a fox, and there was not the slightest doubt that if he
went on like that the whole house would awake; so his mother, not
knowing what to do, got up and brought him. The Captain was more furious
than ever, but did not move, and very carefully he put out his hand,
took a small piece of the child's skin between his two fingers, no
matter where it was, the thighs or elsewhere, and pinched it. The little
one struggled and screamed in a deafening manner, but his tormentor
pinched everywhere furiously and more vigorously. He took a morsel of
flesh and twisted and turned it, and then let go in order to take hold
of another piece, and then another and another.

The child screamed like a chicken that is having its throat cut, or a
dog that is being mercilessly beaten. His mother caressed him, kissed
him, and tried to stifle his cries by her tenderness; but Andrew grew
purple, as if he were going into convulsions, and kicked and struggled
with his little arms and legs in an alarming manner.

The Captain said, softly:

"Try and take him back to his cradle; perhaps he will be quiet."

And Matilda went into the other room with the child in her arms.

As soon as he was out of his mother's bed he cried less loudly, and when
he was in his own he was quiet, with exception of a few broken sobs.

The rest of the night was tranquil.

The next night he came again. As he happened to speak rather loudly,
Andrew awoke again and began to scream. His mother went and fetched him
immediately, but the Captain pinched so hard and long that the child was
nearly suffocated by its cries, and its eyes turned in its head and it
foamed at the mouth; as soon as it was back in its cradle it was quiet,
and in four days Andrew did not cry any more to come into his mother's
bed.

On Saturday evening the lawyer returned, and took his place again at the
domestic hearth and in the conjugal chamber.

As he was tired with his journey he went to bed early; but he had not
long lain down when he said to his wife:

"Why, how is it that Andrew is not crying? Just go and fetch him,
Matilda; I like to feel that he is between us."

She got up and brought the child, but as soon as he saw that he was in
that bed, in which he had been so fond of sleeping a few days
previously, he wriggled and screamed so violently in his fright that she
had to take him back to his cradle.

M. Moreau could not get over his surprise. "What a very funny thing!
What is the matter w