116 STORIES FROM DAUDET

to try and stop them, That is why
the Three Kings are sometimes called
John of Milan’s Stick. .. . But the most
beautiful of all the stars, lady, is our
star, the shepherd’s star, which lights
us at dawn when we.unfold the flocks,
and again in the evening when we
drive them home. We call it Maguel-
onne—fair Maguelonne, who always
pursues Peter of Provence (Saturn)
and finds him once in seven years, and
then they are married.’

‘Oh, shepherd, do the stars marry?’

‘Of course they do, lady.’

And as I tried to explain these star
marriages to her, I felt something cool
and light gently resting on my shoulder.
It was her little sleepy head which
rested against me with a pretty rustling
of ribbons, laces, and wavy hair. She
leaned thus without moving until the
stars paled their fires, blotted out by
the splendour of the dawn. I watched
her slumber, and round us the stars
pursued their silent course like an