“The next joy will be the arrival of papa; then we shall all be at home together, all but dear grandfather. You learned about him and about poor little Annette, didn’t you?”
“I heard. It is very sad about Annette; she is so very young.”
“But I didn’t tell you about Mousse. He was prowling last night so you didn’t see him, but he has come back. Wasn’t it remarkable that he should have stayed all that time in the town? That first night, oh, mamma. I felt as if I should die. It was all so desolate, so forlorn. I found a piece of the blue dress you used to wear; it was down among the débris. It was only a bit of rag, and had been rained upon and shined upon till it was faded and queer, but it seemed like a part of you, and it almost broke my heart. Mother, mother, is it really you? Do you mind if I pinch you to see if you are flesh and blood?”
Her mother hugged her so closely as to prove herself no dream, whispering fond words all the while.
“And there is Pom Pom,” Lucie went on after a while. “I have a great deal to tell you about him. Oh, dear, I have just thought, I suppose I shall have to give him back to Victor.”
“Don’t you think Victor deserves that you should?”
“Oh, dear, yes. Mamma, if I begin to tell you everything about Victor, all the wonderful things he has done and what a wonderful friend he has been, we shall never get up for it will take till to-morrow morning. We shall have to select one subject each day. One day it will have to be Victor, another Pom Pom, another Paulette, another Odette, another Coin-du-Pres and Annette, and so on. I’m up!”
She sprang out of bed but continued to chatter away while she was dressing, then she ran down to see if the hens had laid any fresh eggs for her mother’s breakfast.
But it was not her father who next appeared on the scene; it was Jean. Though before this great things had taken place. The Allied armies’ victorious advance had brought them to the borders of peace, though it was not yet, and every one was excitedly expectant. October gave place to November, then, in a few days came the news of Austria’s desire to discuss an armistice. The end was near.
It was not long after this that Jean came. Lucie heard him talking to his mother in the garden, one morning very early. They were standing near the spot where the valuables were buried on that day of their flight. Paulette had cleared away the pile of dead branches. Lucie watched Jean strike his spade into the damp earth, and dig on steadily till he had come to one of the boxes. Lucie could stand it no longer, but slipped into her dress, threw something warm over her and ran down to view the unearthing. She called to Odette on the way and the two came out together.