"I am sure I would rather bear twenty whippings than be a thief." "Twenty, whippings! that's a great many," said Babet; "and I am so little, consider--and that woman has such a monstrous arm!--Now, if it was Sister Frances, it would be another thing.

But come! if you will go with me, Victoire, you shall see how I will behave." "We will all go with you," said Victoire.
"Yes, all!" said the children; "And Sister Frances, I dare say, would go, if you asked her." Babet ran and told her, and she readily consented to accompany the little penitent to make restitution.

The chestnut woman did not whip Babet, nor even scold her, but said she was sure that since the child was so honest as to return what she had taken, she would never steal again.

This was the most glorious day of Babet's life, and the happiest.

When the circumstance was told to Madame de Fleury, she gave the little girl a bag of the best chestnuts the old women could select, and Babet with great delight shared her reward with her companions.
"But, alas! these chestnuts are not roasted.