ns as to her family, the part of the country
she came from, and the wages she got.

She was from Ouistreham, had no relations alive, and earned seventeen
shillings a month; in short, she pleased him so much that he wished to
take her into his service to assist old Germaine.

Pecuchet reappeared with the mistress of the farm-house, and, while they
went on with their bargaining, Bouvard asked Gorju in a very low tone
whether the girl would consent to become their servant.

"Lord, yes."

"However," said Bouvard, "I must consult my friend."

The bargain had just been concluded, the price fixed for the chest being
thirty-five francs. They were to come to an understanding about the
repairs.

They had scarcely got out into the yard when Bouvard spoke of his
intentions with regard to Melie.

Pecuchet stopped (in order the better to reflect), opened his snuff-box,
took a pinch, and, wiping the snuff off his nose:

"Indeed, it is a good idea. Good heavens! yes! why not? Besides, you are
the master."

Ten minutes afterwards, Gorju showed himself on the top of a ditch, and
questioning them: "When do you want me to bring you the chest?"

"To-morrow."

"And about the other question, have you both made up your minds?"

"It's all right," replied Pecuchet.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER IV.

RESEARCHES IN ARCHAEOLOGY.

Six months later they had become archaeologists, and their house was like
a museum.

In the vestibule stood an old wooden beam. The staircase was encumbered
with the geological specimens, and an enormous chain was stretched on
the ground all along the corridor. They had taken off its hinges the
door between the two rooms in which they did not sleep, and had
condemned the outer door of the second in order to convert both into a
single apartment.

As soon as you crossed the threshold, you came in contact with a stone
trough (a Gallo-Roman sarcophagus); the ironwork next attracted your
attention. Fixed to the opposite wall, a warming-pan looked down on two
andirons and a hearthplate representing a monk caressing a shepherdess.
On the boards all around, you saw torches, locks, bolts, and nuts of
screws. The floor was rendered invisible beneath fragments of red tiles.
A table in the centre exhibited curiosities of the rarest description:
the shell of a Cauchoise cap, two argil urns, medals, and a phial of
opaline glass. An upholstered armchair had at its back a triangle worked
with guipure. A piece o