FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153  
154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   >>   >|  
Caillette rushed forward. "Mother!" she cried. "Ah! you know her?" said the innkeeper. "She is very strange." "What did she say to you?" "She asked for bread, and ate it without a word. Then, just as she saw you, she asked me where some village was. I never heard the name before." The old woman now came to meet Caillette. "Leigoutte!" she said. "Leigoutte!" "Leigoutte!" repeated Caillette, "that is Fanfar's village." The old woman shook her head, she did not know the name. "I mean Leigoutte is where Jacques came from." "Yes--yes--Jacques. I must save Jacques and the box!" What was going on in the impaired mind of Francoise? Fanfar's sudden appearance had carried her memory back to the last interview she had with Simon, when, our readers will remember, he had given his wife the papers that proved his birth and that of Jacques. And now Francoise had but one idea, to return to Leigoutte. In vain did Caillette urge her to return to Paris, and the girl had promised Fanfar not to leave his mother. She therefore went on toward Germany with her. Fortunately, a wagoner took pity on these two women, and took them up. In this way they reached Leigoutte. Francoise was silent, except a few low words that she muttered under her breath at long intervals. Caillette thought with despair of Fanfar, and his agony at his mother's disappearance. Alas! poor girl, she did not know that the night when she and Francoise entered the inn at Leigoutte, Fanfar, alone in his prison, thought of his mother whom he had scarcely seen, and of the sister whom he had held in his arms. Ah! it was a bitter trial for the strong, faithful heart. Caillette and Pierre Labarre watched Francoise, when finally she arose from her chair, and went toward the door. On the threshold she seemed to hesitate. She thrust back her gray hair, and pressed her hand to her brow. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she turned and went toward the door in the back of the house, Caillette and Pierre following her every step she took. She went out into the garden, and up a winding path to the hill, which she began to climb with panting breath. "Ah! she is going to the little farm of Lasvene which was burned," said Pierre to himself. Then, all the time watching Francoise, he began to question Caillette. What motive had Francoise in these persistent wanderings? Was it merely the whim of a mad woman or had she some fixed design? Francoise
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153  
154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Caillette
 

Francoise

 

Leigoutte

 

Fanfar

 

Jacques

 
Pierre
 
mother
 

breath

 
return
 

thought


village

 

strong

 
bitter
 

faithful

 
watched
 

finally

 
persistent
 
Labarre
 

wanderings

 

disappearance


despair

 

design

 

entered

 

motive

 

sister

 

scarcely

 

prison

 

burned

 

turned

 

Lasvene


winding

 
garden
 

remembered

 

panting

 

hesitate

 
thrust
 

threshold

 
watching
 

suddenly

 
pressed

question
 

promised

 
repeated
 
impaired
 

interview

 

memory

 
carried
 

sudden

 
appearance
 

strange