The White House Part 30

Those in the outer room went with the light to inquire as to the cause of the outcries, and they saw the husband and wife holding Robineau, who was trying to bury himself under the straw anew, while the goat jumped upon all the company impartially.

Robineau was gazing with a terrified expression at the goat and the shepherd. Alfred and Edouard began by laughing at his face, while the old man cried:

"What's got into you all?"

"Why, Claudine woke me up by yelling like one possessed," said the shepherd.

"Pardi!" said Claudine, "I cried for I felt something--I mean someone, and I wanted to find out what it was."

"What were you there for, so close to my wife?" the shepherd asked Robineau; "what made you leave your sheepskins?"

"Faith, my dear friends," said Robineau, emerging entirely from beneath the straw, "I really don't know just how it happened; but something woke me up,--I felt a long beard and something walked on me."

"Ha! ha! it was the old goat that woke you, Robineau, and you took him for the devil or the little sorceress, I'll bet!"

Robineau opened his eyes to their fullest extent, stared at the goat and cried:

"What! was it that infernal beast? That's what comes of sleeping in a Noah's Ark!"

"Well, well!" said Claudine, "I don't see as there's any great harm done after all. You got frightened, that's all."

"That is all, absolutely!" rejoined Robineau, with a furtive glance at Claudine, who cried:

"Pardi! it wa'n't worth while to wake up the whole house for such a little thing! But look you, monsieur, next time you'd better try not to throw yourself down on us so sudden like; because it--it surprises a body, you see."

Robineau apologized anew and returned to his sheepskins, happy to have escaped so cheaply. The Auvergnats went to bed again, and so did Alfred and Edouard, laughing over the adventure of the goat; and this time Robineau laughed with them.

The rest of the night was uneventful. At daybreak everybody was out of bed. The young men accepted a jug of milk and prepared to resume their journey. Claude himself offered to serve as their guide and to show them the White House, for he was brave enough to pa.s.s it in broad daylight.

Our three travellers left the house therefore, after rewarding the Auvergnats for their hospitality. As she bowed to Robineau, Claudine bestowed upon him a furtive little smile of which many a city coquette would not have been ashamed.

IX

ISAURE

The three friends walked gayly on, admiring the dawn, which is much finer in the mountains than when seen from a window in Paris, or from the gravelled path of a garden. Claude went ahead to lead the way; and Robineau, his spirits lightened by the certainty that he would soon see his chateau, rubbed his hands and smiled, apparently at his thoughts.

Alfred and Edouard joked their companion on the smile he had received from the Auvergnate on taking his leave of her; and, as they recalled the equivocal situation in which they had found him in the middle of the night, they put forward certain conjectures. Robineau defended himself smilingly, with an air of gratified self-esteem; then pointed to the shepherd who was ahead of them, saying:

"Hush, messieurs, I beg; you will compromise me!"

Suddenly the shepherd halted and called out to them:

"There's the White House!"

They were on the slope of a hill, and at the point where the mountaineer had stopped, the road made a bend, disclosing a lovely valley, with vineyards and fields, and with many tall shade-giving trees which added variety to the picture.

Alfred and Edouard hastened to the shepherd's side. They saw in the centre of the valley a pretty house, built after the modern style, having a ground floor and an upper-story with a mansard roof. A wall of considerable length, beginning at the left side of the house, enclosed the garden, which was evidently very large.

"What! is that the haunted house?" Alfred asked the shepherd. "Why, really, it is not terrifying to look at. The location is delightful; this valley is a charming spot, and if the devil has taken up his abode here, we must agree that he has excellent taste."

The shepherd made no reply, but contented himself with looking at the house with a timid expression. Robineau, who had remained behind, cried:

"I'd much rather see La Roche-Noire than all your peasants' hovels!"

"Where is young Isaure's house?" Edouard asked.

"Yonder, messieurs, near the White House. Don't you see? here on your right."

"Oh, yes! A rustic house of most attractive aspect, surrounded by fine trees, and with flowers in the windows.--So that is where the little sorceress lives!--But let us go on, let us go down into the valley; we shall have a better view at close quarters."

They kept on to the foot of the hill; but the mountaineer no longer walked ahead; he remained near the travellers, and they observed that he was guiding them toward a road which, while it led through the valley, did not directly pa.s.s the White House.

"I will act as guide now," said Alfred, "for I see, my good man, that you are leading us away from the place we wish to see."

"Why, messieurs, I'm taking you by the road that leads to Saint-Amand, and you don't need to go right by the White House."

"Worthy Claude is right," said Robineau; "for after all, messieurs, it isn't this house, where n.o.body lives, that we're going to, but my chateau."

"And I tell you I don't propose to pa.s.s through this valley, close by this famous habitation, without having a good look at it.--Come, Edouard, let us go to the right."

Alfred and Edouard walked rapidly in the direction of the White House; the shepherd followed them with a hesitating step, and Robineau brought up the rear, consigning his companions to the devil.

They arrived in front of that house, which the mountaineers never mentioned without a thrill of terror. Claude halted ten paces away, having no inclination to go any nearer. Robineau remained with Claude and seated himself on the gra.s.s, saying:

"Go on, messieurs, satisfy your curiosity, although I don't see anything very curious about the house. It was not worth while to turn aside from our road for this. Upon my word, you act like schoolboys."

Paying no heed to Robineau, Alfred and Edouard went close to the house.

The ground-floor windows were closed by shutters, those on the first floor by blinds only. The young men examined everything with interest; and, when they came to the front door, where there was an iron knocker, Alfred cried:

"Parbleu! we must make sure whether there is anyone in this pretty little house."

As he spoke, he seized the knocker and was about to knock, when the shepherd, who had not lost sight of him, cried out in dismay:

"Monsieur! monsieur! don't knock! oh! don't do anything like that!"

"Why not, pray, my friend?" said Alfred with a laugh; "if there's no one here, what difference does it make whether I knock or not? And if there are people here, we shall make the acquaintance of the proprietor, and he will excuse travellers for so trifling a liberty."

"No matter!" cried Robineau, "it's most improper to knock; indeed, it's absurd, and----"

Robineau's sentence was interrupted by the sound of the knocker, with which Alfred was belaboring the door. At the sound the shepherd retreated even farther, in dire alarm; he evidently expected that some terrifying creature would open the door. Robineau turned pale and hummed a tune. Alfred and Edouard listened; but the blows of the knocker echoed inside the house and finally died away, unanswered.

"No one!" said Edouard.

"Let us try again," said Alfred. He knocked twice more in quick succession, louder than before; but the blows were followed by the same silence.