"What did she say to you?"
"She asked for bread, and ate it without a word. Then, just as she saw you, she asked me where some village was. I never heard the name before."
The old woman now came to meet Caillette.
"Leigoutte!" she said. "Leigoutte!"
"Leigoutte!" repeated Caillette, "that is Fanfar's village."
The old woman shook her head, she did not know the name.
"I mean Leigoutte is where Jacques came from."
"Yes—yes—Jacques. I must save Jacques and the box!"
What was going on in the impaired mind of Françoise? Fanfar's sudden appearance had carried her memory back to the last interview she had with Simon, when, our readers will remember, he had given his wife the papers that proved his birth and that of Jacques. And now Françoise had but one idea, to return to Leigoutte. In vain did Caillette urge her to return to Paris, and the girl had promised Fanfar not to leave his mother. She therefore went on toward Germany with her. Fortunately, a wagoner took pity on these two women, and took them up. In this way they reached Leigoutte. Françoise was silent, except a few low words that she muttered under her breath at long intervals. Caillette thought with despair of Fanfar, and his agony at his mother's disappearance.
Alas! poor girl, she did not know that the night when she and Françoise entered the inn at Leigoutte, Fanfar, alone in his prison, thought of his mother whom he had scarcely seen, and of the sister whom he had held in his arms. Ah! it was a bitter trial for the strong, faithful heart.