The girl opened the connecting door, and came, drying the plate in her hands without looking at him.
"I am afraid that Mathurin may go back to see her——"
"Oh, father, he would not do that. Besides, he cannot have his shoes, and he dare not appear at La Seulière" ... stooping, she searched under Mathurin's bed, then in the chest, then said as she rose:
"Yes. He has taken them ... he must have put them on beforehand ... the first sound of the horn came at six o'clock."
The old father began pacing the room with great strides, stopping uneasily from minute to minute to listen for the sound of crutches on the gravel that should announce Mathurin's return.
CHAPTER XI.
THE DANCE AT LA SEULIÈRE
Toussaint Lumineau's uneasiness was well founded. His two sons had gone down to the meadow, where the dyke, widening, served as a drinking place for the animals on the farm, and as a harbour for the two punts belonging to it.
There André had offered no resistance when Mathurin had said: