A. A.

'And how can I tell, my good monsieur? What
with the milk, the cart, the bottles and all, it goes
pretty nigh a hundred and fifty francs/

The neighbour nudged her.

"You're not asking enough, Madame Lefranc:
you'll be out of pocket/

But Bill, relieved at such moderation, took from
his wallet the two notes:

"You're sure it's enough?' he said.

"AhF said the milkwoman, 'if you knew how
much I feel for you, mes pauvres enfants. . . . How
it hurts me to make you spend all this money. . . .'

She spoke in the tone of a grandmother that has
grandsons at the front, and her "If you knew how
much I feel for you, mes pauvres enfants9 came
patently from her heart. In any case it was true
that she had asked the least possible of them, and,
frugal Frenchwoman that she was, regretted the
unnecessary expense as much for them as for herself.
Bill and his friends sensed the inflexion of her voice
and understood it with me, and before they got back
into the car, saluted the milkwoman respectfully.

55