Pagina 392 de 896

"He remains up there in his iron cage some days. The village

looks at him by stealth, for it is afraid. But it always looks

up, from a distance, at the prison on the crag; and in the

evening, when the work of the day is achieved and it assembles to

gossip at the fountain, all faces are turned towards the prison.

Formerly, they were turned towards the posting-house; now, they

are turned towards the prison. They whisper at the fountain, that

although condemned to death he will not be executed; they say

that petitions have been presented in Paris, showing that he was

enraged and made mad by the death of his child; they say that a

petition has been presented to the King himself. What do I know?

It is possible. Perhaps yes, perhaps no."