Hut it is already late ; give me the box,
lor I am going to-morrow to sec Mrs. Ma
non; I will deliver the box to' her, and
not betray that it came from Colin. It
will spare thee a walk and furnish me a
good excuse."
"Jacques gave the box to Ins master,
whom he was accustomed to obey in all
things, without gainsaying. The Justice
bore it into bis chamber, and looked at it
in the light with great curiosity. On the
lid was neatly written with red chalk :
"For the lovely and beloved Marietta."
But Herr Hautmartin well knew that this
was only mischief in Colin, and that some
knavish trick lurked behind. He there
fore opened the box cart fully, for fear a
mouse or iat were concealed in it. Hut
when he beheld the wondrous cup, which
he also had seen at Vence, he was hearti
ly frightened, for Herr Hautmartin was
equally experienced in right und wrong,
and he knew that the inventions and de
signs of the human heatt were evil from
youth upward. He saw at once, that Co
lin designed lolling misfortune upon Ma
rietta, by means of the cup : perhaps lo
give out, when it was in her hands, that it
was a present of some succossful lover in
the town, or the like, so that all decent
people- must have kept aloof from Mariet
ta. Therefore Hen Hautmartin resolved,
in order to obviate all evil thoughts, to ac-
nowledgc himself as the giver. Besides,
he loved Marietta, and would gladly have
seen her observe more strictly the sayings
of the grey-headed priest, Jerome, towards
himself, "Little children, love one ano
ther." In truth, Herr Hautmartin was a
little child of 50 years old, and Marietta
thought the saying applied not to linn.
