Up
the dusty street wandered fitfully the refrain:
"To a gentleman of the king,
Vive Napoleon!"
And once they dimly saw Monsieur Valmond come to the open window and
stretch out his hand, as if in greeting to the song and the singer.
CHAPTER II
This all happened on a Tuesday, and on Wednesday, and for several days,
Valmond went about making friends. His pockets were always full of
pennies and silver pieces, and he gave them liberally to the children and
to the poor, though, indeed, there were few suffering poor in Pontiac.
All had food enough to keep them from misery, though often it got no
further than sour milk and bread, with a dash of sugar in it of Sundays,
and now and then a little pork and molasses. As for homes, every man and
woman had a house of a kind, with its low, projecting roof and dormer
windows, according to the ability and prosperity of the owner. These
houses were whitewashed, or painted white and red, and had double glass
in winter, after the same measure. There was no question of warmth, for
in snow-time every house was banked up with earth above the foundations,
the cracks and intersections of windows and doors filled with cloth from
the village looms; and wood was for the chopping far and near.
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