e happiness. He held my hands tighter, and
said in the same breathless voice as before, "I can no longer be your
friend." I thought that somebody had struck me a violent blow on the
head. There was a noise of a saw in my ears. I could see Henri
Deslois trembling, and I heard him say, "How cold I am!" Then I no
longer felt the warmth of his hand on mine. And when I realized that I
was standing all alone in the path, I saw nothing but a great white
shape which was slipping noiselessly across the snow.

[1] On a tant fait sauter la vieille,
Qu'elle est morte en sautillant,
Tireli,
Sautons, sautons, la vieille!

I went slowly down the other side of the hill, walking in the snow,
which squeaked under my feet. About half-way a peasant offered me a
lift in his cart. He was going to town too, and it was not long before
we got to the Orphanage. I rang the bell, and the porteress looked out
at me through the peephole. I recognized her. It was "Ox Eye" still.
We had named her Ox Eye because her eyes were big and round like a
daisy. She opened the gate when she recognized me, and told me to come
in; but before she shut the gate behind me she said, "Sister
Marie-Aimee is not here." I didn't answer, so she said again, "Sister
Marie-Aimee is not here." I heard what she said quite well, but I
didn't pay any attention to it. It was like a dream where the most
extraordinary things happen without seeming to be of any importance at
all. I looked at her great big eyes and said, "I have come back." She
closed the gate behind me and left me standing under the eaves of her
little house in the gateway, while she went to tell the Mother
Superior. She came back, saying that the Mother Superior wanted to
speak to Sister Desiree-des-Anges before she saw me.

A bell rang. Ox Eye got up and told me to go with her. It was snowing
again. It was almost dark in the Mother Superior's room. At first I
saw nothing but the fire, which was whistling and flaming. Then I
heard the Mother Superior's voice. "So you have come back?" she said.
I tried to think steadily, but I was not quite sure whether I had come
back or not. She said, "Sister Marie-Aimee is not here." I thought
that my bad dream was coming on again, and coughed to try and wake
myself. Then I looked at the fire and tried to find out why it
whistled like that. The Mother Superior spoke again. "Are you ill?"
she said. I answered "No."