she passed her father's
stick through its gills, and carrying it between them, they went gaily
up the hill, with the wind in their faces, chattering like two children;
and as the brill made their arms ache, they let it drop lower and lower
till its big tail swept along the grass.

* * * * *

II

A delightful life of freedom began for Jeanne. She read, dreamed, and
wandered about all alone, walking slowly along the road, building
castles in the air, or dancing down the little winding valleys whose
sloping sides were covered with golden gorse. Its strong, sweet odor,
increased by the heat, intoxicated her like a perfumed wine, while she
was lulled by the distant sound of the waves breaking on the beach. When
she was in an idle mood she would throw herself down on the thick grass
of the hill-side, and sometimes when at the turn of a road she suddenly
caught a glimpse of the blue sea, sparkling in the light of the sun,
with a white sail at the horizon, she felt an inordinate joy, a
mysterious presentiment of future happiness.

She loved to be alone with the calm beauty of nature, and would sit
motionless for so long on the top of a hill, that the wild rabbits would
bound fearlessly up to her; or she would run swiftly along the cliff,
exhilarated by the pure air of the hills, and finding an exquisite
pleasure in being able to move without fatigue, like the swallows in the
air and the fish in the water.

Very fond of bathing, and strong, fearless, and unconscious of danger,
she would swim out to sea till she could no longer be perceived from the
shore, feeling refreshed by the cool water, and enjoying the rocking of
its clear blue waves. When she was a long way out, she floated, and,
with her arms crossed on her breast, gazed at the deep, blue sky,
against which a swallow or the white outline of a sea-gull could
sometimes be seen. No noise could be heard except the far away murmur of
the waves breaking on the beach, and the vague, confused, almost
imperceptible sound of the pebbles being drawn down by the receding
waves. When she went out too far, a boat put off to bring her in and she
would return to the chateau pale with hunger, but not at all tired, with
a smile on her lips, and her eyes dancing with joy.

The baron was planning great agricultural improvements; he wanted to
make experiments, to try new machines, to acclimatize foreign plants,
and he passed part of his time talking to t