Stranica 57 [57]
VON: AND FENEE TE
Sometimes the door swung open with him in the street;
sometimes it flew back and crushed him against the wall.
He swung backward and forward, screaming, swearing,
weeping, and praying, but all in vain; the door was deaf,
and Finette asleep.
At daybreak his hands unclasped and he fell in the road
head foremost. Without waiting to finish his errand, he
ran as if the Moors were after him. He did not even turn
round, for fear that the door might be at his heels. Fortu¬
nately for him, all were still asleep when he reached the
village, and he could hide himself in bed without any one
seeing his deplorable plight. This was a great piece of
good fortune for him, for he was covered with whitewash
from head to foot, and so pale, haggard, and trembling
that he might have been taken for the ghost of a miller
escaped from the infernal regions.
When Finette opened her eyes she saw by her bedside
a tall man dressed in black, with a velvet cap and a sword.
It was the seneschal of the barony of Kerver. He stood
with his arms folded, gazing at Finette in a way that chilled
the very marrow of her bones.
" What is your name, vassal?” said he, in a voice of
thunder.
" Fimette, at your service, my lord,” replied she, trembling.
" [s this house and furniture yours? "
" Yes, my lord, everything, at your service."
OO