ith them, and his wife
cooked, waited on them, brought in the dishes, took them out, and asked
all of them in a whisper whether they had everything they wanted. A
number of boards standing against the walls, and heaps of shavings that
had been swept into the corners, gave out a smell of planed wood, or
carpentering, that resinous odor which penetrates the lungs.

They wanted to see the little girl, but she had gone to church, and
would not be back until evening, so they all went out for a stroll in
the country.

It was a small village, through which the high road passed. Ten or a
dozen houses on either side of the single street, were inhabited by the
butcher, the grocer, the carpenter, the inn-keeper, the shoemaker and
the baker.

The church was at the end of the street, and was surrounded by a small
churchyard, and four enormous lime-trees, which stood just outside the
porch, shaded it completely. It was built of flint, in no particular
style, and had a slated steeple. When you got past it, you were in the
open country again, which was broken here and there by clumps of trees
which hid the homestead.

Rivet had given his arm to his sister, out of politeness, although he
was in his working clothes, and was walking with her majestically. His
wife, who was overwhelmed by Raphaele's gold-striped dress, was walking
between her and Fernande, and round-about Rosa was trotting behind with
Louise Cocote and Flora, the see-saw, who was limping along, quite
tired out.

The inhabitants came to their doors, the children left off playing, and
a window curtain would be raised, so as to show a muslin cap, while an
old woman with a crutch, and who was almost blind, crossed herself as if
it were a religious procession, and they all looked for a long time
after those handsome ladies from the town, who had come so far to be
present at the confirmation of Joseph Rivet's little girl, and the
carpenter rose very much in the public estimation.

As they passed the church, they heard some children singing; little
shrill voices were singing a hymn, but _Madame_ would not let them go
in, for fear of disturbing the little cherubs.

After a walk, during which Joseph Rivet enumerated the principal landed
proprietors, spoke about the yield of the land, and productiveness of
the cows and sheep, he took his herd of women home and installed them in
his house, and as it was very small, they had put them into the rooms,
two and two.

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