on their way.

"That is what I call a man," said Genestas.

"A man in a bad way," answered Benassis. "But what help is there for it?
You heard what he said. Is it not lamentable to see such fine qualities
running to waste? If France were invaded by a foreign foe, Butifer at
the head of a hundred young fellows would keep a whole division busy in
Maurienne for a month; but in a time of peace the only outlets for his
energy are those which set the law at defiance. He must wrestle with
something; whenever he is not risking his neck he is at odds with
society, he lends a helping hand to smugglers. The rogue will cross the
Rhone, all by himself, in a little boat, to take shoes over into Savoy;
he makes good his retreat, heavy laden as he is, to some inaccessible
place high up among the hills, where he stays for two days at a time,
living on dry crusts. In short, danger is as welcome to him as sleep
would be to anybody else, and by dint of experience he has acquired a
relish for extreme sensations that has totally unfitted him for ordinary
life. It vexes me that a man like that should take a wrong turn and
gradually go to the bad, become a bandit, and die on the gallows. But,
see, captain, how our village looks from here!"

Genestas obtained a distant view of a wide circular space, planted with
trees, a fountain surrounded by poplars stood in the middle of it.
Round the enclosure were high banks on which a triple line of trees of
different kinds were growing; the first row consisted of acacias,
the second of Japanese varnish trees, and some young elms grew on the
highest row of all.

"That is where we hold our fair," said Benassis. "That is the beginning
of the High Street, by those two handsome houses that I told you about;
one belongs to the notary, and the other to the justice of the peace."

They came at that moment into a broad road, fairly evenly paved with
large cobble-stones. There were altogether about a hundred new houses on
either side of it, and almost every house stood in a garden.

The view of the church with its doorway made a pretty termination to
this road. Two more roads had been recently planned out half-way down
the course of the first, and many new houses had already been built
along them. The town-hall stood opposite the parsonage, in the square by
the church. As Benassis went down the road, women and children stood in
their doorways to wish him good-evening, the men took off their caps,
and the lit