trembling light, which was
lost in the darkness of the arches, looked to Rose like her last hope,
and with her eyes fixed on it, she fell on her knees. The chain rattled
as the little lamp swung up into the air, and almost immediately the
small bell rang out the _Angelus_ through the increasing mist. She went
up to him, as he was going out.

"Is Monsieur le Cure at home?" she asked. "Of course he is; this is his
dinner-time." She trembled as she rang the bell of the parsonage. The
priest was just sitting down to dinner, and he made her sit down also.
"Yes, yes, I know all about it; your husband has mentioned the matter to
me that brings you here." The poor woman nearly fainted, and the priest
continued: "What do you want, my child?" And he hastily swallowed
several spoonfuls of soup, some of which dropped onto his greasy
cassock. But Rose did not venture to say anything more, and she got up
to go, but the priest said: "Courage...."

And she went out, and returned to the farm, without knowing what she was
doing. The farmer was waiting for her, as the laborers had gone away
during her absence, and she fell heavily at his feet, and shedding a
flood of tears, she said to him: "What have you got against me?"

He began to shout and to swear: "What have I got against you? That I
have no children by ----! When a man takes a wife, he does not want to be
left alone with her until the end of his days. That is what I have
against you. When a cow has no calves, she is not worth anything, and
when a woman has no children, she is also not worth anything."

She began to cry, and said: "It is not my fault! It is not my fault!" He
grew rather more gentle when he heard that, and added: "I do not say
that it is, but it is very annoying, all the same."

PART V

From that day forward, she had only one thought; to have a child,
another child; she confided her wish to everybody, and in consequence of
this, a neighbor told her of an infallible method. This was, to make her
husband a glass of water with a pinch of ashes in it, every evening. The
farmer consented to try it, but without success; so they said to each
other: "Perhaps there are some secret ways?" And they tried to find out.
They were told of a shepherd who lived ten leagues off, and so Vallin
one day drove off to consult him. The shepherd gave him a loaf on which
he had made some marks; it was kneaded up with herbs, and both of them
were to eat a piece of it before and after