rld; his hair, as white as his mustache, tied with a
leathern string, formed a long queue which fell to his shoulders; his
skin was tanned, his eyes were bright and lively, though age had bowed
his tall stature.

This old man entered the court without seeing the children; he looked
about him like a man seeking to find his way; perceiving the two little
peasants, he went straight to them.

The young girl, startled by this strange figure, or rather, by this
enormous cap of bristling fur, gave a cry of affright; her brother took
her hand to reassure her, and although the poor child wished to withdraw
it, he advanced resolutely toward the old man.

The latter stopped, struck with the beauty of these two children, and
especially the delicate features of the young girl, whose face of
perfect regularity was crowned with two bands of blond hair half
concealed under a poor little child's cap of a brown color; she wore,
like her brother, rude wooden shoes and wool stockings.

"You are afraid of me then! Zounds! you will not tell me, then, where
the Abbey of St. Quentin is?" said the old soldier.

Although he was far from wishing to intimidate the children, the tone of
his voice frightened the young girl still more, who, pressing closely to
her brother, said to him in a low tone: "Answer him, James, answer him;
see what a wicked air he has."

"Have no fear, Angela, have no fear," answered the boy. Then he said to
the soldier: "Yes, sir, this is the Abbey of St. Quentin; but if you
wish to enter the porter's lodge is on the other side, outside of this
court."

The boy might have spoken a long time without the soldier paying
attention to his words.

When the young girl called her brother "James" the old man made a
movement of surprise; but when James, in his turn, called his sister
"Angela" the old man started, let his stick fall, and was obliged to
support himself against the wall, so violent was his agitation.

"You call yourselves 'James' and 'Angela,' my children?" said he, in a
trembling voice.

"Yes, sir," answered the young boy entirely reassured, but astonished at
this question.

"And your parents?"

"Our parents are tenants of the abbey, sir."

"Come," said the soldier, whom the reader has doubtless already
recognized, "I am an old fool--but--the union of these two
names--James--Angela. Come, come, Polypheme, you lose your head, my
friend; because you encounter two little peasants you imagine--" he
shrugge