Stranica 55 [55]
PON AND: NINE TLE
spell upon him, she hastened to the seashore, where, for¬
getting everything else, she watched for Yvon in vain.
The moment that the sun set, the tongs fell from the
steward’s hands. He did not stop to finish his errand,
but ran as if the devil or justice were at his heels. He
made such leaps, he uttered such groans, he was so black¬
ened, scorched, and benumbed, that every one in the
village was afraid of him, thinking that he was mad. The
boldest tried to speak to him, but he fled without answering,
and hid himself in his house, more ashamed than a wolf that
has left his paw in the trap.
At evening, when Finette returned home in despair,
instead of the steward she found another visitor little less
formidable. The bailiff had heard the story of the guineas
and had also made up his mind to marry the stranger.
He was not rough, like the steward, but a fat, good-natured
man that could not speak without bursting into a laugh,
showing his great yellow teeth, and puffing and blowing
hike an ox, though at heart he was not less obstinate or less
threatening than his predecessor. Finette entreated the
bailiff to leave her alone. He laughed, and hinted to her,
in a good-natured way, that, by right of his office, he had
the power to imprison and hang people without process of
law. She clasped her hands and begged him with tears
to go. For his only answer, he took a roll of parchment
from his pocket, wrote on it a contract of marriage, and
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