CHAPTER III 



THE SCHOOLBOY: SAINT-LEONS 



WITH his seventh year the time came for 

 him to go to school. The school- 

 master of Saint-Leons was the child's god- 

 father. Everything pointed to him as the 

 child's first teacher. So Jean-Henri left the 

 ancestral home at Malaval to return to his 

 father's house at Saint-Leons and attend the 

 local school, which was kept by his godfather, 

 Pierre Ricard. He could not have done bet- 

 ter as a start in life. Let us leave him to 

 paint one picture of this second phase of his 

 life. He begins with a description of the 

 school : 



What shall I call the room in which I was to 

 become acquainted with the alphabet? It would 

 be difficult to find the exact word, because the 

 room served for every purpose. It was at once 

 a school, a kitchen, a bedroom, a dining-room, and, 

 at times, a chicken-house and a piggery. Palatial 

 schools were not dreamt of in those days; any 

 wretched hovel was thought good enough. 



A broad fixed ladder led to the floor above. 



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