Volume I Part 54 (2/2)

The peasant led them past the railroad station, which is on the road from Ch.e.l.les to Gournay. Beyond the station they found themselves on a fine road bordered by tall poplars and enclosed by ditches filled with water, which prevented pa.s.sers-by from walking in the fields on the other side of the ditches.

Both to the right and left the country was flat for some distance; it was a beautiful valley interspersed with coverts arranged for the express purpose of affording the game a place of rest and shelter.

”This is a very fine road,” said Agathe, after they had been walking on it for ten minutes, ”but it is too straight, too monotonous; I don't like roads where you never can tell whether you are going forward; is it like this very much longer?”

”No, mamzelle. Look; where you see that stone on the left, we make a turn, and then we shall have Gournay before us, and the view is more varied.”

In fact, after turning to the left, they could see the Marne, whose placid green waters conceal many rocks dangerous to vessels and to bathers. The outlook was charming: on the left they saw a mill which reached boldly to the very centre of the river, supported by numerous piles. There were obstructions, too, to warn boatmen that they must not venture near, and that the pa.s.sage was dangerous when it was not impossible. And the water, pa.s.sing over these obstructions, formed cascades and waterfalls which gave life to the picture; while numerous little islands above the mill added still more to the charm of the landscape.

In another direction a tall hedge enclosed a park belonging to an estate called the _Maison Blanche_; then there were more pastures and fields and coverts.

”Ah! this is lovely!” exclaimed the girl, when she saw the river. ”How pretty the water is, my dear! it makes a landscape beautiful instantly.

I don't call those horrid ditches by the roadside water. We will come here often to walk, won't we, Honorine?”

”It's rather far from Ch.e.l.les; however, we shall come here, no doubt.”

”I intend to learn to fish, my dear; you must teach me the way.”

”But I know no more about it than you do!”

”Never fear,” said the peasant; ”when you have a stout line, and when you've found out a place where there's fish, it goes all alone; but you'll have to buy a license though.”

”What bridge is that ahead of us?”

”That bridge leads to Gournay, then to Noisy-le-Grand, then to Montfermeil, if you choose; but you have to pay to cross; it's a toll, a charge--I don't know what they call it; but it's a sou each. It seems that it cost three hundred thousand francs to build, and they want to get the money back; there's eighty years still that we've got to pay, but after that we can pa.s.s for nothing. As I don't like to put out a sou, I don't often cross; I'm waiting till it's free.”

”Don't be afraid,” said Honorine with a smile; ”we will pay for you.”

”Oh! it ain't worth while; we haven't got to cross the bridge to get to Guillot's field; it's to our left, on the bank of the river.”

”But while we are here, I should be glad to know what there is on the other side of the bridge.”

”Bless my soul! there's nothing but Gournay, a small village, a quiet little place that don't make much noise in the world. Bless me! there's only a hundred and twenty-five to a hundred and thirty people, at most, and you can guess it ain't likely to be as lively as Paris!”

”True; and if all the villages roundabout are as small, I understand why we have not met, or even seen, a single living being since we left Ch.e.l.les. Doesn't it seem strange to you, Agathe, to walk for three-quarters of an hour in the country without meeting anyone?”

”Yes, my dear; but I have been fancying that I was walking on my own property, and that all the land in sight belonged to me.”

”Indeed, one might well have that illusion. See: even on the river, although it is very beautiful, there is not a vessel in sight: no steamboats, no barges, no skiffs, no washerwomen, not even a single fisherman on the sh.o.r.e! It's as deserted as the surrounding country!”

”Oh! sometimes there's loads of wood go down the Marne; I've seen 'em!”

”Those must be noteworthy days.”

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