Folle-Farine, by 'Ouida'. Book

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 148 FOLLE-FARINE. fell prostrate on the pavement of the court; caught up the metal pail which stood by ready filled, dashed the water over him where he lay, and turning from him without a word, walked across the courtyard slowly, and with a haughty grace in all the carriage of her bare limbs, and the folds of her ragged garments ; bearing the empty osier basket on her head, deaf as the stones around to the screams of the sacristan and his mother. In these secluded cloisters, and in the high noontide, when all were sleeping or eating in the cool shelter of their darkened houses, the old woman's voice remained unheard. The saints heard, no doubt, but they were too lazy to stir from their niches in that sultry noontide; except the baying of a chained dog aroused, there was no answer to the outcry, and Folle-Farine passed out into the market place unarrested, and not meeting another living creature. As she turned into one of the squares that led to the open country, she saw in the distance one of the guardians of the peace of the town moving quickly towards the cloisters, with his glittering lace shining in. the sun, and his long scabbard clattering upon the stones. She laughed a little as she saw. " They will not come after me," she said to herself. " They are too afraid of the devil." She judged rightly; they did not come. She crossed all the wide scorching square, whose white stones blazed in the glare of the sun. There was nothing in sight except a stray cat prowling in a corner, and three sparrows quarrelling over a foul-smelling heap of refuse. The quaint old houses round seemed all asleep, with the shutters closed like tired eyelids over their little, dim, aged, orbs of windows. The gilded vanes on their twisted chimneys, and carved parapets, point...Read More