"No, no, that"s pretty too, but I mean the trees. Look up, Jeanne, do."
There was no moonlight, but the light from the windows streamed out to where the children stood, and shone upon the beautiful icicles on the branches above their heads. For the tonnelle was a kind of arbour--a long covered pa.s.sage made by trees at each side, whose boughs had been trained to meet and interlace overhead. And now, with their fairy tracery of snow and frost, the effect of the numberless little branches forming a sparkling roof was pretty and fanciful in the extreme. Jeanne looked up as she was told.
"Yes," she said, "it"s pretty. If it was moonlight it would be prettier still, for then we could see right along the tonnelle to the end."
"I don"t think that _would_ be prettier," said Hugh; "the dark at the end makes it look so nice--like as if it was a fairy door into some queer place--a magic cavern, or some place like that."
"So it does," said Jeanne. "What nice fancies you have, Cheri! But I wish you could see the tonnelle in summer. It _is_ pretty then, with all the leaves on. But we must run quick, or else Marcelline will be calling us before we have got to the chicken-house."
Off she set again, and Hugh after her, though not so fast, for Jeanne knew every step of the way, and poor Hugh had never been in the garden before. It was not very far to go, however--the chickens" house was in a little courtyard just a few steps from the tonnelle, and guided by Jeanne"s voice in front as much as by the faint glimpses of her figure, dark against the snow, Hugh soon found himself safe beside her at the door of the chickens" house. Jeanne felt about till she got hold of the latch, which she lifted, and was going to push open the door and enter when Hugh stopped her.
"Jeanne," he said, "it"s _quite_ dark. We can"t possibly see the chickens. Hadn"t we better wait till to-morrow, and put Nibble in the cupboard, as Marcelline said, for to-night?"
"Oh no," said Jeanne. "It doesn"t matter a bit that it"s dark." She opened the door as she spoke, and gently pulled Hugh in after her.
"Look," she went on, "there is a very, very little light from the kitchen window after all, when the door is opened. Look, Cheri, up in that corner sleep Houpet and the others. Put the cochon de Barbarie down here--so--that will do. He will be quite safe here, and you feel it is not cold."
"And are there no rats, or naughty dogs about--nothing like that?" asked Hugh rather anxiously.
"Of course not," replied Jeanne. "Do you think I"d leave Houpet here if there were? I"ll call to Houpet now, and tell him to be kind to the little cochon."
"But Houpet"s asleep, and, besides, how would he know what you say?"
objected Hugh.
For all answer Jeanne gave a sort of little whistle--half whistle, half coo it was. "Houpet, Houpet," she called softly, "we"ve brought a little cochon de Barbarie to sleep in your house. You must be very kind to him--do you hear, Houpet dear? and in the morning you must fly down and peep in at his cage and tell him you"re very glad to see him."
A faint, a very faint little rustle was heard up above in the corner where Jeanne had tried to persuade her cousin that the chickens were to be _seen_, and delighted at this evidence that any way they were to be _heard_, she turned to him triumphantly.
"That"s Houpet," she said. "Dear little fellow, he"s too sleepy to crow--he just gives a little wriggle to show that he"s heard me. Now put down the cage, Cheri--oh, you have put it down--and let"s run in again.
Your pet will be quite safe, you see, but if we"re not quick, Marcelline will be running out to look for us."
She felt about for Hugh"s hand, and having got it, turned to go. But she stopped to put her head in again for a moment at the door.
"Houpet, dear," she said, "don"t let Dudu come into your house. If he tries to, you must fly at him and scold him and peck him."
"Who is Dudu?" said Hugh, as they were running back to the house together along the snowy garden path.
"He is----" began Jeanne. "Hush," she went on, in a lower voice, "there he is! I do believe he heard what I said, and he"s angry." For right before them on the path stood the old raven, on one leg as usual, though this it was too dark to see clearly. And, as Jeanne spoke, he gave a sharp, sudden croak, which made both the children jump, and then deliberately hopped away.
"He"s a raven!" said Hugh with surprise. "Why, what funny pets you have, Jeanne!"
Jeanne laughed.
"Dudu isn"t my pet," she said. "I don"t like him. To tell you the truth, Cheri, I"m rather frightened of him. I think he"s a sort of a fairy."
Hugh looked much impressed, but not at all surprised.
"Do you really, Jeanne?" he said.
"Yes," she said, "I do. And I"m not _sure_ but that Grignan is too. At least I think Grignan is enchanted, and that Dudu is the spiteful fairy that did it. Grignan is the tortoise, you know."
"Yes," said Hugh, "you told me about him. I do wonder if what you think is true," he added reflectively. "We must try to find out, Jeanne."
"But we mustn"t offend Dudu," said Jeanne. "He might, you know, turn _us_ into something--two little mice, perhaps--that wouldn"t be very nice, would it, Cheri?"
"I don"t know," Hugh replied. "I wouldn"t mind for a little, if he would turn us back again. We could get into such funny places and see such funny things--couldn"t we, Jeanne?"
They both laughed merrily at the idea, and were still laughing when they ran against Marcelline at the door which they had left open at the end of the tonnelle.
"My children!" she exclaimed. "Monsieur Cheri and Mademoiselle Jeanne!
Where have you been? And in the snow too! Who would have thought it?"
Her tone was anxious, but not cross. She hurried them in to the warm fire, however, and carefully examined their feet to make sure that their shoes and stockings were not wet.
"Marcelline is very kind," said Hugh, fixing his soft blue eyes on the old nurse in surprise. "At home, grandmamma"s maid would have scolded me dreadfully if I had run out in the snow."
"Yes," said Jeanne, flinging her arms round the old nurse"s neck, and giving her a kiss first on one cheek then on the other; "she is very kind. Nice little old Marcelline."
"Perhaps," said Hugh, meditatively, "she remembers that when she was a little girl she liked to do things like that herself."
"I don"t believe you ever were a little girl, were you, Marcelline?"
said Jeanne. "I believe you were always a little old woman like what you are now."
Marcelline laughed, but did not speak.
"Ask Dudu," she said at last. "If he is a fairy, he should know."
Jeanne p.r.i.c.ked up her ears at this.
"Marcelline," she said solemnly, "I believe you do know something about Dudu. Oh, _do_ tell us, dear Marcelline."
But nothing more was to be got out of the old nurse.
When the children were undressed, Jeanne begged leave to run into Hugh"s room with him to tuck him into bed, and make him feel at home the first night. There was no lamp in the room, but the firelight danced curiously on the quaint figures on the walls.
"You"re sure you"re not frightened, Cheri?" said little Jeanne in a motherly way, as she was leaving the room.
"Frightened! what is there to be frightened at?" said Hugh.
"The funny figures," said Jeanne. "Those peac.o.c.ks look just as if they were going to jump out at you."
"I think they look very nice," said Hugh. "I am sure I shall have nice dreams. I shall make the peac.o.c.ks give a party some night, Jeanne, and we"ll invite Dudu and Grignan, and Houpet and the two little hens, and Nibble, of course, and we"ll make them all tell stories."
Jeanne clapped her hands.
"Oh, what fun!" she exclaimed. "And you"ll ask me and let me hear the stories, won"t you, Cheri?"
"_Of course_," said Hugh. So Jeanne skipped off in the highest spirits.