Page:A chambermaid's diary.djvu/445

 "I don't know, Madame," said he, in a most natural tone. "It is true that the dogs didn't bark. That is curious, indeed!"

"Did you let them loose last night?"

"Certainly I let them loose, as I do every night. That is curious! Yes, indeed! that is curious! It must be that the robbers knew the house and the dogs."

"Well, Joseph, how is it that you, so devoted and punctual as a rule, did not hear anything?"

"It is true that I heard nothing. That is another singular thing. For I do not sleep soundly. If a cat crosses the garden, I hear it. It is not natural, all the same. And those confounded dogs especially! Indeed, indeed!"

Madame interrupted Joseph:

"Stop! Leave me in peace. You are brutes, all of you! And Marianne. Where is Marianne? Why isn't she here? She is sleeping like a chump, undoubtedly."

And, going out of the servants' hall, she called up the stairs:

"Marianne! Marianne!"

I looked at Joseph, who looked at the boxes. Joseph's face wore a grave expression. There was a sort of mystery in his eyes.

I will not try to describe this day, with all its varied incidents and follies. The prosecuting