Page:In Maremma, by Ouida (vol 1).djvu/71

 It was cold and dark and cheerless. The child was awed, and the dog dulled, by the stillness and solitude, the greyness and gloom. The sound of the sea breaking on the sands below was more mournful than perfect silence.

Joconda kneeled down by the crucifix that hung on the wall and made the little limbs of the baby kneel too.

'See me, good saints, and bear ye testimony that I have kept my word. Be this young thing blessing or curse, I have kept my word. Be ye good to us both.'

Then she rose and fetched from her closets water and milk, salted fish and bread, and broke her fast, and gave food and drink to both the child and the beast.

When she went to rest, the rosy and fresh-washed warmth of the child was on her rough couch, and the white Molossus was stretched before her door. She could not tell whether she were sorry or content. She was at least no longer alone.

'But the blood of Saturnino?' she said doubtfully to herself. Any way, she had kept her word.

As she had stumbled down along the stony mountain road, the weight of the