"Wait," said Pontcalec, "and listen, for now comes the terrible part. This winter--or rather last autumn--I say winter, because there was snow falling, though it was only in November--I was returning from Guer, and had ordered a halt at Pontcalec-des-Aulnes, after a day during which I had been shooting snipes in the marshes with two of my tenants. We arrived, benumbed with cold, at the rendezvous, and found a good fire and supper awaiting us. "As I entered, and received the salutations and compliments of my people, I perceived in the chimney-corner an old woman wrapped in a large gray-and-black cloak, who appeared to be asleep. "'Who is that?' I asked of the farmer, and trembling involuntarily. "'An old beggar, whom I do not know, and she looks like a witch,' said he; 'but she was perishing with cold, hunger and fatigue. She came begging; I told her to come in, and gave her a piece of bread, which she eat while she warmed herself, and now she has gone to sleep.' "The figure moved slightly in its corner. "'What has happened to you, Monsieur le Marquis,' asked the farmer's wife, 'that you are so wet, and that your clothes are splashed with mud up to the shoulder?' "'You nearly had to dine without me, my good Martine,' I replied, 'although this repast and this fire were prepared for me.'----"'Truly!' cried the good woman, alarmed. "'Ah! monsieur had a narrow escape!' said the farmer. "'How so, my good lord?' "'You know your marshes are full of bogs; I ventured without sounding the ground, and all at once I felt that I was sinking in; so that, had it not been for my gun, which I held across, enabling your husband to come and pull me out, I should have been smothered, which is not only a cruel but a stupid death.' "'Oh, monsieur,' said the wife, 'pray do not expose yourself in this way!' "'Let him alone,' said the sepulchral voice of the figure crouched in the chimney-corner; 'he will not die thus; I foretell that.' "And, lowering the hood of her gray cloak, she showed me the face of that woman who had twice crossed my path with sad prediction. "I remained motionless and petrified. "'You recognize me?' she asked, without moving. "I made a sign of assent, but had not really the courage to reply. All gathered in a circle round us. "'No, no,' continued she; 'be easy, Marquis de Guer; you will not die thus.' "'How do you know?' I stammered out, with a conviction, however, that she did know. "'I cannot tell you, for I do not know myself; but you know well that I do not make mistakes.' "'And how shall I die?' asked I, making an effort over myself to ask this question and to listen to her reply. "'You will die by the sea. Beware of the water, Marquis de Guer!' she replied. "'How?' asked I. 'What do you mean?' "'I have spoken, and cannot explain further, marquis; but again I say, _Beware of the water!_'