live in the fields, to see the
hedges and apple-trees and plum-trees from my windows, covered with
their red and white blossoms!"

He was gay as a lark, and we all should have been except for the
thoughts of the war which were constantly coming into our heads.

"Leave all that, mother," said Catherine, "I will get the dinner to-day
as I used to do; go and sit down quietly with Mr. Goulden."

"But you do not know where anything is, I have disarranged everything,"
said aunt.

"Sit down, I beg you," said Catherine, "I sh