did the eyes of J6us6 whenever they rested on Christo-
phe— for Christophe was growing apace these days
and would surely become a fair, mighty man; yes,
a fair-skinned and mighty man like his father.
§2
One night Jouse sat up long over accounts, frowning
and grumbling and chewing his pencil. Goundran
always paid and paid handsomely, but others did not
— a most tiresome business. That couple who had
ordered the marital bed, had they paid? Not at all!
They had taken their pleasure and much of it, if
Jouse was any judge, yet the good, honest oak of
their couch went unpaid for. And then there was that
new counter for Germaine; she would cling to her
money till the very last minute. There was also that
fowl-house up at the farm — oh, but that was all
right, they were trustworthy people who never kept
a man waiting for his bill; in a week or so now they
would pay for that fowl-house. All, but Loup . . .
the chemist, the doctor, the food ... so much
butter and milk to make him grow fatter, so much
bouillon to make his weak limbs grow strong; and the
jellies carefully flavoured with wine because his small
appetite had to be tempted. Ai! las, ai! las, le pauyre
tout petit Loup, coughing and wheezing and complain-
ing of his chest and his stomach and his meals and his
home and his brother, yet doing so remarkably well
at school — as sharp as a razor he was, the imp. And
now if he was not learning to carve! His fingers were
far more crafty than Christophers. Christophe was
good at big, simple jobs — the sawing of planks, the
hacking of timber. He used his tools as to the manner
born, with precision, with strength, with foresight,
with knowledge. But le tout petit Loup possessed
something that he lacked, a kind of ingenious imper-
183