Page:The Rebellion in the Cevennes (Volume 1).djvu/72

Rh the whole affair with terror. Be it witchcraft, that they are possessed with devils, bodily and infectious diseases, or the unknown, new fanaticism of the learned doctors, I have at least discovered that mankind is easily entrapped, and that the Spaniard is right with his proverb: 'No man can say of this water I will not drink.' The two shepherd knaves have now also run into the wilds after Cavalier, and have become great heroes of the faith."

The old Counsellor had gone out frequently during these details to give orders to the domestics, who had in the mean while laid the table and prepared the evening repast. "My unknown friends," said the old gentleman affably, "with whose company chance and the bad weather have so unexpectedly honoured me, and who are to me,—with the exception of the reverend priest,—total strangers, let us all sociably and without ceremony take our places at this table, eat and drink, and afterwards enjoy a refreshing sleep under