The Curly-Haired Hen by Auguste Vimar
page 12 of 45 (26%)
page 12 of 45 (26%)
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emerging from her shroud like Lazarus from his tomb! Yollande
risen from the dead! A cry of anguish burst from the heart of kind Mother Etienne. "Yollande, oh, Yollande!" The Cochin-China replied by a long shudder. This is what had happened. On falling into the water, Yollande after struggling fiercely succumbed to syncope, and her lungs ceasing to act she had ceased to breathe, so the water had not entered her lungs. That is why she was not drowned. Life was, so to speak, suspended. The syncope lasted some time. The considerable heat to which she was subjected when Germaine held her above the flaming newspaper had brought about a healthy reaction and in the solitude of the kitchen she had recovered consciousness. After the first moment of terror was over, Germaine confessed her plan to Mother Etienne, who, glad to find Yollande still alive, forgave Germaine the disobedience which had saved her. But the hen was still shivering, shaking in every limb, her skin all goose-flesh. Dragging after her her travesty of a tail, she jumped onto the kitchen-table which she shook with her shivering. "We can't leave her like that any longer," said Mother Etienne, "we must cover her up somehow," and straightway she wrapped her up in all the cloths she could lay her hands on. Germaine prepared |
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