CHAPTER VII
MARAUCOURT AT LAST
THINGS came to pass as La Rouquerie had arranged. For eight days Perrine ran through the streets of the villages and towns crying out: "Rabbit skins! Rags! Bones!"
"You've got a voice that would make yer famous for this here business," said La Rouquerie admiringly, as Perrine's clear treble was heard in the streets. "If yer'd stay with me you'd be doin' me a service and yer wouldn't be unhappy. You'd make a livin'. Is it a go?"
"Oh, thank you, but it's not possible," replied Perrine.
Finding that the reasons she advanced were not sufficient to induce Perrine to stay with her, La Rouquerie put forth another:
"And yer wouldn't have to leave Palikare."
This was a great grief, but Perrine had made up her mind.
"I must go to my relations; I really must," she said.
"Did your relatives save yer life, like that there donkey?" insisted La Rouquerie.