The old trumpeter had solicited long to be allowed
to sound the reveille at break of day, but the good Lady de Tilly
had too much regard for the repose of the inmates of her house to
consent to any such untimely waking of them from their morning
slumbers.
The old, familiar call was recognized by Philibert, who reminded
Amelie of a day when Aeolus (the ancient trumpeter bore that windy
sobriquet) had accompanied them on a long ramble in the forest,--
how, the day being warm, the old man fell asleep under a comfortable
shade, while the three children straggled off into the depths of the
woods, where they were speedily lost.
"I remember it like yesterday, Pierre," exclaimed Amelie, sparkling
at the reminiscence; "I recollect how I wept and wrung my hands,
tired out, hungry, and forlorn, with my dress in tatters, and one
shoe left in a miry place! I recollect, moreover, that my
protectors were in almost as bad a plight as myself, yet they
chivalrously carried the little maiden by turns, or together made a
queen's chair for me with their locked hands, until we all broke
down together and sat crying at the foot of a tree, reminding one
another of the babes in the wood, and recounting stories of bears
which had devoured lost naughty children in the forest.
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