t and fertile plain. Was it possible to be obedient, to refrain from
the desire to spread one's wings? The scent of the meadows mounted to
the heads of the steadiest among them, and intoxicated even the most
timid. It was resolved to betray the confidence of the reverend fathers,
even at the risk of disgrace and punishment next morning, supposing the
escapade were discovered.

A flock of sparrows suddenly released from a cage could not have flown
more wildly into the little wood. They were all about the same age, the
eldest might be nine. They flung off coats and waistcoats, and the grass
became strewn with baskets, copy-books, dictionaries, and catechisms.
While the crowd of fair-haired heads, of fresh and smiling faces, noisily
consulted as to which game should be chosen, a boy who had taken no part
in the general gaiety, and who had been carried away by the rush without
being able to escape sooner, glided slyly away among the trees, and,
thinking himself unseen, was beating a hasty retreat, when one of his
comrades cried out--

"Antoine is running away!"

Two of the best runners immediately started in pursuit, and the fugitive,
notwithstanding his start, was speedily overtaken, seized by his collar,
and brought back as a deserter.

"Where were you going?" the others demanded.

"Home to my cousins," replied the boy; "there is no harm in that."

"You canting sneak!" said another boy, putting his fist under the
captive's chin; "you were going to the master to tell of us."

"Pierre," responded Antoine, "you know quite well I never tell lies."

"Indeed!--only this morning you pretended I had taken a book you had
lost, and you did it because I kicked you yesterday, and you didn't dare
to kick me back again."

Antoine lifted his eyes to heaven, and folding his arms on his breast--

"Dear Buttel," he said, "you are mistaken; I have always been taught to
forgive injuries."

"Listen, listen! he might be saying his prayers!" cried the other boys;
and a volley of offensive epithets, enforced by cuffs, was hurled at the
culprit.

Pierre Buttel, whose influence was great, put a stop to this onslaught.

"Look here, Antoine, you are a bad lot, that we all know; you are a sneak
and a hypocrite. It's time we put a stop to it. Take off your coat and
fight it out. If you like, we will fight every morning and evening till
the end of the month."

The proposition was loudly applauded, and Pierre, turning up his sle