"Nor do I in the least understand the matter. But at one thing
we can easily arrive. You tasted all of these, man?"
La Trape said he had.
"You drank a quantity, a substantial quantity of each--according
to the orders given to you? I persisted.
"Yes, your excellency."
But I caught a guilty look in his eyes, and in a gust of rage I
cried out that he lied. "The truth!" I thundered, in a terrible
voice. "The truth, you villain; you did not taste all?"
"I did, your excellency; as God is above, I did!" he answered.
But he had grown pale, and he looked at the King in a terrified
way.
"You did?"
"Yes!"
Yet I did not believe him, and I was about to give him the lie
again, when the King intervened. "Quite so," he said to La Trape
with a smile. "You drank, my good fellow, of the posset and the
lemon water, and you tasted the milk, but you did not drink of
it. Is not that the whole truth?"
"Yes, sire," he whimpered, breaking down. "But I--I gave some to
a cat."
"And the cat is no worse?"
"No, sire.
Pages:
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327