s, lace, a
gold cross, even to _a hundred pins_ to complete the bride's modest
outfit. The matrons invariably refused; but at last the young men
decided to mention _a handsome husband to offer_, and they replied by
addressing the bride, and singing to her with the men:

"Ouvrez la porte, ouvrez,
Marie, ma mignonne,
C'est un beau man qui vient vous chercher.
Allons, ma mie, laissons-les entrer."[6]

III

THE WEDDING

The hemp-beater at once drew the wooden latch by which the door was
fastened on the inside; at that time, it was still the only lock known
in most of the houses in our village. The bridegroom's party invaded the
bride's dwelling, but not without a combat; for the boys stationed
inside the house, and even the old hemp-beater and the old women, made
it their duty to defend the hearthstone. The bearer of the spit,
supported by his adherents, was bound to succeed in bestowing his bird
in the fire-place. It was a genuine battle, although they abstained from
striking one another, and there was no anger in it. But they pushed and
squeezed one another with such violence, and there was so much
self-esteem at stake in that conflict of muscular strength, that the
results might be more serious than they seemed to be amid the laughter
and the singing. The poor old hemp-beater, who fought like a lion, was
pressed against the wall and squeezed until he lost his breath. More
than one champion was floored and unintentionally trodden under foot,
more than one hand that grasped at the spit was covered with blood.
Those sports are dangerous, and the accidents were so serious in later
years that the peasants determined to allow the ceremony of the
_livrees_ to fall into desuetude. I believe that we saw the last of it
at Francoise Meillant's wedding, and still it was only a mock-battle.

The contest was animated enough at Germain's wedding. It was a point of
honor on one side and the other to attack and to defend La Guillette's
fireside. The huge spit was twisted like a screw in the powerful hands
that struggled for possession of it. A pistol-shot set fire to a small
store of hemp in skeins that lay on a shelf suspended from the ceiling.
That incident created a diversion, and while some hastened to smother
the germ of a conflagration, the grave-digger, who had climbed to the
attic unperceived, came down the chimney and seized the spit, just as
the drover, who was defending it near the hearth, rais