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OCR
LABOULAYE S FAIRY BOOK mended, three times it broke anew. ‘There was every reason to believe that it was enchanted. Every one had a word of advice to offer. This gave the bailiff courage. He approached the baron and said, in a low tone: “My lord, in the house that you see shining yonder among the trees there lives a woman who does things such as nobody else can do. Only persuade her to lend you her door for the bottom of the carriage, and, in my opinion, it will hold till morning.” The baron made a sign, and twenty peasants ran to the cottage of Finette, who very obligingly lent them her gold door. They put it in the bottom of the carriage, where it fitted as if it had been made expressly for it. The party took their seats in the carriage, the coachman cracked his whip, the church was in sight, and all the troubles of the journey seemed ended. Not at all! Suddenly the horses stopped and refused to draw. There were four of them. Six, eight, ten, twentyfour more were put to the carriage, but all in vain; it was impossible to stir them. The more they were whipped the deeper the wheels sunk into the ground, like the coulter of a plow. What were they todo? To go on foot would have been a disgrace. To mount a horse and ride to the church like simple peasants was not the custom of the Kervers. ‘They 38
