Short Stories, vol 8 | Page 5

holding her needle in one hand and one
of my shirts in the other. One of her legs in a blue stocking, the longer
one, no doubt, was extended under her chair, and her spectacles
glistened against the wall, as they had rolled away from her.
I ran away uttering shrill cries. They all came running, and in a few
minutes I was told that Mother Clochette was dead.
I cannot describe the profound, poignant, terrible emotion which stirred
my childish heart. I went slowly down into the drawing-room and hid

myself in a dark corner, in the depths of an immense old armchair,
where I knelt down and wept. I remained there a long time, no doubt,
for night came on. Suddenly somebody came in with a lamp, without
seeing me, however, and I heard my father and mother talking with the
medical man, whose voice I recognized.
He had been sent for immediately, and he was explaining the causes of
the accident, of which I understood nothing, however. Then he sat
down and had a glass of liqueur and a biscuit.
He went on talking, and what he then said will remain engraved on my
mind until I die! I think that I can give the exact words which he used.
"Ah!" said he, "the poor woman! She broke her leg the day of my
arrival here, and I had not even had time to wash my hands after getting
off the diligence before I was sent for in all haste, for it was a bad case,
very bad.
"She was seventeen, and a pretty girl, very pretty! Would any one
believe it? I have never told her story before, and nobody except myself
and one other person who is no longer living in this part of the country
ever knew it. Now that she is dead, I may be less discreet.
"Just then a young assistant-teacher came to live in the village; he was
a handsome, well-made fellow, and looked like a non-commissioned
officer. All the girls ran after him, but he paid no attention to them,
partly because he was very much afraid of his superior, the
schoolmaster, old Grabu, who occasionally got out of bed the wrong
foot first.
"Old Grabu already employed pretty Hortense who has just died here,
and who was afterwards nicknamed Clochette. The assistant master
singled out the pretty young girl, who was, no doubt, flattered at being
chosen by this impregnable conqueror; at any rate, she fell in love with
him, and he succeeded in persuading her to give him a first meeting in
the hay- loft behind the school, at night, after she had done her day's
sewing.
"She pretended to go home, but instead of going downstairs when she
left the Grabus' she went upstairs and hid among the hay, to wait for
her lover. He soon joined her, and was beginning to say pretty things to
her, when the door of the hay-loft opened and the schoolmaster
appeared, and asked: 'What are you doing up there, Sigisbert?' Feeling
sure that he would be caught, the young schoolmaster lost his presence

of mind and replied stupidly: 'I came up here to rest a little amongst the
bundles of hay, Monsieur Grabu.'
"The loft was very large and absolutely dark, and Sigisbert pushed the
frightened girl to the further end and said: 'Go over there and hide
yourself. I shall lose my position, so get away and hide yourself.'
"When the schoolmaster heard the whispering, he continued: 'Why, you
are not by yourself?' 'Yes, I am, Monsieur Grabu!' 'But you are not, for
you are talking.' 'I swear I am, Monsieur Grabu.' 'I will soon find out,'
the old man replied, and double locking the door, he went down to get a
light.
"Then the young man, who was a coward such as one frequently meets,
lost his head, and becoming furious all of a sudden, he repeated: 'Hide
yourself, so that he may not find you. You will keep me from making a
living for the rest of my life; you will ruin my whole career. Do hide
yourself!' They could hear the key turning in the lock again, and
Hortense ran to the window which looked out on the street, opened it
quickly, and then said in a low and determined voice: 'You will come
and pick me up when he is gone,' and she jumped out.
"Old Grabu found nobody, and went down again in great surprise, and
a quarter of an hour later, Monsieur Sigisbert came to me and related
his adventure. The girl had remained at the foot of the wall unable to
get up, as she had fallen from the second story, and I went with him to
fetch her. It was raining in torrents,