Christmas time she fell down, unconscious, in the snow, and was found
dead the next morning.

And when Chicot came in for the farm, he said:

"It was very stupid of her; if she had not taken to drink she would
probably have lived ten years longer."




BOITELLE

Father Boitelle (Antoine) made a specialty of undertaking dirty jobs all
through the countryside. Whenever there was a ditch or a cesspool to be
cleaned out, a dunghill removed, a sewer cleansed, or any dirt hole
whatever, he way always employed to do it.

He would come with the instruments of his trade, his sabots covered with
dirt, and set to work, complaining incessantly about his occupation. When
people asked him then why he did this loathsome work, he would reply
resignedly:

"Faith, 'tis for my children, whom I must support. This brings me in more
than anything else."

He had, indeed, fourteen children. If any one asked him what had become
of them, he would say with an air of indifference:

"There are only eight of them left in the house. One is out at service