Page:Gilbert Parker--The Lane that had No Turning.djvu/180

164 she say, ‘Voilà, you can light your pipe with de eyes of dat Mathurin!’ She know. She say dat M’sieu’ Mathurin’s eyes dey shine in de dark. My gran’fadder he say he not need any lights on his cariole when Mathurin ride with him in de night.

"Ah, sure! it is ver’ true what I tell you all de time. If you cut off Mathurin at de chin, all de way up, you will say de top of him it is a priest. All de way down from his neck, oh, he is just no better as yoursel’ or my Jean—non! He is a ver’ good man. Only one bad ting he do. Dat is why I pray for him; dat is why everybody pray for him—only one bad ting. Sapristi!—if I have only one ting to say God-have-mercy for, I tink dat ver’ good; I do my penance happy. Well, dat Mathurin him use to teach de school. De Curé he ver’ fond of him. All de leetla children, boys and girls, dey all say: ‘C’est bon Mathurin!’ He is not ver’ cross—non! He have no wife, no child; jes live by himself all alone. But he is ver’ good friends with everybody in Pontiac. When he go ’long de street, everybody say, ‘Ah, dere go de good Mathurin!’ He laugh, he tell story, he smoke leetla tabac, he take leetla white wine behin’ de door; dat is nosing—non!

"He have in de parish five, ten, twenty children all call Mathurin; he is godfadder with dem—yes. So he go about with plenty of sugar and sticks of candy in his pocket. He never forget once de age of every leetla child dat call him godfadder. He have a brain dat work like a clock. My gran’fadder he say dat Mathurin have a machine in his head. It make de words, make de thoughts, make de fine speech like de Curé, make de gran’ poetry—oh, yes!

"When de King of Englan’ go to sit on de throne, Mathurin write ver’ nice verse to him. And by-and-by