"
The farmer's wife showed her fondness of Barefoot by accompanying the
girl as far as the yard, as she would have done to a visitor who had
eight horses in the stable.
There was already a great crowd of people assembled when Amrei arrived
at the dancing-floor. At first she stood timidly on the threshold. In
the empty courtyard, across which somebody hurried every now and then, a
solitary gendarme was pacing up and down. When he saw Amrei coming along
with a radiant face, he approached her and said:
"Good morning, Amrei! Art thou here too?"
Amrei started and turned quite pale. Had she done anything punishable?
Had she gone into the stable with a naked light? She thought of her past
life and could remember nothing; and yet he had addressed her as
familiarly as if he had already arrested her once. With these thoughts
flitting through her mind, she stood there trembling as if she were a
criminal, and at last answered:
"Thank you. But I don't know why we should call each other 'thou.' Do
you want anything of me?"
"Oh, how proud you are. You can answer me properly. I am not going to
eat you up. Why are you so angry? Eh?"
"I am not angry, and I don't want to harm any one. I am only a foolish
girl."
"Don't pretend to be so submissive--"
"How do you know what I am?"
"Because you flourish about so with that light."
"What? Where? Where have I flourished about with a light? I always take
a lantern when I go out to the stable, but--"
The gendarme laughed and said: "I mean your brown eyes--that's where
the light is.
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