"Poor child!" said Catherine; "I will run and help her. It will warm me."
Hullin gazing at her retreating figure could only mutter, "What a woman! What a woman!"
Dives and his men took the powder to the shed; and what was Jean-Claude's surprise, on approaching the nearest fire, to see the fool Yegof, his crown upon his head, gravely sitting upon a stone, his feet at the embers, and his rags draped around him like a royal mantle.
Nothing could be stranger than his figure. He was the only one waking there, and seemed a barbarian king surrounded by his sleeping horde.
Hullin, however, only saw the fool, and gently placing his hand upon his shoulder, said in a tone of ironical respect:
"Hail, Yegof! thou art come to offer us the aid of thine invincible arm and the help of thy numberless armies!"
The fool, without showing the least surprise, answered:
"That depends upon thee, Hullin. Thy fate and that of thy people around thee are in thy hands. I have checked my wrath, and I leave it to thee to pronounce the sentence."
"What sentence?" asked Jean-Claude.