"Oh, madame, what places him above all the rest of the world is the elevation of his character, his inexhaustible generosity towards those who suffer, the enthusiasm which he inspires in every one. The wicked, even, cannot hear his name without trembling, and respect as much as they dread him! But forgive me, madame, for still speaking of him. I ought to be silent, for I seek to give you an adequate idea of him who ought to be adored in silence. I might as well try to express by words the goodness of Heaven!" "This comparison--" "Is, perhaps, sacrilegious, madame; but will it offend the good God to compare to him one who has given me the consciousness of good and evil, one who has snatched me from the abyss, one, in fact, to whom I owe a new existence?" "I do not blame you, my child; I can understand all your noble exaggerations. But how was it that you abandoned this farm, where you must have been so happy?" "Alas, not voluntarily, madame!" "Who, then, forced you away?" "One evening, some days since," said Fleur-de-Marie, trembling even as she spoke, "I was going towards the parsonage-house in the village, when a wicked woman, who had used me very cruelly during my infancy, and a man, her accomplice, who had concealed themselves in a ravine, threw themselves upon me, and, after having gagged me, carried me off in a hackney-coach." "For what purpose?" "I know not, madame. My ravishers, as I think, were acting in conformity to orders from some powerful personages." "What followed this?" "Scarcely was the hackney-coach in motion, than the wicked creature, who is called La Chouette, exclaimed, 'I have some vitriol here, and I'll rub La Goualeuse's face, to disfigure her with it!'" "Oh, horrible! Unhappy girl! And who has saved you from this danger?" "The woman's confederate, a blind man called the Schoolmaster." "And he defended you?" "Yes, madame, this and another time also. On this occasion there was a struggle between him and La Chouette: exerting his strength, the Schoolmaster compelled her to throw out of window the bottle which held the vitriol. This was the first service he rendered me, after having, however, aided in carrying me off. The night was excessively dark. At the end of an hour and a half the coach stopped, as I think, on the highroad which traverses the Plain St. Denis, and here was a man on horseback, evidently awaiting us. 'What!' said he, 'have you got her at last?' 'Yes, we've got her,' answered La Chouette, who was furious because she had been hindered from disfiguring me. 'If you wish to get rid of the little baggage at once, it will be a good plan to stretch her on the ground, and let the coach wheels pass over her skull. It will appear as if she had been accidentally killed.'" "You make me shudder."