, being so close to the river's side, these cellars are always
under water in the winter! Do you wish to drown her?' 'Yes,' replied La
Chouette."

"Poor girl! What had you ever done to this horrid woman?"

"Nothing, madame; and from my very infancy she had always been so full
of hatred towards me. The Schoolmaster replied, 'I won't have Goualeuse
drowned! She sha'n't go to Bras Rouge's!' La Chouette was as astonished
as I was, madame, to hear this man defend me thus, and she flew into a
violent rage, and swore she would take me to Bras Rouge's in spite of
the Schoolmaster. 'I defy you!' said he, 'for I have got Goualeuse by
the arm, and I will not let go my hold of her; and, if you come near
her, I'll strangle you!' 'What do you mean, then, to do with her,' cried
La Chouette, 'since she must be concealed somewhere for two months, so
that no one may know where she is?' 'There's a way,' said the
Schoolmaster. 'We are going by the Champs Elysees; we will stop the
coach a little way off the guard-house, and you shall go to Bras Rouge's
tavern. It is midnight, and you will be sure to find him; bring him
here, and he shall lead La Goualeuse to the guard-house, declaring that
she is a _fille de la Cite_, whom he has found loitering about his
house. As girls are sentenced to three months' imprisonment if found in
the Champs Elysees, and as La Goualeuse is still on the police books,
she will be apprehended and sent to St. Lazare, where she will be better
taken care of and concealed than in Bras Rouge's cellar.' 'But,'
answered La Chouette, 'Goualeuse will not allow herself to be arrested
even at the _corps-de-garde_. She will declare that we have carried her
off, and give information against us; and, supposing even that she goes
to prison, she will write to her protectors, and all will be
discovered.' 'No, she will go to prison willingly,' answered the
Schoolmaster; 'and she shall take an oath not to give any information
against any person as long as she is in St. Lazare, nor afterwards,
either. This is a debt she owes me, for I prevented you from disfiguring
her, La Chouette, and saved her from being drowned at Bras Rouge's; but
if, after having sworn not to speak, she dares to do so, we will attack
the farm at Bouqueval with fire and blood!' Then, addressing me, the
Schoolmaster added,'Decide, then: take the oath I demand of you, and you
shall get off for three months in prison; if not, I abandon you to La
Chouette, who will