"And what would Martial say?"
"Oh! except for him I should have said 'yes' long ago, for I am tired of being flogged; now to-night, mother never was so wicked—she was like a fury—it was very dark, dark; she said not a word, I only felt her cold hand, which held me by the neck, while with the other she beat me, and I thought I saw her eyes glisten."
"Poor Francois! because you said you saw a dead man's bones in the wood-house?"
"Yes, a foot which stuck out of the earth," said Francois, shuddering with affright: "I am sure of it."
"Perhaps formerly there was a burying-ground there?"
"Must think so; but, then, why did mother say she would whip me again if I spoke of it to Martial? I tell you what, it is likely some one has been killed in a dispute, and been buried there so it should not be known." "You are right! for, do you remember, such a thing once liked to have happened?"
"When was that?"
"You know the time that Barbillon struck the man with the knife—the tall man, who is so thin—so thin that he shows himself for money?"
"Ah! yes, the Living Skeleton, as they call him; mother came and separated them, otherwise Barbillon would, perhaps, have killed the great skeleton! Did you see how he foamed, and how his eyes stuck out of his head?"
"Oh! he is not afraid to stick a knife into one for nothing."