When the woman had retired
again, therefore, I rallied Boisrueil on his timidity; but,
though he admitted the correctness of my reasoning, I saw that he
was not entirely convinced. He started whenever a shutter
flapped, or the draughts, which searched the grim old building
through and through, threatened to extinguish our lights. He
hung cloaks over the windows to obviate the latter inconvenience
he said--and was continually going out and coming back with
gloomy looks. Parabere joined me in rallying him, which we did
without mercy; but when I had occasion, after a while, to pass
through the outer room I found that he was not alone in his
fears. The troopers sat moodily listening, or muttered together;
while the cup passed round in silence. When I bade a man go on
an errand to the stable, four went; and when I dropped a word to
the woman who was attending to her pot, a dozen heads were
stretched out to catch the answer.
Such a feeling--to which, in this instance, the murmur of the
stream and the steady downpour of rain doubtless added something
--is so contagious that I was not surprised to find Colet and La
Font sinking under it.
Pages:
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211