"Do you want to go, young ’uns?"

The boys seemed to hesitate; at last the oldest one said in an undertone:

"We should have to pass the White House!"

"The White House!" said Alfred, "what’s that? Is it an inn?"

The peasants shook their heads.

"Is it a farm-house, or a wine-shop?" asked Edouard.

The peasants still said nothing, and Robineau muttered between his teeth:

"These clowns are terribly stupid!"

At last the old man drew nearer to the travellers and said in a low voice:

"The White House is a place that I don’t much like in the daytime, and still less at night! It’s a dangerous place! All the accidents happen near there! in fact, it’s a bewitched place!"