After Huriel left us we walked about and talked to Joseph; but
thinking that it was enough for him to have seen me and that he might
like to be alone with Brulette, I left them together, without
appearing to do so, and went after Père Bastien to watch him at work.
It was a more cheering sight than you can possibly imagine. Never in
my life have I seen man's handiwork despatched in so free and jovial
a manner. I believe he could, without tiring himself, have done the
work of four of the strongest men in his employ; and that, too, while
talking and laughing in company, or singing and whistling when alone.
He told me that wood-cutters as a general thing lived near the woods
where they worked, and that when their houses were within easy
distance they went daily to and from their work. Others, living
farther off, came by the week, starting from home Monday before
daybreak, and returning the following Saturday night. As for those
who came down with him from the uplands, they were hired for three
months, and their huts were larger and better built and victualled
than those of the men who came by the week.
The same plan was followed with the charcoal men, meaning by them not
those who buy charcoal to sell, but those who make it on the spot for
the benefit of the owners of the woods and forests. There were other
men who bought the right to put it in the market, just as there were
muleteers who bought and sold charcoal on their own account; but as a
general thing, the business of the muleteer was solely that of
transporting it.
At the present time this business of the muleteers is going down, and
it will probably soon be extinct. The forests are better cleared;
there are fewer of those impassable places for horses and wagons
where mules alone can make their way. The number of manufactories
and ironworks which still use wood-coal is much restricted; in fact,
there are but few muleteers now in our part of the country. Only a
few remain in the great forests of Cheurre in Berry, together with
the woodsmen in the Upper Bourbonnais. But at the time of which I am
telling you, when the forests covered one-half of our provinces, all
these trades were flourishing and much sought after. So much so that
in a forest which was being cleared you might find a whole population
of these different trades, each having its customs and its
fraternities, and living, as much as possible, on good terms with
each other.
Père Bastien told me, and later I saw it for myself, that all men who
went to work in the woods grew so accustomed to the roving and
hazardous life that they suffered a kind of homesickness if they were
obliged to live on the plains. As for him, he loved the woods like a
fox or a wolf, though he was the kindest of men and the liveliest
companion that you could find anywhere.
For all that, he never laughed, as Huriel did, at my preference for
my own region. "All parts of the country are fine," he said, "if
they are our own; it is right that every one should feel a particular
liking for the region that brought him up. That's a provision of
God, without which the barren and dreary places would be neglected
and abandoned. I have heard tell of folks who travelled far into
lands covered with snow and ice the greater part of the year; and
into others where fire came from the mountains and ravaged the land.
Nevertheless, people build fine houses on these bedevilled mountains,
and hollow caves to live in under the snow. They love, and marry,
and dance, and sing, and sleep, and bring up children, just as we do.
Never despise any man's home or lodging or family. The mole loves
his dark tomb as much as the bird loves its nest in the foliage; and
the ant would laugh in your face if you tried to make him believe
there were kings who built better palaces than he."
The day was getting on, and still Huriel did not return with his
sister Thérence. Père Bastien seemed surprised but not uneasy. I
went towards Brulette and José several times, for they were not far
off; but as they were always talking and took no notice of my
approach, I finally went off by myself, not knowing very well how to
while away the time. I was, above all things, the true friend of
that dear girl. Ten times a day I felt I was in love with her, and
ten times a day I knew I was cured of it; and now I made no pretence
of love, and so felt no chagrin. I had never been very jealous of
Joseph before the muleteer told us of the great love that was
consuming him; and after that time, strange to say, I was not jealous
at all. The more compassion Brulette showed for him, the more I
seemed to see that she gave it from a sense of friendly duty. And
that grieved me instead of pleasing me. Having no hope for myself, I
still wanted to keep the presence and companionship of a person who
made everything comfortable about her; and I also felt that if any
one deserved her, it was the young fellow who had always loved her,
and who, no doubt, could never make any one else love him.
I was even surprised that Brulette did not feel it so in her heart,
especially when it appeared how José, in spite of his illness, had
grown handsome, well-informed, and agreeable in speech. No doubt he
owed this change for the better to the companionship of the
Head-Woodsman and his son, but he had also set his own will to it,
and she ought to have approved of him for that. However, Brulette
seemed to take no notice of the change, and I fancied that during the
journey she had thought more of the muleteer Huriel than I had known
her to do of any other man. That idea began to distress me more and
more; for if her fancy turned upon this stranger, two terrible
disasters faced me; one was that our poor José would die of grief,
the other, that our dear Brulette would leave our part of the country
and I should no longer see her, or have her to talk to.
I had got about so far in my reasoning when I saw Huriel returning,
bringing with him so beautiful a girl that Brulette could not compare
with her. She was tall, slender, broad in the shoulders, and free,
like her brother, in all her movements. Her complexion was naturally
brown, but living always in the shade of woods she was pale, though
not pallid,--a sort of whiteness which was charming to the eye,
though it surprised you,--and all the other features of her face were
faultless. I was rather shocked by her little straw hat, turned up
behind like the stern of a boat; but from it issued a mass of such
marvellous black hair that I soon grew reconciled to its oddity. I
noticed from the first moment I saw her that, unlike Brulette, she
was neither smiling nor gracious. She did not try to make herself
prettier than she was, and her whole aspect was of a more decided
character, hotter in will and colder in manner.
As I was sitting against a pile of cut wood, neither of them saw me,
and when they stopped close by where two paths forked they were
speaking to each other as though they were alone.
"I shall not go," said the beautiful Thérence, in a firm voice. "I
am going to the lodges to prepare their beds and their supper. That
is all that I choose to do at the present time."
"Won't you speak to them? Are you going to show ill-temper?" said
Huriel, as if surprised.
"I am not out of temper," answered the young girl. "Besides, if I
were, I am not forced to show it."
"You do show it though, if you won't go and welcome that young girl,
who must be getting very tired of the company of men, and who will be
glad enough to see another girl like herself."
"She can't be very tired of them," replied Thérence, "unless she has
a bad heart. However, I am not bound to amuse her. I will serve her
and help her; that is all that I consider my duty."
"But she expects you; what am I to tell her?"
"Tell her what you like; I am not obliged to render account of myself
to her."
So saying, the daughter of the Head-Woodsman turned into a wood-path
and Huriel stood still a moment, thinking, like a man who is trying
to guess a riddle.
Then he went on his way; but I remained just where I was, rigid as a
stone image. A sort of vision came over me when I first beheld
Thérence; I said to myself: "That face is known to me; who is it she
is like?"
Then, slowly, as I looked at her and heard her speak, I knew she
reminded me of the little girl in the cart that was stuck in the
mire,--the little girl who had set me dreaming all one evening, and
who may have been the reason why Brulette, thinking me too simple in
my tastes, had turned her love away from me. At last, when she
passed close by me in going away, I noticed the black mole at the
corner of her mouth, and I knew by that that she was indeed the girl
of the woods whom I had carried in my arms, and who had kissed me
then as readily as she now seemed unwilling even to receive me.
I stayed a long time thinking of many things in connection with this
encounter; but finally Père Bastien's bagpipe, sounding a sort of
fanfare, warned me that the sun was going down. I had no trouble in
finding the path to the lodges, as they call the huts of the
woodsmen. That belonging to Huriel was larger and better built than
the rest; it consisted of two rooms, one of them being for Thérence.
In front of it was a kind of shed roofed with green boughs, which
served as a shelter from wind and rain; two boards placed on trestles
made a table, laid for the occasion.
Usually the Huriel family lived on bread and cheese, with a little
salt meat once a day. This was neither miserliness nor poverty, but
simplicity of life and customs; these children of the woods think our
need of hot meals and the way we have of keeping our women cooking
from morning till night both useless and exacting.
However, expecting the arrival of Joseph's mother or that of Père
Brulet, Thérence, wishing to give them what they were accustomed to,
had gone the night before to Mesples for provisions. She now lighted
a fire in the glade and called her neighbors to assist her. These
were the wives of woodsmen, one old and one ugly. There were no
other women in the forest, as it is not the custom, nor have these
people the means, to take their families into the woods.
The neighboring lodges, six in number, held about a dozen men, who
were beginning to assemble on a pile of fagots to sup in each other's
company on their frugal bit of lard and rye bread; but the
Head-Woodsman, going up to them before he went to his own lodge to
put away his tools and his leathern apron, said, in his kind and
manly way: "Brothers, I have a party of strangers with me to-day,
whom I shall not condemn to follow our customs. But it shall never
be said that roast meat is eaten and the wine of Sancerre served in
the lodge of the Head-Woodsman when his friends are not there to
partake with him. Come, therefore, that I may make you friendly with
my guests; those of you who refuse will give me pain."
No one refused, and we were a company of over twenty,--not all round
the table, for these folk don't care for comfort, but seated, some on
stones, some on the grass, one lying on his back among the shavings,
another perched on the twisted limb of a tree; and all--saving the
matter of holy baptism--more like a troop of wild boars than a
company of Christian people.
All this time the beautiful Thérence seemed, as she came and went
about her duties, not a whit more inclined to take notice of us until
her father, who had called to her in vain, caught her as she passed,
and leading her up to us against her will, presented her.
"Please excuse her, my friends," he said; "she is a little savage,
born and reared in the woods. She is shy and bashful; but she will
get over it, and I ask you, Brulette, to help her do so, for she
improves on acquaintance."
Thereupon Brulette, who was neither shy nor ill-humored herself,
opened both arms and flung them round Thérence's neck; and the
latter, not daring to forbid her, yet unable to escape, stood
stock-still and threw up her head, looking out of her eyes, which had
hitherto been glued to the ground. In this attitude, so near each
other, eye to eye and almost cheek to cheek, they made me think of a
pair of young bulls, one of which butts his head in play, while the
other, distrustful and already conscious of horns, awaits the moment
when he can strike him treacherously.
But all of a sudden Thérence seemed conquered by Brulette's soft
eyes, and lowering her head she dropped it on the other's shoulder to
hide her tears.
"Well, well!" said Père Bastien, teasing and caressing his daughter,
"this is what you call skittish! I never should have thought a
girl's shyness would bring her to tears. Try to understand these
young things if you can! Come, Brulette, you seem the more
reasonable of the two; take her away, and don't let go of her till
she has talked to you. It is only the first word that costs."
"Very good," answered Brulette. "I will help her, and the first
order she gives me I will obey so well that she will forgive me for
having frightened her."
As they went off together, Père Bastien said to me: "Just see what
women are! The least coquettish of them (and my Thérence is of that
kind) cannot come face to face with a rival in beauty without getting
scarlet with anger or frozen with fear. The stars live contentedly
side by side in the sky, but when two daughters of Mother Eve come
together there is always one who is miserable at the comparison that
can be made between them."
"I think, father, that you are not doing justice to Thérence in
saying that," observed Huriel. "She is neither shy nor envious."
Then lowering his voice, "I think I know what grieves her, but it is
best to pay no attention."
They brought in the broiled meat, with some fine yellow mushrooms,
which I could not make up my mind to taste, though I saw everybody
else eat them fearlessly; then came eggs fricasseed with all sorts of
strong herbs, buckwheat cakes, and the Chambérat cheeses which are
famous everywhere. All the laborers junketed to their heart's
content, but in a very different way from ours. Instead of taking
their time and chewing each morsel, they swallowed the food whole
like famished creatures, a thing that is not considered at all proper
with us; in fact, they could not wait to be through eating before
they began to sing and dance in the very middle of the feast.
These men, whose blood is not as cool as ours, seemed to me unable to
keep still a moment. They would not wait till the dishes were passed
round, but carried up their slices of bread to hold the stew,
refusing plates, and then returned to their perch in the trees or
their bed in the sawdust. Some ate standing, others talking and
gesticulating, each telling his own tale and singing his own song.
They were like bees buzzing about the hive; it made me giddy, and I
felt I was not enjoying the feast at all.
Although the wine was good and the Head-Woodsman did not spare it, no
one took more than was good for him; for each man had his work to do
and would not let himself be unfitted for the labor of the morrow.
So the feast was short, and, although at one time it seemed to me to
be getting rather boisterous, still it ended early and peacefully.
The Head-Woodsman received many compliments for his hospitality, and
it was quite plain that he had a natural control over the whole band,
not so much by any method as by the influence of his kind heart and
his wise head.
We received many assurances of friendship and offers of service; and
I must admit that the people were heartier and readier to oblige than
we are in our part of the country. I noticed that Huriel took them
up, one after the other, to Brulette, and presented each by name,
telling them to regard her as neither more nor less than his sister;
whereupon she received so many salutations and civilities that she
had never, even in her own village, been so courted. When night came
the Head-Woodsman offered to share his cabin with me. Joseph's lodge
was next to ours, but it was smaller, and I should have been much
cramped. So I followed my host,--all the more willingly because I
was charged to watch over Brulette's safety; but I soon saw that she
ran no risk, for she shared the bed of the beautiful Thérence, and
the muleteer, faithful to his usual habits, had already stretched
himself on the ground outside the door, so that neither wolf nor
thief could get an entrance.
Casting a glance into the little room where the two girls were to
sleep, I saw it contained a bed and a few very decent articles of
furniture. Huriel, thanks to his mules, was able to transport his
sister's household belongings very easily and without expense. Those
of his father gave little trouble, for they consisted solely of a
heap of dry fern and a coverlet. Indeed, the Head-Woodsman thought
even that too much, and would have preferred to sleep under the
stars, like his son.
I was tired enough to do without a bed, and I slept soundly till
daylight. I thought Brulette did the same, for I heard no sound
behind the plank partition which separated us. When I rose the
Woodsman and his son were already up and consulting together.
"We were speaking of you," said the father; "and as we must go to our
work, I should like the matter I was talking of to be settled now. I
have explained to Brulette that Joseph needs her company for some
time yet, and she has promised to stay a week at least; but she could
not speak for you, and has asked us to beg you to stay. We hope you
will do so, assuring you that it will give us pleasure; you will not
be a burden on us; and we beg you to act with us as freely as we
would with you if occasion demanded."
This was said with such an air of sincerity and friendship that I
could not refuse; and indeed, as it was impossible to abandon
Brulette to the company of strangers, I was obliged to give in to her
wishes and Joseph's interests, though eight days seemed to me rather
long.
"Thank you, my kind Tiennet," said Brulette, coming out of Thérence's
room; "and I thank these good people who have given me such a kind
reception; but if I stay, it must be on condition that no expense is
incurred for us, and that we shall be allowed to provide for
ourselves as we intended to do."
"It shall be just as you like," said Huriel; "for if the fear of
being a burden on us drives you away, we would rather renounce the
pleasure of serving you. But remember one thing; my father and I
both earn money, and nothing gives either of us so much pleasure as
to oblige our friends and show them hospitality."
It seemed to me that Huriel was rather fond of jingling his money, as
if to say, "I am a good match." However, he immediately acted like a
man who sets himself aside, for he told us that he was about to start
on a journey.
When she heard that Brulette gave a little quiver, which nobody
noticed but me, for she recovered instantly and asked, apparently
with indifference, where he was going and for how long.
"I am going to work in the woods of La Roche," he replied; "I shall
be near enough to come back if you send for me; Tiennet knows the
way. I am going now, in the first instance, to the moor round La
Croze to get my mules and their trappings. I will stop as I come
back and bid you good-bye."
Thereupon he departed, and the Head-Woodsman, enjoining on his
daughter to take good care of us, went off to his work in another
direction.
So there we were, Brulette and I, in company of the beautiful
Thérence, who, though she waited on us as actively as if we were
paying her wages, did not seem inclined to be friendly, and answered
shortly, yes or no, to all we said to her. This coolness soon
annoyed Brulette, who said to me, when we were alone for a moment, "I
think, Tiennet, that this girl is displeased with us. She took me
into her bed last night as if she were forced to receive a porcupine.
She flung herself on the farther edge with her nose to the wall, and
except when she asked if I wanted more bedclothes, she would not say
a word to me. I was so tired I would gladly have gone to sleep at
once; indeed, seeing that she pretended to sleep, to avoid speaking
to me, I pretended too; but I could not close my eyes for a long,
long time, for I heard her choking down her sobs. If you will
consent, we will not trouble her any longer; we can find plenty of
empty huts in the forest, and if not, I could arrange with an old
woman I saw here yesterday to send her husband to a neighbor and take
us in. If it is only a grass bed I shall be content; it costs too
much to sleep on a mattress if tears are to pay for it. As for our
meals, I suppose that you can go to Mesples and buy all we want, and
I'll take charge of the cooking."
"That's all right, Brulette," I answered, "and I'll do as you say.
Look for a lodging for yourself, and don't trouble about me. I am
not sugar nor salt any more than the muleteer who slept at your door
last night. I'll do for you as he did, without fearing that the dew
will melt me. However, listen to this: if we quit the Woodsman's
lodge and table in this way he will think we are angry, and as he has
treated us too well to have given any cause for it himself, he will
see at once that his daughter has rebuffed us. Perhaps he will scold
her; and that might not be just. You say the girl did all she could,
and was even submissive to you. Now, suppose she has some hidden
trouble, have we the right to complain of her silence and her sobs?
Would it not be better to take no notice, and to leave her free all
day to go and meet her lover, if she has one, and spend our own time
with José, for whose sake alone we came here? Are not you rather
afraid that if we look for a place to live apart in, people may fancy
we have some evil motive?"
"You are right, Tiennet," said Brulette. "Well, I'll have patience
with that tall sulky girl, and let her come and go as she likes."