he is unhappy in his turn, and I have already prophesied that time would come." "He doesn't believe it." "Have you told him what I think about his factory?" "I was bound to." "You did wrong, but it's done now, and what must be will be. Come, Emile, let us go back to the village and to bed, for I see that you are shivering and I feel that you are feverish. Come, my boy, don't let your blood boil like this, and rely a little on the good Lord! I will go to Châteaubrun to-morrow morning; I will say what I have to say, and they will have to listen to me. I will answer for it that you won't have any falling out with them, at all events, for doing your duty." "Good Jean! you do me a deal of good! you give me strength, and I feel better since you have been talking to me." "Because I go straight to the point, you see, and don't embarrass myself with useless things." "And you will go to Châteaubrun to-morrow? to-morrow? although it's a working day?" "To-morrow, to be sure; as I work for nothing, I can begin my day at any time I please. Whom do you suppose I am going to work for to-morrow? Let's see you guess, Emile; there's something to divert your thoughts." "I can't guess. For Monsieur Antoine?" "No, Antoine hasn't much work to be done, poor fellow, and he can do it alone; but he has a neighbor who has plenty of it, and who doesn't haggle over the time of his workmen." "Who is it? Has Monsieur de Boisguilbault become reconciled to your features?" "Not so far as I know; but he never forbade his farmers giving me work. He is not the man to try to injure me, and almost nobody outside of his house knows that he has a grudge against me, if indeed he has; the devil only knows what's at the bottom of it all! However, as I say, I work for him without his knowing anything about it; for you know that he inspects his property once a year at the most. It's a little far from our village; but, thanks to your father, workmen are so rare that they sent for me; and I didn't wait to be asked twice, although I had some urgent work elsewhere. It's a pleasure to me to work for that old fellow! But, as you can imagine, I will never take any pay. I owe him enough, after what he has done for me." "He won't allow you to work for him for nothing." "He must allow it, for he will know nothing of it. Does he know what is done on his farms? He settles his account at the end of the year, and pays little heed to details." "But suppose the farmers charge him for the days you work, as if they had paid you?"