od care
not to get nearer the stream for this little brook is deep and if you
slip you might drown."

When Ourson was out of sight Violette felt an uneasiness which she
attributed to the pain caused by her wound. An unaccountable repulsion
made her feel inclined to withdraw her foot from the water in which it
was hanging. Before she decided to obey this strange impulse she saw the
water troubled and the head of an enormous toad appear upon the surface.
The great swollen angry eyes of the loathsome animal were fixed upon
Violette, who since her dream had always had a dread of toads. The
appearance of this hideous creature, its monstrous swollen body and
menacing glance, froze her with such horror that she could neither move
nor cry out.

[Illustration: _"Ah, ha! you are at last in my domain, little fool!"_]

"Ah! ha! you are at last in my domain, little fool!" said the toad. "I
am the fairy Furious, the enemy of your family. I have been lying in
wait for you a long time and should have had you before if my sister,
the fairy Drolette, had not protected you and sent you a dream to warn
you against me. Ourson whose hairy skin is a talisman of safety is now
absent, my sister is on a journey and you are at last mine."

Saying these words, she seized Violette's foot with her cold and shining
paws and tried to draw her down into the water. Violette uttered the
most piercing shrieks; she struggled and caught hold of the plants and
shrubs growing on the borders of the stream. The first, alas, gave way,
and Violette in despair seized hold of others.

"Ourson! oh, Ourson! help! help! dear Ourson, save me, save your poor
Violette! I am perishing! save me! help! help!"

The fairy Furious, in the form of a toad, was about to carry her off.
The last shrub had given way and Violette's last cry was hushed.

The poor Violette disappeared under the water just as another cry, more
despairing, more terrible, answered to her own. But, alas! her hair
alone appeared above the water when Ourson reached the spot, breathless
and panting with terror. He had heard Violette's cries and had turned
back with the rapidity of lightning.

Without a moment's hesitation he sprang into the water and seized
Violette by her long hair but he felt instantly that he was sinking
with her. The fairy Furious was drawing them to the bottom of the
stream. He knew he was sinking but he did not lose his self-possession.
Instead of releasing Violette, he seized