ht of the stranger
as he was about to enter the stable. Before doing so, however, he turned
a pair of black eyes to the upper story of the inn, and thence to the
mail-coach in the yard, as if to call some friend's attention to the
vehicle. In spite of his muffling goatskin and thanks to this movement
which allowed her to see his face, Francine recognized the Chouan,
Marche-a-Terre, with his heavy whip; she saw him, indistinctly, in the
obscurity of the stable, fling himself down on a pile of straw, in a
position which enabled him to keep an eye on all that happened at the
inn. Marche-a-Terre curled himself up in such a way that the cleverest
spy, at any distance far or near, might have taken him for one of those
huge dogs that drag the hand-carts, lying asleep with his muzzle on his
paws.

The behavior of the Chouan proved to Francine that he had not recognized
her. Under the hazardous circumstances which she felt her mistress to
be in, she scarcely knew whether to regret or to rejoice in this
unconsciousness. But the mysterious connection between the landlord's
offer (not uncommon among innkeepers, who can thus kill two birds with
one stone), and the Chouan's threats, piqued her curiosity. She left the
dirty window from which she could see the formless heap which she
knew to be Marche-a-Terre, and returned to the landlord, who was still
standing in the attitude of a man who feels he has made a blunder, and
does not know how to get out of it. The Chouan's gesture had petrified
the poor fellow. No one in the West was ignorant of the cruel
refinements of torture with which the "Chasseurs du Roi" punished those
who were even suspected of indiscretion; the landlord felt their knives
already at his throat. The cook looked with a shudder at the iron stove
on which they often "warmed" ("chauffaient") the feet of those they
suspected. The fat landlady held a knife in one hand and a half-peeled
potato in the other, and gazed at her husband with a stupefied air.
Even the scullion puzzled himself to know the reason of their speechless
terror. Francine's curiosity was naturally excited by this silent scene,
the principal actor of which was visible to all, though departed. The
girl was gratified at the evident power of the Chouan, and though by
nature too simple and humble for the tricks of a lady's maid, she was
also far too anxious to penetrate the mystery not to profit by her
advantages on this occasion.

"Mademoiselle accepts