Page 173 of 788

The little gardener meanwhile remained silent. She merely lifted

up one child, who was hanging on her arm, took another by the

hand, and, driving several of them before her like geese, moved

on through the garden.

"Can you not," she said turning around, "drive my stray birds

back into the grain?"

"I drive birds!" cried the Count in amazement.

Meanwhile she had vanished behind the shade of the trees. Only

for a moment there shone from behind the hedgerow, through the

dense greenery, something like two blue eyes.