"Do not get angry, sir! We shall not trouble you long."
"Make yourselves at home," replied Pierre, cordially; "but tell me," he continued, "who is this woman?"
Caillette, for she was the young woman, put her finger to her forehead, and looked significantly at the old woman.
"She is crazy," she whispered.
Pierre Labarre laid his hand over his eyes to hide his tears, but he could not prevent a nervous sob from shaking his broad frame.
"Tell me," he repeated softly, "who is the woman?"
"Ah! the poor woman has gone through a great deal of trouble," replied Caillette, sorrowfully. "She has lost her husband and her children, and was badly injured at a fire. Only a few weeks ago she could hardly move a limb, but since a short time her condition has wonderfully improved, and she can now walk, though not without assistance."
"But her name—what is she called?"
"Ah, my dear sir, I do not know her real name; the people who live in her neighborhood in Paris call her the 'Burned Woman,' and Louison calls her mamma or mother."