them this morning? And to think that the schoolmaster and my mother warned me to beware of bad companions. But I am headstrong. I am a bad obstinate boy. I let them tell me what to do, and then I do as I please. Why was I ever made? I have never had a quiet day in my life. Oh dear! What will become of me? What will become of me?"
And Pinocchio continued to cry and sob, to punch his head, and to call poor Eugene by name. Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps. He turned and there were two gendarmes.
"What are you doing here?" they asked.
"I am helping my schoolmate."
"Is he hurt?"
"He seems to be."
"Hurt indeed!” said one of them, bending down and looking at Eugene closely, "The boy has been severely wounded in the temple. Who did it?"
"It was not I," stammered the marionette breathlessly.
"If you did not do it, then who did?"
"Not I," repeated Pinocchio.
"What struck him?"
