there! Jean! Jacques! Come hither and take care of
this little lad, and see to it that he hath a soft bed and a feather
pillow!"

The next morning the children ate a merry breakfast together, and after it
Count Bernard took Felix aside and asked him many questions of his life
and his home. Then, by and by, knowing how anxious the boy's parents would
be, he ordered his trusty squire, Brian, to saddle a horse and conduct
Felix back to Sur Varne.

Meantime the little Lady Elinor begged hard that he stay longer in the
castle for her playfellow, and was quite heartbroken when she saw the
horse stand ready in the courtyard. Indeed, she would not be satisfied
until her father, the count, who could not bear to see her unhappy, had
promised to some day take her over to see Felix in Sur Varne. Then she
smiled, and made a pretty farewell courtesy, and suddenly snatching from
her dark hair a crimson ribbon of Lyons taffeta, she tied it about Felix's
sleeve, declaring, "There! thou must keep this token, and be my little
knight!" for the Lady Elinor had many lofty notions in her small curly
head.

Felix could only stammer out an embarrassed good-by, for in the presence
of this lively little maid he found himself quaking more than when he
feared the terrible wolves of the forest. In another moment Brian lifted
him to the saddle, and, springing up behind, took the bridle-rein, and off
they went.

When, after several hours' riding, they drew near Sur Varne, Felix showed
Brian the way to the Michaud cottage, and you can fancy how overjoyed were
the Pere and Mise to see the travelers; for they had been fairly beside
themselves with grief, and had searched all night for their little son.

Of course almost the first question Felix asked was about Beppo, and he
felt a great load taken off his mind when he learned that the little
truant, who had not really strayed very far from the village, had been
found and brought home by one of the shepherds, and was even then penned
up safe and sound in the sheepfold.

After a good night's sleep Felix was quite rested from his journey, and
was busy the next day in helping garland the Yule log, in giving Ninette
and Beppo an extra scrubbing and brushing, and in all the final happy
preparations for the great holiday.

And so Christmas Eve came. It was a lovely star-lit night, and on all sides
one could hear the beautiful Christmas songs of old Provence that all the
peasants and the children sang as