is not all," said Mother Etienne, "I want you to have a
share in my good fortune. That's only fair. You have worked all
your life, you must think of taking a rest. You have certainly
earned it. Here is a check for $2,000 which my lawyer, M. La
Plume, will cash for you. This sum, together with what you have
saved, will be enough to buy a little house and garden and to keep
you from want. If one is wise and knows how to manage, one can
live here for very little."

Father Gusson, quite upset and touched, could not find words to
thank dear, kind Mother Etienne. It was as though he had
unexpectedly won the big prize in the lottery. He could hardly
believe his eyes and ears.

Soon he pulled himself together and began to calculate.

"I have a few savings, it is true, but I think it would be wise to
take advantage of the fame of the ointment and double my small
fortune. I hope that, thanks to the already widespread fame of
Yollande, if (with your kind permission) I were to call my
ointment, 'Ointment of the Curly-Haired Hen' I should have
considerable success."

"Not only am I quite willing, but I thoroughly approve of your
idea and strongly advise you to carry it out," replied Mother
Etienne warmly.

No sooner said than done.

Father Gusson withdrew from the notary the sum, so fairly
But generously given him, and spent his time henceforth in
manufacturing (according to the recipe of his ancestors) the
wonderful ointment. He filled a great quantity of jars of all
sizes, and like the good business man he was, having adorned them
with magnificent labels he doubled the price of the ointment and
put on a trade mark so as to prohibit imitations. Then he bought a
cart like Mother Etienne's and harnessed Neddy to it. On the hood
of the cart was a huge picture of a Curly-Haired Hen, and under it
was the inscription, "Ointment of the Curly-Haired Hen." Now the
peddler could go his rounds, selling only this specialty, without
need of further advertisement. The effect was magic. Doors,
hitherto too often closed against him, opened wide at his coming
and there was not a soul who did not buy quite a lot of it.

In a month and without effort, Father Gusson took in ten times
more money than he had earned in all his long and hardworking life
before.

CHAPTER X

TRIUMPH OF THE OINTMENT

The craze of the public for this new preparation was
extraordinary. A china factory, about to close its doors, made a
fortune out of