Coco looked at Auguste, whom he was already accustomed to look upon as his protector; Auguste told Mère Madeleine the same fable that he had told Père Calleux, reinforced once more by the five-franc piece, which was the irresistible argument. At that the old woman tried to soften her voice, and urged Auguste to come in for a drink of goat's milk and some fresh butter, which were all that she could offer him. The young dandy entered the cabin. His heart sickened at the sight of that wretched habitation. The home of the Calleux family consisted of a single room. It was a large room, but the daylight lighted only a small part of it. The bare earth formed the floor; the walls, half whitewashed, had nothing upon them to conceal their nakedness; the thatched roof threatened disaster. Two cot beds, in the darkest corner, had no curtains to shelter them from the wind which entered on all sides. An old buffet, a chest, a table and a few chairs were the only other furniture. "Where on earth do you sleep?" Auguste asked the child. He led him to a corner of the room, where it was almost impossible to see anything, and pointed out a small straw bed on the floor, with a dilapidated woolen coverlet thrown over it. Close beside it was a goat, lying in some straw that was spread on the ground. "There's my bed," said Coco. "Oh! I'm all right, you see; Jacqueleine keeps me warm in winter. Jacqueleine loves me, she does!" And the child threw his arms round the goat's neck, and patted her, rolling over and over on the straw with her. But he was obliged to leave his faithful companion, for his grandmother called him. "Come, come, good-for-nothing! You can play by-and-by. Come and put the bread on the table and give me a cup. The little scamp ain't good for nothing." "You treat your grandson very harshly," said Auguste, taking his place at the table and tasting the rye bread and the milk. "If I'd let him have his way, monsieur, he'd play all day long." "But you must love the child dearly, as he's the only one your daughter left you." "Oh! yes, I love him enough! But when a body's poor, it's just as well not to have none at all." Auguste looked once more at the old peasant woman, and her extreme ugliness no longer surprised him so much. He took Coco on his knee, gave him milk to drink, and bread and butter to eat, and enjoyed looking at his pretty face and lovely fair hair. The old woman seemed astounded by the endearments which the fine gentleman lavished on the child, and muttered between her teeth: "Oh! you'll spoil him! 'taint no use in doing that!" "Is he learning to read and write?" "Oh, of course! where's the money coming from, I'd like to know? Besides, we don't want to make a scholar of him. Is that wanted for driving the plough?" "But you might at least give him a better place to sleep than he has."