There was an instant when the animal seemed to lose footing, but
Brulette just then was between us two, and showed a great deal of
courage. When we reached the other bank Huriel again lashed the
beasts and put them to a gallop, and it was not until we reached open
ground in full view of the sky, and were nearing habitations, that he
allowed us to draw breath.
"Now," said he, walking his horse between Brulette and me, "I must
blame both of you. I am not a child to have led you into danger and
left you there. Why did you run from the spot where I told you to
wait for me?"
"It is you who blame us, is it?" said Brulette, rather sharply. "I
should have thought it was all the other way."
"Say what you have to say," returned Huriel, gravely. "I will speak
later. What do you blame me for?"
"I blame you," she answered, "for not having foreseen the dangerous
encounter we were likely to make; I blame you, above all, for giving
assurances of safety to my grandfather and me, in order to induce me
to leave my home and country, where I am loved and respected, and for
having brought me through desolate woods where you were scarcely able
to save me from the insults of your friends. I don't know what
coarse language they used about me, but I understood enough to see
that you were forced to answer for my being a decent girl. So, being
in your company was enough to make my character doubted! Ah, what a
miserable journey! This is the first time in my life I was ever
insulted, and I did not think such a thing could happen to me!"
Thereupon, her heart swelling with mortification and anger, she began
to cry. Huriel at first said nothing; he seemed very sad. Then he
plucked up courage and replied:--
"It is true, Brulette, that you were misjudged. You shall be
revenged, I promise you that. But as I could not punish those men at
the time without endangering you, I suffer within me such pangs of
baffled rage as I cannot describe to you and you could never
comprehend."
Tears cut short his words.
"I don't want to be avenged," said Brulette, "and I beg you won't
think of it again; I will try to forget it all myself."
"But you will always curse the day when you trusted yourself to me,"
he said, clenching his fist as though he would fain knock himself
down.
"Come, come," I said to them, "you must not quarrel now that the harm
and the danger are well over. I admit it was my fault. Huriel
enticed the muleteers away in one direction and could have got us
away in another. It was I who threw Brulette into the lion's jaws,
thinking I could save her quicker."
"There would have been no danger but for that," said Huriel. "Of
course, among muleteers, as among all men who lead a half-wild life,
there are scoundrels. There was one of the kind in that band; but
you saw that they all blamed him. It is also true that many of us
are uneducated and make unseemly jokes. But I don't know what you
really accuse our fraternity of doing. We may be partners in money
and pleasure, as we are in losses and dangers, but we all of us
respect women quite as much as other Christian folk do. You saw
yourself that virtue was respected for its own sake, because one word
from you brought those men at once to their duty."
"Nevertheless," said Brulette, still angry, "you were in a great
hurry to get us away; you made us go fast enough to risk being
drowned in the river. You know you were not master of those bad men,
and you were afraid they might return to their evil wishes."
"It all came from their seeing you run away with Tiennet," said
Huriel. "They thought you were doing wrong. If it had not been for
your fear and your distrust of me you would never have been seen by
my comrades. You may as well confess, both of you, that you had a
very bad idea of me."
"I never had a bad idea of you," said Brulette.
"I had," said I, "just then, for a moment; I confess it, for I don't
wish to lie."
"It is always better not," returned Huriel, "and I hope you will soon
think differently of me."
"I do now," I said. "I saw how firm you were, and how you mastered
your anger, and I agree that it was wiser to speak soft in the
beginning than to end soft; blows come fast enough. If it were not
for you, I should be dead now, and so would you for helping me, which
would have been a dreadful thing for Brulette. And now, here we are
well out of it, thanks to you; and I think we ought, all three of us,
to be the better friends."
"That's good!" cried Huriel, pressing my hand. "That's the
Berrichon's best nature; he shows his good sense and his sober
judgment. You ought to be a Bourbonnaise, Brulette, you are so hasty
and impulsive."
She allowed him to take her hand in his, but she continued
thoughtful; and as I feared she might take cold after getting so wet
in the river, we entered the first house we came to to change our
clothes and refresh ourselves with a little mulled wine. It was now
daybreak, and the country-folk seemed very kind and ready to help us.
When we resumed our journey the sun was already warm, and the
country, which lay rather high between two rivers, was delightful to
the eye and reminded me a little of our own plains. Brulette's
vexation was all over; for, in talking with her beside the fire of
the good Bourbonnais, I had proved to her that an honest girl was not
degraded by the talk of a drunken man, and that no woman was safe if
such things were to be considered. The muleteer had left us for a
moment, and when he returned to put Brulette into her saddle she
could not restrain a cry of amazement. He had washed and shaved and
dressed himself properly,--not so handsomely as the first time she
had seen him, but looking well enough in face and well enough clothed
to do her honor.
However, she uttered neither compliment nor jest; she only looked at
him intently when his eyes were not upon her, as if to renew her
acquaintance with him. She seemed sorry to have been crabbed with
him, and as if she did not know how to make it up; but he talked of
other things, explained the Bourbonnais district which we had entered
after crossing the river, told me about the manners and customs, and
discoursed like a man who was not wanting for sense in any way.
At the end of two hours, without fatigue or further adventure, but
still riding up hill, we reached Mesples, the parish adjoining the
forest where we were to find Joseph. We passed straight through the
village, where Huriel was accosted by many persons who seemed to hold
him in much esteem,--not to mention some young girls who eyed with
surprise the company he had with him.
We had not, however, reached our destination. We were bound for the
depths, or rather I should say the highest part, of the wood; for the
forest of the Alleu, which joins that of Chambérat, covers the
plateau from which five or six little rivers or brooks come down,
forming a wild tract of country surrounded by barren plains, where
the view is extensive on all sides, towards other forests and other
heaths stretching endlessly away.
We were as yet only in what is called the Lower Bourbonnais, which
adjoins the upper part of Berry. Huriel told me that the ground
continued to ascend as far as Auvergne. The woods were
fine,--chiefly full-grown trees of white oak, which are the finest
species. The brooks, which cut into and ravine these woods in every
direction, form in many places moist coverts, where alders, willows,
and aspen grow; all fine trees, which those of our region can't
compare with. I saw also, for the first time, a tree with white
stems and beautiful foliage, called the beech, which does not grow
with us. It is the king of trees after the oak; for if it is less
handsome than the latter, it is certainly quite as lovely. There
were but few of them in these forests, and Huriel told me they
abounded only in the centre of the Bourbonnais country.
I gazed at all these things with much interest, expecting, however,
to see more rare things than there were, and half-believing the trees
would have their roots in the air and their heads in the ground,
after the manner of those who imagine about distant parts that they
have never seen. As for Brulette, whether it was that she had a
natural taste for wild scenery, or whether she wanted to console
Huriel for the reproaches she had showered on him, it is certain that
she admired things out of all reason, and did honor and reverence to
the least little wild flower she saw in the path.
We advanced for some time without meeting a living soul, when
suddenly Huriel said, pointing to an open and some felled trees:
"Here we are, at the clearing; now in a minute more you will see our
city and my father's castle."
He laughed as he said it, and we were still looking about us for
something like a village, when he added, pointing to some mud huts
which were more like the lairs of animals than the abodes of men:
"These are our summer palaces, our country-houses. Stay here, and I
will call Joseph."
He went off at a gallop, looked into the doorways of all the huts,
and came back, evidently uneasy, but hiding it as best he could, to
say: "There is no one here, and that is a good sign. Joseph must be
better, and has gone to work with my father. Wait for me here; sit
down and rest in our cabin; it is the first, right before you; I'll
go and see where the patient is."
"No, no," said Brulette; "we will go with you."
"Are you afraid to be alone here? You are quite mistaken. You are
now in the domain of the woodsmen, and they are not, like the
muleteers, imps of Satan. They are honest country-folk, like those
you have at home, and where my father rules you have nothing to fear."
"I am not afraid of your people," replied Brulette, "but it frightens
me not to find José. Who knows? perhaps he is dead and buried. The
idea has just come into my head and it makes my blood creep."
Huriel turned pale, as if the same thought struck him; but he would
not give heed to it. "The good God would never have allowed it," he
said. "But get down, leave the mules just here, and come with me."
He took a little path which led to another clearing; but even there
we did not find Joseph nor any one else.
"You fancy these woods are deserted," said Huriel; "and yet I see by
fresh marks of the axe that the woodsmen have been at work here all
the morning. This is the hour when they take a little nap, and they
are probably all lying among the bracken, where we should not see
them unless we stepped upon them. But listen! there's a sound that
delights my heart. My father is playing the bagpipe,--I recognize
his method; and that's a sign that José is better, for it is not a
sad tune, and my father would be very sad if any misfortune had
happened to the lad."
We followed Huriel, and the music was certainly so delightful that
Brulette, hurrying as she was to get to Joseph, could not help
stopping now and then, as if charmed, to listen. And I myself,
without being able to comprehend the thing as she did, felt all five
of my natural senses stirred up within me. At every step I fancied I
saw differently, heard differently, breathed and walked in a
different manner from what I ever did before. The trees seemed
finer, so did the earth and sky, and my heart was full of a
satisfaction I couldn't give a reason for.
Presently, standing on some rocks, round which a pretty rivulet all
full of flowers was murmuring along, we saw Joseph, looking very sad,
beside a man who was sitting down and playing a bagpipe to please the
poor sick fellow. The dog, Parpluche, was beside them and seemed to
be listening too, like an intelligent human being.
As the pair paid no heed to us Brulette held us back, wishing to
examine Joseph and judge of his health by his appearance before she
spoke to him. He was as white as a sheet and as shrunken as a bit of
dead wood, by which we knew that the muleteer had not deceived us;
but what was very consoling was the fact that he was nearly a head
taller than when he left us; which of course the people about him
might not notice, but which, to us, explained his illness as the
result of his growth. In spite of his sunken cheeks and white lips,
he had grown to be a handsome man; his eyes, notwithstanding his
languid manner, were clear, and even bright as running water, his
hair fine and parted above his pallid face like that of the blessed
Jesus; in short, he was the image of an angel from heaven, which made
him as different from other peasants as the almond-flower differs
from an almond in its husk. His hands were as white as a woman's,
for the reason that he had not worked of late, and the Bourbonnais
costume which he had taken to wearing showed off his well-built
figure better than the hempen blouses and big sabots of our parts.
Having given our first attention to Joseph we were next compelled to
look at Huriel's father, a man I have seldom seen the like of,--one
who, without education, had great knowledge and a mind that would not
have disgraced the wealthy and famous. He was tall and strong, of
fine carriage, like Huriel, but stouter and broader about the
shoulders; his head was ponderous and set on like that of a bull.
His face was not at all handsome, for his nose was flat, his lips
thick, and his eyes round; but for all that, it was one you liked to
look at, for it satisfied you with its air of command and of strength
and of goodness. His large black eyes glittered like
lightning-flashes from his head, and his broad mouth laughed with a
glee which would have brought you back from the jaws of death.
At the present moment his head was covered with a blue handkerchief
knotted behind, and he wore no other garments than his shirt and
breeches, with a big leather apron, which his hands, hardened by
toil, matched in color and texture. In fact, his fingers, scarred
and crushed by many an accident, for he never spared himself danger,
looked like roots of box twisted into knots, and the wonder was that
he was able to do any work beyond breaking stones with a pick-axe.
Nevertheless he used them as delicately on the chanter of his bagpipe
as if they were slender reeds, or tiny bird's claws.
Beside him were the trunks of several large oaks, lately cut down and
sawn apart; among them lay his tools,--his axe, shining like a razor,
his saw as pliable a reed, and his earthen bottle, the wine of which
kept up his strength.
Presently Joseph, who was listening breathlessly to the music, saw
his dog Parpluche run towards us; he raised his eyes and beheld us
within ten feet of him. From pallid he grew red as fire, but did not
stir, thinking probably it was a vision called up by the music which
had made him dream.
Brulette ran to him, her arms extended; then he uttered a cry and
fell, as if choking, on his knees, which frightened me, for I had no
conception of that sort of love, and I thought he had a fit which
might kill him. But he recovered himself quickly and began to thank
Brulette and me and also Huriel, with such friendly words so readily
uttered, that you would never think it was the same José who in the
olden time always answered, "I don't know" to everything that was
said to him.
Père Bastien, or rather the Head-Woodsman (for such he was always
called in these parts), laid aside his bagpipe, and while Brulette
and Joseph were talking together, he shook me by the hand and
welcomed me as if he had known me from my birth up.
"So this is your friend Tiennet?" he said to his son. "Well, his
face suits me, and his body, too, for I warrant I can hardly meet my
arms round it, and I have always noticed that the biggest and
strongest men are the gentlest. I see it in you, my Huriel, and in
myself, too, for I'm always inclined to love my neighbor rather than
crush him. So, Tiennet, I give you welcome to our wild woods; you
won't find your fine wheaten bread nor the variety of salads you get
from your garden, but we will try to regale you with good talk and
hearty good-will. I see you have brought that handsome Nohant girl
who is half-sister, half-mother to our poor José. That's a good deed
done, for he had no heart to get well; now I shall feel easier about
him, for I think the medicine is good."
As he said this he looked at José, who was sitting on his heels at
Brulette's feet, holding her hand and gazing at her with all his
eyes, while he asked questions about his mother, and Père Brulet, and
the neighbors, and all the parish. Brulette, observing that the
Head-Woodsman was speaking of her, came to him and begged pardon for
not having saluted him at first. But he, without more ado, took her
round the waist and set her on a high rock, as if to see her all at
once, like the figure of a saint or some other precious thing. Then,
placing her on the ground again, he kissed her on the forehead,
saying to José, who blushed as much as Brulette:--
"You told me true; she is pretty from top to toe. Here, I think, is
a bit of nature without a flaw. Body and soul are of the best
quality; I can see that in her eye. Tell me, Huriel, for I am so
blind about my own children that I can't judge, is she prettier than
your sister? I think she is not less so, and if they were both mine
I don't know which I should be proudest of. Come, come, Brulette,
don't be ashamed of being handsome, and don't be vain of it, either.
The workman who made the creatures of this world beautiful did not
consult you, and you count for nothing in his work. What he has done
for us we can spoil by folly or stupidity; but I see by your
appearance that, far from doing that, you respect his gifts in
yourself. Yes, yes, you are a beautiful girl, healthy in heart and
upright in mind. I know you already, for you have come here to
comfort that poor lad, who longed for you as the earth longs for
rain. Many another would not have done as you have done, and I
respect you for it. Therefore, I ask your friendship for me, who
will be to you a father, and for my two children, who will be as
brother and sister to you."
Brulette, whose heart was still swelling with the insults of the
muleteers in the woods of La Roche, was so gratified by the respect
and the compliments of the Head-Woodsman that the tears began to
fall, and flinging herself upon his neck she could answer only by
kissing him, as though he were her own father.
"The best of all answers," he said, "and I am content with it. Now,
my children, my rest hour is over and I must go to work. If you are
hungry, here is my wallet with some provisions in it. Huriel will go
and find his sister, so that she may keep you company; and, meantime,
my Berrichons, you must talk with Joseph, for I imagine you have a
deal to say to each other. But don't go far away from the sound of
my axe, for you don't know the forest and you might get lost."
Thereupon he set to work among the trees, after hanging his bagpipe
to the branches of one that was still standing. Huriel ate some food
with us and answered Brulette, who questioned him about his sister.
"My sister Thérence," he said, "is a pretty girl and a good girl, of
about your own age. I shall not say, as my father did, that she
compares with you; but such as she is she lets people look at her,
and her spirit is none of the tamest either. She follows my father
to all his stations, so that he may not miss his home; for the life
of a woodsman, like that of a muleteer, is very hard and dreary if he
has no companionship for his heart."
"Where is she now?" asked Brulette. "Can't we go and find her?"
"I don't know where she is," replied Huriel; "and I rather wonder she
did not hear us, for she is seldom far from the lodges. Have you
seen her to-day, Joseph?"
"Yes," he answered, "but not since morning. She was feeling ill and
complained of head-ache."
"She is not used to complain of anything," said Huriel. "If you will
excuse me, Brulette, I will go and fetch her to you as fast as I can."