mystery of their past; above all these humble dwellings attested to the
antiquity of this rocky ground, so much older than the meadows of our
town which had been won from the sea, and where nothing that dates
before the time to Louis XIV is to be found.

As soon as we left Frelin I commenced to look eagerly along the path
ahead of me, for after that we usually spied Lucette, either afoot or
in a carriage, coming to meet us. As soon as I caught a glimpse of her I
would run ahead to embrace her.

On our way through the village we passed the tiny church, a wonder of
the twelfth century, built in the rarest and most ancient Romanesque
style;--and then as the shadows of evening deepened we saw, in the
semi-darkness before us, something that had the form of tall dark
legions: it was the forest of Limoise, composed almost wholly of
evergreen oaks, whose foliage is very dark and sombre. We then came into
the road leading directly to the house; on our way we passed the well
where the patient, thirsty cattle awaited their turn to drink. And
finally we opened the little old gate, and traversed the first grassy
courtyard which the shadowing trees, a century old, plunged into almost
total darkness.

The house lay between this courtyard and a large uncultivated garden
that extended to the edge of the oak forest. As we entered the ancient
dwelling, with its whitewashed walls and old-fashioned wainscoting, I
always looked eagerly for my butterfly-net that was usually to be found
hanging in the place where I had left it, ready for the next day's
chase.

After dinner it was our custom to go to the foot of the garden, and