صفحة 196 من 483

"I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep. I thought of the

occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me was the gentle

manners of these people, and I longed to join them, but dared

not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night

before from the barbarous villagers, and resolved, whatever

course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue,

that for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching

and endeavouring to discover the motives which influenced their

actions.

"The cottagers arose the next morning before the sun. The young

woman arranged the cottage and prepared the food, and the youth

departed after the first meal.