were not to slip out of existence. Sometimes Jouse
would catch himself wondering how a thing so minute
could absorb so much money, whereupon he would
feel very penitent and would make a rough effort to
fondle the baby.
Marie would push away his great hand, not un-
kindly, indeed often smiling a little, but: 'Take care/
she would warn, che is fretful to-day, and your hand
is so rough that it may torment him.5 And then she
herself would fondle the hand as though it might
possibly be feeling offended.
As the months went by it became apparent that
Loup took but little interest in Christophe and that
Christophe took but little interest in Loup. Sometimes
Jouse would hold them both on his knees, tickling
first one child then the other in an effort to make
them more affable and friendly, but without much
success:
clt is queer/ he would muse, cone would think that
my children were strangers in blood.' And then he
would give Christophe a mighty hug, but Loup he
would hand gravely back to his mother.
Le tout petit Loup was afraid of Mireio and he
screamed whenever the bitch went near him. Jouse
would cuff her severely at times and would shut her
up in a shed in the yard, for this fear of Mireio who
was always so gentle with the babies, shamed not
only his pride but his manhood.
*It seems that I no longer sire courage/ he would
mutter, and then he would let his eyes rest upon
Christophe, seeking in him to find consolation.
Anfos was kind to the ailing baby, for he was a
kindly and good-natured fellow; but his love once
given would never be shared— like Mireio, he
adored only one human being. Christophe they
adored and Christophe alone, these two simple-minded
and primitive creatures.
58