The Schoolboy: Saint-Leons 



my grandmother's. Its arched cornice occupies the 

 whole width of the room, for the enormous re- 

 doubt fulfils more than one purpose. In the mid- 

 dle is the hearth, but on the right and the left 

 are two breast-high recesses, half wood and half 

 stone. Each of them is a bed, with a mattress 

 stuffed with husks of winnowed corn. Two slid- 

 ing boards serve as shutters and close the chest if 

 the sleeper would be alone. This dormitory, shel- 

 tered under the chimney breast, supplies couches 

 for the favoured ones of the house, the boarders. 

 They must lie snug in them at night, when the 

 north wind howls at the mouth of the dark valley 

 and sends the snow awhirl. The rest is occupied 

 by the hearth and its accessories: the three-legged 

 stools; the salt-box, hanging against the wall to 

 keep its contents dry; the heavy shovel which it 

 takes two hands to wield ; lastly, the bellows, sim- 

 ilar to those with which I used to blow out my 

 cheeks in grandfather's house. They consist of a 

 big branch of pine, hollowed throughout its length 

 with a red-hot iron. By means of this channel 

 one's breath is applied, from a convenient distance, 

 to the spot which is to be revived. With a couple 

 of stones for supports, the master's bundle of sticks 

 and our own logs blaze and flicker, for each of 

 us has to bring a log of wood in the morning, 

 if he would share in the treat. 



Nevertheless, the fire was not exactly lit for 



us, but, most of all, to warm a row of three pots 



in which simmered the pigs' food, a mixture of 



potatoes and bran. That, despite the tribute of 



27 



