Hearing the tumult in the kitchen, Coucou Peter immediately returned; and what was his surprise when Mother Jacob, leading him to the little window, pointed out Mathéus to him, and related the miracle which the good man had worked! He was on the point of bursting into a boisterous fit of laughter; but suddenly he pressed his sides and drew in his cheeks. “Ah!” he cried, “is it possible? That’s what I saw, then!” The neighbours all pressed about him and inquired what he had seen. Then Coucou Peter gravely related that, having passed by the kitchen-door, he had seen a white form—a sort of angel—turning a spit. “I saw it as plainly as I see you,” he said to Mother Jacob. And the good women all looked at one another in mute astonishment. Not one of them had courage to answer a word; they stole out on tiptoe without making the least noise, and news of the miracle quickly spread throughout Haslach. When the time arrived for serving up the dinner, Mother Jacob hardly thought herself worthy to touch the lid of one of the saucepans; every moment she turned her head, fancying the angel was behind her, and her two servants were equally flurried. In this manner Coucou Peter, for the sake of insuring the triumph of the doctrine, deceived the whole town of Haslach, and precipitated the illustrious Doctor Frantz Mathéus, his master, into a new series of extraordinary and marvellous adventures. CHAPTER XIII. Precisely at noon the procession was finished. The curés, the choristers, the beadles, the women, children, townspeople, and pilgrims, mingled together, re-entered Haslach—some to sit down to a good dinner moistened with white wine, beer, and coffee; others to eat their provisions on the corner of a fountain, or on the stone bench outside a public-house. The illustrious philosopher felt that the time to preach was come. Coucou Peter, coming into the dining-room, said to him— “Master, sit down at the head of the table; I’ll place myself on your right hand, to sustain the doctrine.” Frantz Mathéus seated himself at the place pointed out to him by his disciple, at the head of the table, in front of the windows. The room was very quickly filled by a crowd of people, come from all parts of Alsace and Lorraine—all worthy peasants who lodged at the Three Roses, and thought nothing of thirty sous for a good dinner. There were also some mountaineers, amongst whom were Dame Thérèse and Hans Aden; these seated themselves on the right of Coucou Peter, who took in his left hand the large horn-handled carving-knife and fork to cut up the joints. Soup having been served, the dinner began in silence. Dame Thérèse, with her child upon her knees, appeared very happy in being near Coucou Peter, who attended to her with the greatest care, and gave her the nicest pieces.