THE DEVIL'S POOL
passed," said she. "I will brush his clothes, wash his pretty face, and comb his hair, and when he looks neat and clean, you can present him to your new family."
"Who told you that I wish to go to Fourche?" answered Germain, petulantly. "Perhaps I shall not go."
"But truly, Germain, it is your duty to go there. You will go there," replied the girl.
"You seem very anxious to have me married off, so that you may be quite sure that I shall not trouble you again?"
"Germain, you must not think of that any more. It is an idea which came to you in the night, because this unfortunate mishap took away your spirits. But now you must come to your senses. I promise you to forget everything that you said to me, and not to breathe it to a soul."
"Oh, say what you wish. It is not my custom to deny what I have spoken. What I told you was true and honest, and I shall not blush for it before anybody."
"Yes, but if your wife were to know that just before you came you were thinking of another woman, it would prejudice her against you. So
102
