` Could you do that for your grandmere ? ' I once asked , as she stopped for breath , because this tale always excited her . She crossed herself devoutly , and answered with fire in her eyes , and a resolute gesture of her little brown hands , -- ' I should try , mademoiselle . ' I think she would , and succeed , too , for she was a brave and tender-hearted child , as she soon after proved . A long drought parched the whole country that summer , and the gardens suffered much , especially the little plats in Lehon , for most of them were on the steep hillside behind the huts ; and unless it rained , water had to be carried up from the stream below . The cabbages and onions on which these poor people depend , when fresh salads are gone , were dying in the baked earth , and a hard winter was before them if this little store failed . The priests prayed for rain in the churches , and long processions streamed out of the gates to visit the old stone cross called the ` Croix de Saint Esprit , ' and , kneeling there in crowds , the people implored the blessing of rain to save their harvest . We felt great pity for them , but liked little Marie 's way of praying best . She did not come one morning , but sent her brother , who only laughed , and said Marie had hurt her foot , when we inquired for her . Anxious to know if she was really ill , we went to see her in the afternoon , and heard a pretty little story of practical Christianity . Marie lay asleep on her mother 's bed in the wall , and her father , sitting by her , told the tale in a low voice , pausing now and then to look at her , as if his little daughter had done something to be proud of . It seems that in the village there was an old woman frightfully disfigured by fire , and not quite sane as the people thought . She was harmless , but never showed herself by day , and only came out at night to work in her garden or take the air . Many of the ignorant peasants feared her , however ; for the country abounds in fairy legends , and strange tales of ghosts and goblins . But the more charitable left bread at her door , and took in return the hose she knit or the thread she spun . During the drought it was observed that her garden , though the steepest and stoniest , was never dry ; her cabbages flourished when her neighbours ' withered , and her onions stood up green and tall as if some special rain-spirit watched over them . People wondered and shook their heads , but could not explain it , for Mother Lobineau was too infirm to carry much water up the steep path , and who would help her unless some of her own goblin friends did it ? This idea was suggested by the story of a peasant returning late at night , who had seen something white flitting to and fro in the garden-patch , and when he called to it saw it vanish most mysteriously . This made quite a stir in the town ; others watched also , saw the white phantom in the starlight , and could not tell where it went when it vanished behind the chestnut trees on the hill , till one man , braver than the rest , hid himself behind these trees and discovered the mystery . The sprite was Marie , in her little shift , who stepped out of the window of the loft where she slept on to a bough of the tree , and thence to the hill , for the house was built so close against the bank that it was ` but a step from garret to garden , ' as they say in Morlaix .
In trying to escape from this inquisitive neighbour , Marie hurt her foot , but was caught , and confessed that it was she who went at XXXXX to water poor Mother Lobineau 's cabbages ; because if they failed the old woman might starve , and no one else remembered her destitute and helpless state .
Christianity Esprit Lehon Morlaix afternoon day fire goblin morning night