She might
have belonged to some tribe of Red-Skins described by Cooper, for her
legs, neck, and arms were the color of brick. No ray of intelligence
enlivened her vacant face. A few whitish hairs served her for
eyebrows; the eyes themselves, of a dull blue, were cold and wan; and
her mouth was so formed as to show the teeth, which were crooked, but
as white as those of a dog.
"Here, my good woman!" called Monsieur de Sucy.
She came very slowly to the gate, looking with a silly expression at
the two huntsmen, the sight of whom brought a forced and painful smile
to her face.
"Where are we? Whose house is this? Who are you? Do you belong here?"
To these questions and several others which the two friends
alternately addressed to her, she answered only with guttural sounds
that seemed more like the growl of an animal than the voice of a human
being.
"She must be deaf and dumb," said the marquis.
"Bons-Hommes!" cried the peasant woman.
"Ah! I see. This is, no doubt, the old monastery of the Bons-Hommes,"
said the marquis.
He renewed his questions. But, like a capricious child, the peasant
woman colored, played with her wooden shoe, twisted the rope of the
cow, which was now feeding peaceably, and looked at the two hunters,
examining every part of their clothing; then she yelped, growled, and
clucked, but did not speak.
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