far as eye could see, one mass
of greenery, full of the promise of harvest. Therein was compensation
for every tear, every worry and anxiety of the earlier days of labor.

Meantime Mathieu, amid his creative work, received Marianne's gay and
courageous assistance. And she was not merely a skilful helpmate, taking
a share in the general management, keeping the accounts, and watching
over the home. She remained both a loving and well-loved spouse, and a
mother who nursed, reared, and educated her little ones in order to
give them some of her own sense and heart. As Boutan remarked, it is
not enough for a woman to have a child; she should also possess healthy
moral gifts in order that she may bring it up in creditable fashion.
Marianne, for her part, made it her pride to obtain everything from her
children by dint of gentleness and grace. She was listened to, obeyed,
and worshipped by them, because she was so beautiful, so kind, and
so greatly beloved. Her task was scarcely easy, since she had eight
children already; but in all things she proceeded in a very orderly
fashion, utilizing the elder to watch over the younger ones, giving each
a little share of loving authority, and extricating herself from every
embarrassment by setting truth and justice above one and all. Blaise
and Denis, the twins, who were now sixteen, and Ambroise, who was nearly
fourteen, did in a measure escape her authority, being largely in their
father's hands. But around her she had the five others--from Rose, who
was eleven, to Louise, who was two years old; between them, at intervals
of a couple of years, coming Gervais, Claire, and Gregoire. And each
time that one flew away, as it were, feeling his wings strong enough for
flight, there appeared another to nestle beside her. And it was again a
daughter, Madeleine, who came at the expiration of those two years. And
when Mathieu saw his wife erect and smiling again, with the dear little
girl at her breast, he embraced her passionately and triumphed once
again over every sorrow and every pang. Yet another child, yet more
wealth and power, yet an additional force born into the world, another
field ready for to-morrow's harvest.

And 'twas ever the great work, the good work, the work of fruitfulness
spreading, thanks to the earth and thanks to woman, both victorious over
destruction, offering fresh means of subsistence each time a fresh child
was born, and loving, willing, battling, toiling even amid s