A CHRISTMAS JAUNT 



never known anything but bitter toil 

 since childhood, and, conceive of it my 

 discontented millionaire, no weeping, 

 but a laughing philosopher. A wage of 

 fifty cents a day for the work of a man 

 and horse from long before daybreak to 

 sunset is not affluence to the parent of 

 such a family, and yet this was all his 

 reward through many a long winter. I 

 hope that he will forgive me for betray- 

 ing a confidence when I set down here 

 his statement to me that at one time he 

 "regulated his affairs" upon a hundred 

 and fifty dollars a year. This was all 

 the cash that he " touched," and what 

 came further in kind was no great mat- 

 ter. Yet he has no quarrel with the 

 scheme of things ; if it is foul to-day it 

 will be fair to-morrow, if misfortunes 

 befall "c'est la vie/' The good God 

 knows best and sends what is fit. After 

 it all will there not be the long, un- 

 troubled sleep "sur la Montagne"? 

 Pommereau is no surname or name of 



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