"Why, bless me, yes," replied Bridou, with an air of assumed good nature, "madame, your wife, has made a present of your fir-trees to the sufferers from the overflow; that is true, is it not, madame?" "Yes, monsieur." Bastien, almost choked with anger and astonishment, at first could do nothing but stammer as he looked furiously at his wife: "You--have--dared--what! You--" Then stamping his foot with rage, he made a step toward his wife, shaking his great fists with such a threatening air, that the bailiff jumped before him, and cried: "Come, Jacques, what in the devil are you doing? You will not die of it, old fellow; it is only a present of about two thousand francs that your wife has given to the sufferers." "And you think I shall let it go like that?" replied Jacques, trying to restrain himself. "You must be a fool if you thought you could hide it. This destruction of my firs was plain enough before my eyes as I passed. You forgot that, eh?" "If you had been here, monsieur," answered Marie, softly, for fear of irritating Bastien still more, "like me, you would have been a witness of this terrible disaster and the evils it caused, and you would have done the same, I do not doubt." "I, by thunder, when I myself have a part of my land ruined with sand." "But, monsieur, there is enough land and wood left you, while these poor people whom we helped were without bread and shelter." "Ah, indeed; then it is my business to give bread and shelter to those who have not got it!" cried Bastien, exasperated; "upon my word of honour, it is making a tool of me. Do you hear her, Bridou?" "You know very well, old fellow, that ladies understand nothing about business, and they had better not meddle with it at all, ha, ha, ha! especially in cutting wood," replied the bailiff with a mellifluous giggle. "But did I tell her to meddle with it?" replied Jacques Bastien, whose fury continued to rise; "could I suppose she would ever have the audacity to--But no, no, there is something else at the bottom of it, she must have her head turned. Ah, by thunder! I came just in time. By this sample, it appears that wonderful things have been going on here in my absence. Come, come, I shall have trouble enough; fortunately I am equal to it, and I have a solid fist." Marie, looking up at Jacques with an expression of supplicating sweetness, said to him: "I cannot regret what I have done, monsieur, only I do regret that an act which seems to me to merit your approval, should cause you such keen disappointment and annoyance. Besides," added the young woman, trying to smile, "I am certain that you will forget this trouble when you learn how courageously Frederick has behaved at the time of the overflow. At the risk of his life, he saved Jean François and his wife and children from certain death. Two other families of the valley were also--"