said Marie. To this he made no answer, but continued his path up
the mountain-side. 'There will be plenty of feed for the cows this
autumn,' said Marie Bromar. 'That is a great comfort.'

'Plenty,' said Michel; 'plenty.' But Marie knew from the tone of
his voice that he was not thinking about the grass, and so she held
her peace. But the want or plenty of the pasture was generally a
subject of the greatest interest to the people of Granpere at that
special time of the year, and one on which Michel Voss was ever
ready to speak. Marie therefore knew that there was something on
her uncle's mind. Nevertheless he inspected the timber that was
cut, and made some remarks about the work of the men. They were not
so careful in barking the logs as they used to be, and upon the
whole he thought that the wood itself was of a worse quality. What
is there that we do not find to be deteriorating around us when we
consider the things in detail, though we are willing enough to admit
a general improvement? 'Yes,' said he, in answer to some remarks
from Marie, 'we must take it, no doubt, as God gives it to us, but
we need not spoil it in the handling. Sit down, my dear; I want to
speak to you for a few minutes.' Then they sat down together on a
large prostrate pine, which was being prepared to be sent down to
the saw-mill. 'My dear,' said he, 'I want to speak to you about
Adrian Urmand.' She blushed and trembled as she placed herself
beside him; but he hardly noticed it. He was not quite at his ease
himself, and was a little afraid of the task he had undertaken.
'Adrian tells me that he asked you to take him as your lover, and
that you refused.'

'Yes, Uncle Michel.'