always turned the boys out of his shop when he was
engaged in this manner with a client.
'Go away/ he would order peremptorily; and if he
should catch them peeping in at ^the door, he would
glare with so awful and threatening an orb that not
one of the three would have the courage to defy him:
'Did I not command you to go?5 he would shout at
the guilty and swiftly retreating figures.
For just as the immortal Leonardo da Vinci must
have felt when it came to the painting of pictures —
intolerant, resentful of every distraction that sought
to intrude on the realm of his genius — even so Eusebe
felt in his degree, since the spirit is all, when it comes
to labour. Thus Christophe went alone to fit his first
sandals, much impressed by the solemnity of the
occasion; having washed his feet with unusual zeal,
then requested his mother to cut his toe nails. And
there was Eusebe with a large sheet of paper spread
out on the floor, and with a very fat pencil; and he
ordered Christophe to take off his shoes and stand
perfectly still on that large sheet of paper. After which
he outlined both his feet in turn, squeezing the
pencil between his big toe and its neighbour so that
Christophe who was ticklish, laughed, despite the
solemnity of the occasion.
The drawing completed, Eusebe gazed at it for a
moment with obvious satisfaction: 'A good shape, and
no corns or other defects. There are some who come
here with their joints sticking out on each side like
a couple of rotten apples: "Eus&be, make me a pair
of sandals," they say; but I tell them they can go to
the devil! I will fit you on Thursday evening at six,
and do not be late; I am very busy.'
The following Thursday Christophe arrived with a
punctuality born of impatience. And now he was to
see a fine craftsman in the grip of something very
like inspiration, Meanwhile, he himself must stand
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