tuate the black shadows; after which the children
must get up and go home, for the lamp always meant
the end of the stories*
Once out in the street Jan would talk very bravely:
CI do not believe in the Rato-Penado; and I do not
believe in that sorceress, or in anything else Eusebe
has told us. And if I did believe I should not be afraid
— I would merely sprinkle much holy water!3 Yes,
but then he might add: 'Christophe, come back with
me — let us do our lessons together this evening . . .'
For in spite of his faith the long street to the port would
seem uncommonly dark and lonely.
Sometimes Christophe would go with him, but at
other times he would lack the courage for his own
return journey. Yet they always begged for more
legends and more, so thrilling a story-teller was Eusebe,
§3
Marie very soon heard about what was happening
— indeed she could not well do otherwise, for le tout
petit Loup would now wake up screaming. But
when she forbade him to go near Eusebe — and for
her she spoke with comparative sternness — le tout
petit Loup made a terrible scene, stamping his foot
and protesting loudly.
'Je veux, je veux, je veuxl' he protested, and such
tempers always upset his digestion.
Jouse, who had much work on hand at the moment,
shrugged his shoulders and appeared to be utterly
helpless. And when Marie turned to his sister for
help:
'This is entirely your own faults/ snapped Madame
Roustan, *I warned you not to let your sons know the
old drunkard. Jan would never have known him had
it not been for you-—I consider that he has been
led astray by Christophe!9 After which she flounced
99