“And is Denise married?”
“No, monsieur.—Well, are you coming?”
After a moment’s hesitation, the stranger decided to follow the child, who took his hand and led him into the house.
“Denise! Denise!” cried Coco, “here’s some company! here’s a gentleman, who’s hungry!—You are hungry, ain’t you?—Denise, come, I say!”
But Denise was at the end of the garden and did not hear the child’s voice; so he ran to the thicket of shrubbery to fetch her, and the stranger slowly followed him.
“Dear Denise,” said Coco, “I just saw a man on the road who looked very unhappy, and I asked him to come into the house; we’ll give him some supper, won’t we?”
“Yes, my dear.”
“I did well to bring him in, for he looks as if he was poor; and yet he didn’t beg.”
“Yes, you did well; let’s go to him.”
“Look, he has followed me—there he is.”