Evening star., 1927-10-20


generally hailed as the greatest French
master of the short story, and even the
greatest story writer IN the & w9lIa, ms n,s
masterpiece. His stories are widely ana
deserEedlv read and enJoyedi
1t was market day and all the peas
ants and their wives were coming to
ward the town. Some of the men drag
Sed a COW or a calf at the end of a
rope And just behind the animal, in
each case, came their wives, carrying
large baskets of chickens and ducks.
In the market place was a great
crowd. mingled multitude of men
and beasts. 1t all smelled of milk
of hay. of the stable. of sweat, giving
off that odor halt-human, half-aninal
which is peculiar TO country people
Master llauCheCorne had Just ar
rived and. making his way toward the
square, perceived u little piece of string
on the ground. Being thrifty, like al
true Normans. he picked up the piece
of string. for It might he IF use. As
he took the bit Of string from the
ground. and was rolling it up, he saw
Master Mala ndain, the harness maker
looking at him from his door. They
had ularreled once, about a halter,
and ever since had borne each other i'll
will. Master Hauchccorne was lit
tie ashamed to have his enemy catch
him STOPPING to get a piece of string
from the dirt, so he quickly hid his
find in A fold of his blue blouse, then
slipped il into pocket, then pretended
10 be still looking on the ground for
something which he could not find.
Finally he departed toward the market
place. losing himself at once in the
crowd.
In Afr ntt tgc
sounded, all those who came from n
distance poured into the inns. The
dining rooms were fun. especially al
the inn of a horse dealer, where the
fire burned merrilN. the air was filled
with the odor nf good food. and talk
flowed cheerilv and with spirit
Suddenly, the drum started rolling
in the courtyard. EVcrN one. except
the most lazy. was on his feet imme
diately. running to the doors and win
dows. mouthful and napkin in ha nd
The public crier, finishing his sum
mons, announced that a pocketbook
had been lost on the road that morn
ing. of black leather, containing 500
francs and business papers. Twenty
francs reward was offered. Then the
man departed. At distance they
again heard The drum and again the
they all began 10 discuss the incident
And the meal went on. They were
just finishing when the corporal of
gendarmes appeared in the door. us
Master Hauchecorne here" he asked
Here ] am" answered Master
Hauchecorne from corner.
He was summoned TO see the mayor
Master Hauchecorne." said the
mayor, "vou were seen this morning
, to pick up a pocketbook on the road. "
The peasant. dumb with surprise
was frightened by the suspicion which
had come to rest upon him, though
he did not know why.
You say that ] picked up that
pocketbook?"
Yes. you"
81 swear know nothing about it,"
''You were seen.
Who saw me-
Master Malandain. the harness
maker"
Then the old man remembered and
understood. Flushing with anger. he
said: so he saw me- the rascal? This
is what he saw me pick up, Mr.
Mayor. this piece of string" and he
produced the piece of string from his
pocket.
The mayor. unbelieving, shook his
head. Master Nialandain's word is
reliable. Il don't believe he mistook
this piece of string for a pocketbook
The peasant anGered the more,
lifted his hand and spat, as if to at
test his good faith, and repeated; For
all that. speak the blessed truth.
Gods truth. There, as l hope to be
sa we'd, | repeat it.
The mayor went on: After you had
picked up this article. you even looked
around for some time in the mud. to
see whether any pieces of money had
fallen out of the pocketbook."
The good peasant was overcome with
indignation and fright. How can
they say lies--like that--to slander
an honest man."
His protestations were in vain-he
was not believed. He was confronted
with Master Malandain. the harness
maker. who repeated and upheld what
he had said The two enemies abused
each other for an hour. At his own
request. Master Hauchecorne was
searched. Nothing was found on him
Finally the mayor, in great perplex.
ity. sent him way. He sid he would
communicate with the public prose
cutor for orders.
Meanwhile. the news had spread
w hen the Old man came out of the
mayors office he was surrounded and
questioned with curiosity which was
either serious or mocking. as the case
| might be. but into which no indigna-
ton entered. And the peasant tried to
tell the story of the piece of string.
They did not believe him-they
laughed.
He went on. He was stopped by
every one, and he was stopped by his
own acquaints noes. and he tried tc
tell them all about the piece of string
pulling it out of his pocket TO prove it