The next morning we rose with the sun and started for Chavanon. How
grateful I was to Mattia for the help he had given me; without him I
never could have collected such a big sum. I wanted to give him the
pleasure of leading the cow, and he was very proud indeed to pull her by
the rope while I walked behind. She looked very fine; she walked along
slowly, swaying a little, holding herself like an animal that is aware
of her value. I did not want to tire her out, so I decided not to get to
Chavanon that evening late; better, I thought, get there early in the
morning. That is what we intended to do; this is what happened:
I intended to stay the night in the village where I had spent my first
night with Vitalis, when Capi, seeing me so unhappy, came to me and lay
down beside me. Before reaching this village we came to a nice green
spot, and, throwing down our baggage, we decided to rest. We made our
cow go down into a ditch. At first I wanted to hold her by the rope, but
she seemed very docile, and quite accustomed to grazing, so after a time
I twisted the rope around her horns and sat down near her to eat my
supper. Naturally we had finished eating long before she had, so after
having admired her for some time and not knowing what to do next, we
began to play a little game with each other. When we had finished our
game, she was still eating. As I went to her, she pulled at the grass
sharply, as much as to say that she was still hungry.
"Wait a little," said Mattia.
"Don't you know that a cow can eat all day long?" I replied.
"Well, wait a little."
We got our baggage and instruments together, but still she would not
stop eating.
"I'll play her a piece on the cornet," said Mattia, who found it
difficult to keep still. "There was a cow at Gassot's Circus and she
liked music."
He commenced to play a lively march.