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 night 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 . The good-hearted people were much touched by this silent sermon on loving one 's neighbour as one 's self , and Marie was called the ` little saint , ' and tended carefully by all the good women . Just as the story ended , she woke up , and at first seemed inclined to hide under the bedclothes . But we had her out in a minute , and presently she was laughing over her good deed , with a true child 's enjoyment of a bit of roguery , saying in her simple way , -- ` Yes ; it was so droll to go running about en chemise , like the girl in the tale of the ` Midsummer Eve , ' where she pulls the Saint Johns-wort flower , and has her wish to hear all the creatures talk . I liked it much , and Yvon slept so like the dormouse that he never heard me creep in and out . It was hard to bring much water , but the poor cabbages were so glad , and Mother Lobineau felt that all had not forgotten her .
We took care that little Saint XXXXX was not forgotten , but quite well , and all ready for her confirmation when the day came .
Johns-wort Marie afternoon cabbages day escape garden-patch goblins left morning