myself before so
immense an assembly, I might have voluntarily fallen at the feet of
this generous Gambler, to thank him for his unheard-of munificence.
But, little by little, after I had left him, an incurable defiance
entered into me; I dared no longer believe in so prodigious a
happiness; and as I went to bed, making over again my nightly prayer
by means of all that remained in me in the matter of faith, I repeated
in my slumber: "My God, my Lord, my God! Do let the Devil keep his
word with me!"

THE THREE LOW MASSES[18]

A CHRISTMAS STORY

BY ALPHONSE DAUDET

[18] From _The Fig and the Idler, an Algerian Legend, and
Other Stories_, by Alphonse Daudet. London, T. Fisher Unwin,
1892. (By permission of the Publisher.)

I

"Two truffled turkeys, Garrigou?"

"Yes, your reverence, two magnificent turkeys, stuffed with truffles.
I should know something about it, for I myself helped to fill them.
One would have said their skin would crack as they were roasting, it
is that stretched...."

"Jesu-Maria! I who like truffles so much!... Quick, give me my
surplice, Garrigou.... And have you seen anything else in the kitchen
besides the turkeys?"

"Yes, all kinds of good things.... Since noon, we have done nothing
but pluck pheasants, hoopoes, barn-fowls, and woodcocks. Feathers were
flying about all over.... Then they have brought eels, gold carp, and
trout out of the pond, besides...."

"What size were the trout, Garrigou?"

"As big as that, your reverence.... Enormous!"

"Oh heavens! I think I see them.... Have you put the wine in the
vessels?"

"Yes, your reverence, I have put the wine in the vessels.... But la!
it is not to be compared to what you will drink presently, when the
midnight mass is over. If you only saw that in the dining hall of the
chateau! The decanters are all full of wines glowing with every
colour!... And the silver plate, the chased _epergnes_, the flowers,
the lustres!... Never will such another midnight repast be seen. The
noble marquis has invited all the lords of the neighbourhood. At least
forty of you will sit down to table, without reckoning the farm
bailiff and the notary.... Oh, how lucky is your reverence to be one
of them!... After a mere sniff of those fine turkeys, the scent of
truffles follows me everywhere.... Yum!"

"Come now, come now, my child. Let us keep from the sin of gluttony,
on the night of the Nativity especially.... Be quick and light the