visible, he was surprised by the extreme thinness of the child, who
seemed to be little more than skin and bone. When the little peasant had
been put to bed, Benassis tapped the lad's chest, and listened to
the ominous sounds made in this way by his fingers; then, after some
deliberation, he drew back the coverlet over Jacques, stepped back a
few paces, folded his arms across his chest, and closely scrutinized his
patient.

"How do you feel, my little man?"

"Quite comfortable, sir."

A table, with four spindle legs, stood in the room; the doctor drew
it up to the bed, found a tumbler and a phial on the mantel-shelf, and
composed a draught, by carefully measuring a few drops of brown liquid
from the phial into some water, Genestas holding the light the while.

"Your mother is very late."

"She is coming, sir," said the child; "I can hear her footsteps on the
path."

The doctor and the officer looked around them while they waited. At the
foot of the bed there was a sort of mattress made of moss, on which,
doubtless, the mother was wont to sleep in her clothes, for there were
neither sheets nor coverlet. Genestas pointed out this bed to Benassis,
who nodded slightly to show that he likewise had already admired this
motherly devotion. There was a clatter of sabots in the yard, and the
doctor went out.

"You will have to sit up with Jacques to-night, Mother Colas. If he
tells you that his breathing is bad, you must let him drink some of the
draught that I have poured into the tumbler on the table. Take care not
to let him have more than two or three sips at a time; there ought to
be enough in the tumbler to last him all through the night. Above all
things, do not touch the phial, and change the child's clothing at once.
He is perspiring heavily."

"I could not manage to wash his shirts to-day, sir; I had to take the
hemp over to Grenoble, as we wanted the money."

"Very well, then, I will send you some shirts."

"Then is he worse, my poor lad?" asked the woman.

"He has been so imprudent as to sing, Mother Colas; and it is not to be
expected that any good can come of it; but do not be hard upon him, nor
scold him. Do not be down-hearted about it; and if Jacques complains
overmuch, send a neighbor to fetch me. Good-bye."

The doctor called to his friend, and they went back along the foot-path.

"Is that little peasant consumptive?" asked Genestas.

"_Mon Dieu_! yes," answered Benassis. "Science cannot save h