woman's, would have been sufficient to betray him. It was evident that
the man was above his costume; a rare thing! The lion's ears pierced the
ass's skin this time.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon; the sky, which had been overcast
all the morning, had assumed, within a few moments, a more sombre aspect;
large clouds were rapidly moving from south to north, rolled one over
another by an ominous wind. So the traveller, who had just entered the
wildest part of the valley, seemed very little disposed to admire its
fine vegetation and romantic sites. Impatient to reach the end of his
journey, or fearing the approaching storm, he quickened his steps; but
this pace was not kept long. At the end of a few moments, having crossed
a small clearing, he found himself at the entrance of a lawn where the
road divided in two directions, one continuing to skirt the river banks,
the other, broader and better built, turning to the left into a winding
ravine.

Which of these two roads should he follow? He did not know. The profound
solitude of the place made him fear that he might not meet any one who
could direct him, when the sound of a psalm vigorously chanted reached
his ears from the distance. Soon it became more distinct, and he
recognized the words, 'In exitu Israel de Egypto', sung at the top of the
lungs by a voice so shrill that it would have irritated the larynx of any
of the sopranos at the Opera. Its vibrating but sharp tones resounded so
clearly in the dead silence of the forest that a number of stanzas were
finished before the pious musician came in sight. At last a drove of
cattle appeared through the trees which bordered the road on the left,
walking with a slow, grave step; they were driven by a little shepherd
about nine or ten years of age, who interrupted his song from time to
time to reassemble the members of his flock with heavy blows from his
whip, thus uniting temporal cares with those of a spiritual nature with a
coolness which the most important personages might have envied him.

"Which of these roads leads to Bergenheim?" called out the traveller when
they were near enough to speak to each other.

"Bergenheim!" repeated the child, taking off his cotton cap, which was
striped like a rainbow, and adding a few words in an unintelligible
Gallo-Germanic patois.

"You are not French, then?" asked the stranger, in a disappointed tone.

The shepherd raised his head proudly and replied:

"I am Alsatian, no