332 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



hand and one of his large knives in the other. He 

 was coming up, his wife following him. I placed 

 myself behind the door as he opened it ; he put down 

 the lamp, and his wife came and took it; then he 

 entered, barefoot. From outside she said to him in 

 a low tone, shading the lamp with her hand: 

 "Gently, go gently !" When he came to the ladder, 

 he mounted, knife between his teeth, and reaching 

 the height of the bed on which lay this poor young 

 man, his throat uncovered, with one hand he grasped 

 his knife, and with the other Ah! cousin ' " 



"Enough, Uncle; this story frightens me!" cried 

 Claire. 



"Wait 'And with the other he seized a ham 

 that was hanging from the ceiling, cut off a slice, and 

 went off the way he had come. The door closed, 

 the lamp disappeared, and I was left alone with my 

 reflections.' " 



"And then?" inquired Jules. 



' * And then, nothing more. ' As soon as it was day- 

 light, ' continued the gunner, ' the whole family came 

 and awakened us with much noise, as we had re- 

 quested them. They brought food and served us a 

 very good breakfast, I assure you. Two capons 

 were part of it, one of which our hostess said we 

 must eat, and take the other with us. On seeing 

 them I understood the significance of those terrible 

 words : Shall we kill them both?' 



"The man and woman were discussing whether 

 they should kill both capons or only one for break- 

 fast?" asked Emile. 



"That and nothing else," replied his uncle. 



