"Wait a moment," said Marianne, "he will come back to me. Gervais!
Gervais!"
And after a little hesitation, a false start, the child did indeed
return, taking the four steps afresh, with arms extended and beating the
air as if they were balancing-poles.
"Gervais! Gervais!" called Mathieu in his turn. And the child went back
to him; and again and again did they want him to repeat the journey, amid
their mirthful cries, so pretty and so funny did they find him.
Then, seeing that the four other children began playing rather roughly
with him in their enthusiasm, Marianne carried him away. And once more,
on the same spot, on the young grass, did she give him the breast. And
again did the stream of milk trickle forth.
Close by that spot, skirting the new field, there passed a crossroad, in
rather bad condition, leading to a neighboring village. And on this road
a cart suddenly came into sight, jolting amid the ruts, and driven by a
peasant--who was so absorbed in his contemplation of the land which
Mathieu had cleared, that he would have let his horse climb upon a heap
of stones had not a woman who accompanied him abruptly pulled the reins.
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