88 GOLDEN DAYS 



added — " cest vrai ! and, you see, St. Sezny 

 was delighted. He was a very good saint, 

 but not stout-hearted. He was not what 

 you would name a bold man, and he 

 became a saint late in life ; perhaps he had 

 had some experience." We were now 

 passing the entrance to the farm of Sezny, 

 and a dog howled in the darkness. Jean 

 Pierre chuckled. ''Out, cest vi'ai ; and 

 ever since that day, you see, the dogs of 

 Brittany have had a patron saint." . . . 



Then softly spake Jean Pierre beneath 

 the silent stars. '* Women," he said, " are 

 wonderful, better and purer and truer than 

 we men ; and there are times, monsieur, 

 when 1 see lovers walking in the lanes, 

 their litttle fingers locked, or when the 

 children call to me as they come back from 

 school. Then at these times would I curse 

 that simpleton Jean Pierre, the man who 

 never knew his mind, save that I see all 

 the pauvre ivrogne has missed, and pity 

 him. To have found one's woman — to be 

 sure— that were a marvel. But jigiirez- 

 vous, monsieur, I have never been sure, 

 never of one single thing in all my 

 life." . . . Jean Pierre spoke bitterly. 



