not here just now? I thought he was saying his
Rosary.5
CI think I can hear him above us/ said Christophe,
*I think I can hear him walking about in your room'
I do not think he is praying.3
Marie listened: 'You are right.' Then an awful
premonition made her hastily fling aside her duster,
'We must see what he is doing/ she said breathlessly,
*I feel that we must see at once what he is doing!'
So together they hastened up to the bedroom.
There are some things in life that one never forgets,
that impress upon the mind indelible pictures. Neither
Christophe nor his mother were ever to forget the
apparition of le tout petit Loup that greeted their
eyes a minute later. He was standing quite still in
front of the mirror admiring his reflection, having
figged himself out in the clothes that Jouse had bought
for his brother.
{Hei —Bono Maire de DieuP breathed Marie.
She did not know whether to laugh or to cry,
whether to pity or to feel very angry, so grotesque was
the effect which he had produced, yet so obvious
was his self-satisfaction. Ai! las, ai! las, le pauvre
tout petit Loup, the short breeches hung almost down
to his ankles, the jacket appeared to be resting on
sticks, while the fine manly waistcoat, in spite of its
strap, stood out hollow and stiff from his concave
stomach. Ai! las, ai! las, le pauvre tout^petit Loup
with his wisp of a body —he looked like a scare-
crow.
But now Jouse had suddenly appeared on the scene:
'What is this?5 he roared, standing transfixed in the
doorway.
clt is that I am going to Communion!5 piped Loup;
and he resolutely turned and faced his parents.
cHo, ho!5 rumbled Jouse deep in his throat, cTake
those clothes off at once!5
216