The child replied in the same language and in a voice of indignation, but the woman was about to carry her from the room, when the little one struggled to the floor, and taking a piece of money from a small purse at her girdle, she crossed the floor and laid it on baby Mary's breast. Then turning with a brief "Good night" to the others, she followed her grotesque attendant from the room. "Now I wonder," said Le Glorieux, "if that woman is kidnapping the child?" "I think not," said the innkeeper. "That was the woman who came with her to the inn, though she did not look like herself in that garb." "To come before a large company in her nightcap like that was disgraceful," said one of the women. "She was too agitated to think of her appearance," said the friar. "I think she was very much annoyed at the little one for coming down here alone." "As if we were ogres to swallow her!" cried the innkeeper's mother indignantly. "She has given our little one a fine present," said the baby's mother, examining the coin by the rush light. "Husband, it is gold!" "That child is not an ordinary person; I have said so all along," said the host, with conviction. Then a lively discussion followed, some of the women, and indeed some of the men also, declaring that the authorities should be notified and the matter investigated in order to find if the child were being carried off and away from her home in an unlawful manner. "My friends," said Le Glorieux, "perhaps the advice of a fool is worth nothing, but such as it is you are welcome to it. I always have found that when in doubt as to what course to pursue, you will be convinced that the best plan is to go ahead and attend strictly to your own affairs. That beautiful child knows just why she is here, and it is not against her will, for she had ample time to tell us her troubles and to ask our aid if she cared to do so before that old bird of prey swooped down upon her. So let us go to bed and to sleep, for some of us, at least this boy and myself, must be up bright and early and away before the dew is off the grass." And so the guests departed to their several homes or to their rooms in the inn, while the host blew out the lights, closed the lattice, and secured the door. And the nightingales sang on undisturbed. CHAPTER III AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING As the Lady Clotilde and her train were about to ride away the next morning, Le Glorieux said to Antoine, "I think I will go back to the shrine of Saint Roch. You may wait for me. It is only a little way and we can soon overtake the others." "But why do you wish to visit the shrine?" asked the boy. "I want to say a little prayer for the gout." "I never heard you complain of the gout." "And small wonder, for I have not a sign of it." "Then why do you want to pray to be cured of a malady which you never had?"