unnerving. The moment the shop door was opened
she shot in and proceeded to put her front paws on the
counter. Now Mireio was a very large bitch indeed,
and she fixed Madame Roustan with a pair of brown
eyes that were somehow no longer apologetic.
<Va t'en! Mais, va t'en!3 Madame Roustan com-
manded in a voice which she tried hard to keep from
trembling.
Whereupon Mireio displayed her fangs — although
this she did simply because she must smile, for as
every stray cur in Saint Loup was aware, Madame
Roustan could never support words with deeds, being
terrified of the whole canine species. But after a
moment the smile died away and Mireio settled
doggedly down to business; and her business consisted
of ransacking the shop, then the scullery and kitchen
in search of Christophe, which she did with remark-
able thoroughness, upsetting a new can of oil in the
process. But since Christophe was seemingly being
concealed, and the door at the foot of the stairs had
been closed, it very soon roused Mireio's suspicions;
quite naturally, therefore, she used her strong claws
with devastating results to the paintwork.
cAi! las, ai! las/ Madame Roustan kept wailing, for
already she must mend every gutter on the house, and
that door had but recently been repainted. cAi! las,
that my poor Geoffroi should have died; he would
never have allowed me to be so put upon. How help-
less is the woman who has lost her husband!5 And she
actually started to wring her plump hands while her
eyes filled with large, childish tears of self-pity.
Then Mireio sat down rather suddenly, and, stretch-
ing her thin neck over her shoulder, she proceeded
to hunt for the greedy ticks that sucked so much life-
blood out of her body.
At this moment who should stroll in but Gouadran;
he had come to buy needles, cottons, and buttons
43