t must be his ghost, wherefore they fled,
making great signs of the cross.

"He must be sprinkled with holy water," said one old crone, "and he will
vanish leaving a disgusting smell of sulphur. He will carry away Master
Jean, and he will of course plunge him alive into the fire of hell."

"Softly! old woman," a citizen replied, "his lordship is alive and much
more alive than you or I. He is as fresh as a rose, and he looks as if
he had come from some noble court rather than from the other world. One
does return from afar, good dame. As witness Francoeur the squire who
came back from Rome last midsummer day."

And Margaret the helmet-maker, having greatly admired George, mounted
to her maiden chamber and kneeling before the image of the Holy Virgin
prayed, "Holy Virgin, grant me a husband who shall look precisely like
this young lord."

So each in his way talked of George's return until the news spread
from mouth to mouth and finally reached the ears of the Duchess who was
walking-in the orchard. Her heart beat violently and she heard all the
birds in the hedge-row sing:

"Cui, cui, cui,
Oui, oui, oui,
Georges de Blanchelande,
Cui, cui, cui.
Dont vous avez nourri l'enfance
Cui, cui, cui,
Est ici, est ici, est ici!
Oui, oui, oui."

Francoeur approached her respectfully and said: "Your Grace, George de
Blanchelande whom you thought dead has returned. I shall make it into a
song." In the meantime the birds sang:

"Cucui, cui, cui, cui, cui,
Oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui,
Il est ici, ici, ici, ici, ici, ici."

And when she saw the child who had been to her as a son, she opened her
arms and fell senseless at his feet.

XX

Which treats of a little satin shoe

Everybody in Clarides was quite convinced that Honey-Bee had been stolen
by the dwarfs. Even the Duchess believed it, though her dreams did not
tell her precisely. "We will find her again," said George. "We will
find her again," replied Francoeur. "And we will bring her back to her
mother," said George.

"And we will bring her back," replied Francoeur. "And we will marry
her," said George.

"And we will marry her," replied Francoeur. And they inquired among the
inhabitants as to the habits of the dwarfs and the mysterious
circumstances of Honey-Bee's disappearance.

And so it happened that they questioned Nurse Maurille who had once been
the nurse