MATHUBIN AND MATHUBINE 101 



she was not going to see him for a long time, and 

 overwhelmed Mathurin with caresses; curling about his 

 legs and arms, and rubbing her head against him. 

 Then she glided by his side for part of the way, and only 

 vanished among the bushes at the sound of the bells of 

 the stage coach. 



Mathurin was away seven years, from 1793 to 1800 — 

 a rather lively time he had — and it was only after the 

 peace of Luneville that he was set free to return home, 

 with the uniform of a corporal. 



His first visit was of course to his mother ; then to 

 his sisters, his cousins, and his friends. After that, he 

 thought about the adder. Would she remember him, he 

 wondered, after seven years' absence ? He was curious to 

 know. 



He put on his old milkman's clothes, so that Mathurine 

 might the more easily recognise him, and went straight 

 to their old meeting-place in the rocks. ' Mathurine ! 

 Mathurine ! ' cried he. 



Instantly there was a loud rustling among the 

 leaves, and a snake ten feet long, with gleaming eyes, came 

 wriggling along with amazing quickness and flung herself 

 with a bound upon Mathurin, twining herself tightly 

 round bis neck. He tried to free himself from the 

 pressure which threatened to choke him, but could not 

 unloose the closely curled rings ; then he attempted to 

 call for help, but his voice died in his throat, and, 

 throwing his hands despairingly in the air, he rolled 

 dead upon the rocks, strangled by the embraces of his 

 friend. 1 



1 The young reader is requested to correct the mistakes in this 

 exercise of French fancy. — A. L. 



