CHAPTER XII.
THE RISING SUN.
That morning the worthy Schwann, whose ancestors had kept the inn knownas the Rising Sun for one hundred and fifty years, said that in all hisexperience he had never been so busy. Three travelers, three guests inFebruary! It was most amazing. And the worthy innkeeper knew that thiswas not all. Six more strangers might arrive at any moment; but when hewas asked who these strangers were, he winked mysteriously, but lookedhighly pleased. At the hour when this chapter opens, Master Schwann hadjust witnessed a veritable slaughter in his poultry yard; pots andsaucepans were smoking on the fire, and vigorous preparations were madein the kitchen.
The door was suddenly thrown open, and loud laughter made the windowsrattle. The innkeeper started, but before he could speak, he was liftedoff his feet by the long arms of a vigorous looking young man, with amost enormous mouth. His costume was something wonderful; a startlingcombination of colors; a red coat, a yellow vest trimmed with huge blackbuttons, green breeches and long black hose.
"Iron Jaws!" cried the innkeeper, struggling in the grasp of theColossus.
"Yes, my best beloved cousin, Iron Jaws it is; let me give you a goodshake of the hand."
"Not too hard!" said Schwann, plaintively.
"You are not glad to see your old friend, then?"
"Not so; but you are so strong that you hurt people without knowing it.But where are all the rest of you?"
"Oh! they are coming on. I did not want to hurry Brelion and Bechette."
"What! Have you those two animals yet?"
"To be sure. Why not? They don't look their age."
"And your wife?"
Gudel, or Iron Jaws, as he was called, hesitated a moment.
"Things are going smoothly there, I hope," said the innkeeper, with awink.
"Well! We will talk of something else, if you please!"
"Oh! women, women! you have much to answer for!" sighed the innkeeper.
"I was happy enough with my first wife, though, and Caillette is hervery image."
"She must be a big girl, now, it is five years since I saw her."
"And she is nearly sixteen. An angel without wings!"
"How does she get on with your wife?"
"Oh! Roulante can't endure her!"
Schwann shook his head.
"Ah! my lad, you made a great mistake. I felt it when you told me thatyou were about to marry the giantess. She had something about her eyes Ididn't like. She doesn't ill-treat Caillette, I hope?"
"Not if I know it!" answered Gudel, clenching his enormous fist. "Justlet her lay a finger on the girl, that is all!"
"You need not get so excited. And now about Bobichel--how is he?"
"Just the same as ever, honest and stupid."
"And Robeccal?"
"I mean to get rid of him for reasons of my own."
"And the little boy?"
Gudel shouted with laughter.
"The little boy! Just wait until you see him. He is six feet, and atreasure. I am strong, but Fanfar is different from me. He has wristsand ankles like a woman, with the hands of a Duchess, but his back andshoulders are iron and his fingers steel. He is, moreover, as good andgentle as possible."
"You love him as much as ever, I see."
The excellent Gudel opened his mouth to speak, when with loud fife andhorn, the wagon that held all his worldly possessions rattled up to thedoor.
We will call the vehicle a chariot, as it is more complimentary than thetitle of wagon. Four huge wheels held the body of this vehicle, fromwhich rose posts striped like barbers' poles, decorated withparti-colored curtains.
Underneath the chariot hung all sorts of queer looking things--kegs ofwine, rope, ladders, baskets, and hoops with torn covers of rose coloredtissue paper.
Bobichel must be mentioned first, as he stands on one of the shafts andblows a long horn. The clown is dressed all in yellow with a gray hat.His legs looked like matches in their striped hose. His head was smalland pointed, his nose very long and very sharp.
Behind Bobichel sits Caillette, Gudel's daughter, a pretty, daintycreature with light hair. She turned with a merry laugh to say somethingto a third person, who lay on a pile of bundles of all shapes and sizes,and smiled back upon the young girl. Still further back was a huge masswhich might be supposed to be a woman, from the tawny locks that floatedover the shoulders, and if out of curiosity one examined more closely, alarge face with pendant cheeks was discovered, a retreating forehead, apair of small, half closed eyes. A double, or rather a triple chin,rested on an enormous bosom, which seemed to have torn half the buttonsfrom a much spotted cloth waist. This charming being was known as LaRoulante, in which sobriquet was lost her real name of Charlotte Magnan.She was also the lawful wife of Gudel.
And finally, to complete this hurried description, we must mention aperson who followed the chariot on foot. He was short, slender and bowlegged, very pale, and had light eyes without lashes. His scanty hair,as white as an albino's, escaped from a vizorless hat. His costume wasmuch like his appearance; a well worn velvet coat, much too short in thesleeves, and long fingered hands, with one peculiarity, that the thumbswere as long as the fore fingers.
"Ah! you have come, children, have you?" cried Gudel. "And I amthankful, for hunger gnaws my vitals."
"And mine, too," Bobichel replied, throwing a somersault as he spoke;which he ended with a sudden leap on the shoulders of the good Schwann,who stood the shock with wonderful philosophy.
But at the third shout he decided to go outside. When the giantess sawhim, she called out, angrily:
"Are you coming to help me?"
Gudel looked on with concentrated rage, and as Robeccal went toward thechariot, he said to him:
"Not another step!"
"Indeed! And who will prevent me?"
Gudel's eyes flashed.
"Scoundrel!" he muttered under his breath.
"Well! are you coming?" called La Roulante. "Give him a push and comeon!"
These words encouraged the fellow, but as he moved toward the chariotIron Jaws struck him a tremendous blow in the chest. Robeccal pulled outa knife and leaped on Gudel, but was caught by Fanfar and tossed in theair as if he had been a ball. The fellow landed nearly at the side ofthe giantess, who tumbled herself off the chariot and rushed uponFanfar. Schwann appeared at the door at this moment.
"Dinner is ready, good people," he said, soothingly.
Robeccal said a few words in a whisper to the giantess, who shrugged herhuge shoulders and made at once to the dining-room. Gudel held out hisarms to his daughter.
"Jump, child!" he said.
And the girl obeyed. The father kissed her tenderly, for the two lovedeach other very much.
"Do you mean to stay there forever, Fanfar?" was Gudel's next remark.
Fanfar was the person to whom Caillette had addressed her smiles. With alaugh he swung himself down, and hung by his wrists a moment.
"Good boy!" said Gudel. "You mean to keep yourself in practice, I see."
Robeccal, with his hands in his pockets, lounged into the kitchen, andstood watching the preparations for dinner. La Roulante sat asmotionless as the Sphynx in the Desert. Gudel said to her, respectfully:
"Are you coming?"
The woman turned her eyes slowly upon him, and then, with a sniff ofdisdain, called for Robeccal, who heard the stentorian shout, but didnot care to be disturbed in his contemplation of the spit on which thefowls were roasting.