第11章
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  “Isupposethatnooneshowedyouaphotographoftheplace?“sheaskeddoubtfully,“forasithappensIknowit。ItisonlyabouttwomilesfromLucernebytheshortwaythroughthewoods。Whatismore,thereisatreewithadeliciousfruit,eitherabigcherryorasmallplum,forIhaveeatensomeofitseveralyearsago。“

  “No,“heanswered,“noone。MyfatheronlytoldmethatthenameofthelittlevillageisKleindorf。Hewroteitonthelabelformybag。“

  Justthenthelinewentroundabend。“Look,“hesaid,“thereistheplaceItoldyouwewerecomingto,withthedarktrees,thethreepeaks,andthestream,andthewhitechurchwiththecockontopofthespire。“

  Sheletdownthecarriagewindow,andstaredatthescene。

  “Yes,“sheexclaimed,“itisjustasyoudescribed。Oh!atlastIhavefoundwhatIhavebeenseekingforyears。Godfrey,Ibelievethatyouhavethetruegift。“

  “Whatgift,MissOgilvy?“

  “Clairvoyance,ofcourse,andperhapsclairaudienceaswell。“

  Theladburstoutlaughing,andsaidthathewisheditweresomethingmoreuseful。

  FromallofwhichitwillbeguessedthatEthelOgilvywasamysticofthefirstwater。

  About11o’clockonthedayfollowingthisconversation,GodfreyfoundhimselfstandingontheplatforminthebigstationofLucerne。

  “HowareyougoingtogettoKleindorf?“MissOgilvyaskedofhim。

  “It’sfivemilesawaybytheroad。Ithinkyouhadbettercometomyhouseandhavesome/déjeuner/。AfterwardsIwillsendyouthereinthecarriage。“

  Asshespokeatallgauntmaninultra-clericalattire,withaverylargehookednoseandwearingapairofbluespectacles,cameshufflingtowardsthem。

  “MadameisEngleesh?“hesaid,peeringatherthroughtheblueglasses。“Oh!itiseasytoknowit,thoughIamsoblind。HasMadamebychanceseenaleetle,leetleEngleeshboy,whoshouldarriveoutofthistrain?IlookeverywhereandIcannotfindhim,andtheconducteur,hesayshenotthere。Noleetleboyinthesecondclass。

  HisnameitisGodfrey,thesonofanEnglishpasteur,amanwhofearGodintherightway。“

  Therewassomethingsoabsurdintheoldgentleman’sappearanceandmethodofaddress,thatMissOgilvy,whohadasenseofhumour,wasobligedtoturnawaytohidehermirth。Recovering,sheanswered:

  “Ithinkthisisyourlittleboy,MonsieurlePasteur,“andsheindicatedthetallandhandsomeGodfrey,whostoodgazingathisfutureinstructoropen-mouthed。Whoeverhehadmetinhisvisions,thePasteurBoisetwasnotoneofthem。Never,asleeporwaking,hadheseenanyoneintheleastlikehim。

  TheclergymanpeeredatGodfrey,studyinghimfromheadtofoot。

  “MonDieu!“heexclaimed,“Iunderstoodhewasquite,quiteleetle,notabigyoungmanwhowilleatmuchandwantmanythings。Well,hewillbe/boncompagnon/forJuliette,andMadametoo,shelikethebigbetterthantheleetle。/Ilestbeauetilal’airintelligent,n’estcepas,Madame?/“headdedconfidentially。

  “/Bienbeauettrèsintelligent/,“shereplied,observingthatGodfreywasengagedinretrievinghisovercoatwhichhehadleftinthecarriage。Thensheexplainedthatshehadbecomefriendlywiththisyounggentleman,andhopedthathewouldbeallowedtovisitherwheneverhewished。Alsoshegavehernameandaddress。

  “Oh!yes,MademoiselleOgilvee,therichEnglishladywholiveinthefinehouse。Ihaveheardofher。/Maisvoyons!/MademoiselleisnotCatholic,isshe,forIpromisetoprotectthisladfromthatredwolf?“

  “No,Monsieur,fearnothing。WhateverIam,IamnotCatholic,“

  though,perhaps,ifyouknewall,youwouldthinkmesomethingmuchmoredangerous,sheaddedtoherself。

  Thentheysaidgoodbye。

  “Isay,MissOgilvy,“exclaimedGodfrey,blushing,“you’vebeenawfullykindtome。Ifithadn’tbeenforyouIshouldhavemissedthattrainandneverheardthelastofit。Also,IshouldhavehadtogohungryfromLondonhere,sinceIpromisedmyfathernottobuyanythingonthejourney,andyouknowIforgotthebasket。“Bytheway,beingaddressed,itarrivedthreedaysafterwards,amassofcorruption,withsixfrancstopayonit,andmanypaperstobesigned。

  “Notatall,Godfrey,itwasdelightfultohaveyouasacompanion——

  andafriend,“sheaddedmeaningly。“Youwillcomeandseeme,won’tyou?“

  “Yes,ofcourse,ifIcan。Butmeanwhile,pleasewaitaminute,“andhepulledouthispurse。

  “Whatonearthareyougoingtodo,Godfrey?Idon’twantyourcard。“

  “Card!Ihaven’tgotacard。Iamgoingtomakeyouapresent。“

  “Makemeapresent?“gaspedMissOgilvy,avaguevisionofhalf-crownsflashingbeforehermind。

  “Yes,itisratheracuriousthing。Itwasfoundroundtheneck-boneofanoldknight,whoseremainstheythrewoutoftheAbbeyChurchwhentheyputintheheatingapparatus。Isawitthere,andthesextongaveittomewhenhediscoveredthatitwasonlystone。Youwillseeithasaholeinit,sohemusthavewornitasanornament。ThegravehelayinwasthatofaCrusader,forthelegsarecrosseduponhisbrass,althoughhisnamehasgone。Oh!hereitis,“andheproducedanoblongpieceofblackgraphiteorsomesuchstone,coveredwithmysticalengravings。

  Sheseizedtheobject,andexaminediteagerly。

  “Why,itisatalisman,“shesaid,“Gnostic,Ishouldthink,forthereisthecockuponit,andalotthatIcan’tread,probablyamagicformula。NodoubttheoldCrusadergotitintheEast,perhapsasagiftfromsomeSaraceninwhosefamilyithaddescended。Oh!mydearboy,Idothankyou。YoucouldnothavemademeapresentthatI

  shouldvaluemore。“

  “Iamsoglad,“saidGodfrey。

  “Yes,butIamashamedtotakeitfromyou。Well,I’llleaveitbacktoyouoneday。“

  “Leaveitback!Thenyoumustdiebeforeme,andwhyshouldyoudothat?Youarequiteyoung。“

  “BecauseIshall,“sheansweredwithasadlittlesmile。“IlookstrongerthanIam。Meanwhileyouwillcomeandtellmeallaboutthistalisman。“

  “IhavetoldyouallIknow,MissOgilvy。“

  “Doyouthinkso?Idon’t。Butlook,youroldpasteuriscallingthatthediligenceiscoming。Good-bye。I’llsendthecarriageforyounextSundayintimefor/déjeuner/。“

  AfewminuteslaterGodfreyfoundhimselfpackedinarumblingolddiligenceamidstanumberofpeasantwomenwithbaskets。AlsotherewasaRomanCatholicpriestwhosatoppositetothePasteur。Forawhilethesetwoeyedeachotherwithevidentanimosity,justlikeapairofrivaldogs,Godfreythoughttohimself。

  Attheoutskirtsofthetowntheypassedashrine,inwhichwastheimageofsomesaint。ThepriestcrossedhimselfandbowedsolowthathestruckthekneeofthePasteur,whoremonstratedinanelaborateandsarcasticfashion。Thenthefightbegan,andthosetwoholymenbelabouredeachother,withwords,notfists,fortherestofthejourney。Godfrey’sFrenchwassadlytoseek,stillbeforeitwasdone,hedidwonderwhetheralltheirlanguagewasstrictlyChristian,forsuchwordsas/Sapristi/,and/NomdeDieu/,accompaniedbysnappingofthefingers,andangrystares,struckhimasshowingacontentiousandevenahostilespirit。Moreover,thatwasnottheendofit,sinceoftheoccupantsofthediligence,aboutonehalfseemedtobelongtothepartyofthepriest,andtheotherhalftothepartyofthePasteur。

  Bydegreesalloftheseweredrawnintotheconflict。Theyshoutedandscreamedateachother,theywavedtheirarms,andincidentallytheirbaskets,oneofwhichstruckGodfreyonthenose,andindeednearlycametoactualfisticuffs。

  Apparentlythedriverwasaccustomedtosuchscenes,forafteraglancethroughhislittlewindowhetooknofurthernotice。Soitwentonuntilatlasthepulledupandshouted:

  “/VoyageurspourKleindorf,descendez。Vite,s’ilvousplait。/“

  “Herewedogetdown,youngMonsieur,“saidthePasteur,suddenlyrelapsingintoakindofunnaturalcalm。Indeed,atthedoorheturnedandbowedpolitelytohisadversary,wishinghim/bonvoyage/,towhichthepriestrepliedwithasolemnbenedictioninthemostCatholicform。

  “Heisnotbadofheart,thatpriest,“saidthePasteur,asheledthewaytothegateofalittleshrubbery,“buthedotrytostealmysheep,andIprotectthemfromhim,theblood-toothedwolf。Jean,Jean!“

  AbrawnySwissappearedandseizedthebaggage。Thentheyadvancedacrossthebeltofshrubberytoalawn,throughwhichranapath。Lo!

  inthecentreofthatlawngrewsuchafruit-tree,coveredwithlargecherriesorsmallplums,asGodfreyhaddescribedtoMissOgilvy,andbeyonditstoodthelongwhitehouse,old,andbig,andpeacefullooking。Whathehadnotdescribed,becauseofthemhissubliminalsensehadgivenhimnoinkling,werethetwoladies,whosatexpectantontheverandah,thatcommandedabeautifulviewofthelakeandthemountainsbeyond。

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