te at home.

Tom sat for a long time on his bed, his face covered with
perspiration, his limbs agitated. He was not yet very strong after
his illness, and the shock which he had received had completely
upset him.

He meditated a plan of revenge. A dozen ideas struck him, but none
seemed good enough. Finally, he thought of one, which, if carried
out, would completely crush his detestable rival.

CHAPTER XIX.

TOM'S INTERVIEW WITH MRS. VIDOUX.

Five minutes' walk from the "Prenoms," there might once be seen a
small, badly built, one-storeyed cottage, the walls of which were
built of stone, with clay serving instead of mortar. In the walls,
were three small windows, opening like French windows. They were of
different sizes, contained numerous small rectangular panes of
glass, and were situated irregularly; two in front of, and one
behind the house.

Inside, the walls were white-washed, the floor was of clay, the
ceiling was black with smoke. One of the two rooms served as a
bedroom, while the other one was badly fitted up to resemble a
kitchen.

A wretchedly thatched roof, surmounted by a single stone chimney,
covered the whole.

Situated behind this hovel, was a small piece of land called a
garden. In it grew cabbages, potatoes, fruits and weeds; the latter
predominating.

In this cottage, there lived an old woman, whose age none seemed to
know. The fact that she never attended divine service, coupled with
the tales of her being in the habit of attending the witches'
sabbath, was enough to make her pass amongst her superstitious
neighbours as a being possessed of supernatural powers.

She was aware of this, and consequently avoided, as far as it was
practicable, having anything to do with her species.

At first she had felt very angry at her countrymen's insinuations,
and almost wished she did possess supernatural powers; but gradually
she had cooled down, and now she was indifferent.

Mrs. Vidoux--such was the appellation of this woman--was not
attractive. Her face was of a colour much resembling Vandyke Brown.
It was a woman's face, yet it resembled a man's, not excepting the
whiskers, which seemed to grow vigourously, as it fertilized by the
dirt which her uncleanly habits allowed to accumulate on her face.

She had but two companions; they were cats. She very often ate
limpets (_Patella Vulgata_). When she descended to the beach to
collect the shell fish she took exactly one hundred.

A pr