"Yes, it is I," replied the old farm-mistress, in a calm tone. "I am come to talk a little with you, Jean-Claude. Is Louise gone out?"
"She is spending the evening with Madeline Rochart."
"That is well."
Then Catherine threw back her hood, and came and sat down beside the bench. Hullin looked at her steadfastly; he was struck by an appearance of something at once extraordinary and mysterious.
"What is the matter?" said he, laying down his hammer.
Instead of replying to this question, the old woman, looking towards the door, seemed to be listening; then, hearing nothing, she resumed her musing look.
"The fool Yégof passed last night at the farm," said she.
"He came to see me, too, this afternoon," said Hullin, without attaching any importance to this fact, which seemed to him of no moment.
"Yes," replied the old woman, in a low tone, "he passed the night at our house, and yesterday evening, at this hour, in the kitchen, before everybody, that man, that madman, related the most fearful things to us!"