"Only think of that," he whispered. "Ain't it just wonderful?"
"Hush," said Phil, "let's hear it out."
"Said thy daughter nought of coming over to France to see thee?" asked the big Bernadine.
"Pardon; yes she did say that she and her husband were trying to scrape together money enough to bring her over, for it is three full years since she left with the English family, and she is a dutiful daughter, God be thanked, and would fain see her old parents again."
"And will it be soon, thinkest thou, good mother?"
"I cannot tell for sure, but it may be soon. The troupe are near Southampton now, and thence, I have heard, sail many English vessels for la France. But who knows if Marie will get the money for her voyage?"
"Knowest thou, mother Sophie," said a man who had not hitherto spoken a word, "that if Marie be caught by the police of the country, she could be severely punished for stealing that child?"
"Ah, sayest thou so, Pierre?"
"Yes, it is a dangerous thing to do, and I wonder much that she has escaped till now."
"She wrote me that, for safety's sake, she burned all the little boy's clothes, and dressed him in her own baby's things. And also, for the first month, she coloured his skin and hair with walnut juice and water, to make him dark like her own child. After that the troupe moved so far away, that she thought all danger was past."