they cost
him many francs."

"We will be more careful than that, won't we, Mother?" Marie said.

"I certainly hope so, for we can ill afford to waste our money."

And the Bretton family were more careful. Within a day or two the great
sheets of eggs were folded and put away in a dry, dark place where they
would be safe until the spring when, as the children insisted, Father
and Uncle Jacques might be at home again to share in the hatching and
direct the raising of the new crop of silkworms.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XI

PIERRE TAKES ANOTHER JOURNEY

During the next few weeks many a letter passed between Pierre and his
new friend Henri St. Amant; and by and by came an invitation for Pierre
to come again to Pont-de-Saint-Michel and spend the day visiting the
Gaspard throwing mills, where the raw silk was twisted and prepared for
weaving. The boy was all eagerness to go and his mother, too, favored
the trip, for Pierre had been working very steadily and now had few
pleasures. It seemed impossible to complete the never-ending round of
duties, although with uncomplaining zeal Pierre kept patiently at them.
Marie, it is true, helped with some of the lighter work; but she was
not strong enough to do much outside the house. As for Josef, faithful
as he was, the old man was aging rapidly and could do little more than
potter about the place and direct things. Therefore the cutting of trees
for fuel, the drawing of water, the building of fires all fell to
Pierre's lot.

What wonder that with such constant use the boy's strength was daily
increasing until he was becoming a veritable young giant? With no small
satisfaction he beheld the muscles of his arms tighten and stand out;
and when he swung his axe and brought down a sturdy sapling it was with
a glow of pleasure that he heard it crash to the ground. Certainly there
were compensations in hard work! Moreover was not every French boy who
was too young to serve in the army being a man at home? He was but doing
what all his friends were. Nevertheless the thought of a holiday did
fill him with anticipation. To get into something beside his workaday
clothes, and to mingle for an entire day amid new scenes, to say nothing
of seeing Henri St. Amant again--what a delight it would be!

Madame Bretton caught a reflection from his happiness and that nothing
should be left undone that should enhance the joy of her son's outing
she broke over her rules of strict frugality