We have not yet told her name. She had for her patron a great and holy doctor of the church, whose genius was especially sheltered under the protection of the Mother of God, the author of the Memorare, the illustrious St. Bernard. Following a fashion which has its charms, his great name, given to this humble peasant, had taken a childish and rustic form. The little maid bore a title as gracious and as pretty as herself. She was called Bernadette.
She followed her sister and companion through the fields that belong to the mill, and sought, but vainly, among the grass and shrubbery for some bits of wood to warm their family hearth. So Ruth or Noemi might have appeared, going to glean in the harvest-fields of Booz.
VII.
Straying in this manner, the three little girls reached the lower end of the Châlet opposite the triple cave, the grotto of Massabielle, which we have endeavored to describe. They were separated from it only by the mill-race, which bathes the foot of the cliffs, and whose current is usually very strong. To-day, however, the mill of Sâvy has stopped work, and the small quantity of water which leaks into the aqueduct makes but a slender stream, very easy to wade. The fallen branches of various trees lie thick among the rocks in this lonely and ordinarily inaccessible place. Rejoiced at this discovery, bustling and active as Martha, Jeanne and Marie took off their sabots, and in an instant were across the stream.
"The water is very cold," they cried as they hastily put on their wooden shoes.
It was the month of February, and these mountain torrents, fresh from the glacial snows, are always icy cold.
Bernadette, less alert or less eager, tarrying behind, was still on the nearer side of the stream. It was a more serious undertaking for her to cross. She wore stockings, while Jeanne and Marie had only to take off their sabots, in order to wade. Even before the exclamation of her companions, she feared the cold of the water.
"Throw in a couple of large stones," she cried, "so that I may go over without getting wet."
The two little girls, already engaged in making up a pair of fagots, did not wish to lose time by turning from their task.
"Do as we have done," said Jeanne, "take off your shoes."