A STUDIOUS BOYHOOD 9 



tannery/' he used to murmur to his com- 

 patriot, Jules Vercel, "I should be well again!" 



Pasteur always retained his profound love 

 for Arbois, and even in the days of his great- 

 est fame he used to return there every year to 

 pass his vacation. 



The director of the pension, M. Darbet, 

 fearing that the severe attack of homesick- 

 ness from which his young pupil was suf- 

 fering might have a disastrous effect upon his 

 health, wrote to the father, and the latter, re- 

 gardless of his business, hurried to his son, and 

 promptly brought him back to the tannery. 



After his return home Louis Pasteur seems 

 for a while to have been in an unsettled state, 

 happy to be back again with his family, and 

 yet perhaps secretly ashamed of having failed 

 in his duty by not staying in Paris. In this 

 condition it was his emotional side which pre- 

 vailed for the time being. And, while he con- 

 tinued to follow the courses in the college at 

 Arbois, he returned to his drawing and his pas- 

 tels with passionate interest. He made nu- 



