her; but she would look at
you, and every glance would seem full of thoughts, or she would sit with
tears in her eyes, scarcely saying a word, apparently rapt in musing.
Those musings of hers are so profound that you fall under the spell of
them; on me, at least, she has the effect of a cloud overcharged with
electricity. One day I plied her with questions; I tried with all my
might to make her talk; at last I let fall a few rather hasty words;
and, well--she burst into tears.

"At other times La Fosseuse is bright and winning, active, merry, and
sprightly; she enjoys talking, and the ideas which she expresses
are fresh and original. She is however quite unable to apply herself
steadily to any kind of work. When she was out in the fields she used to
spend whole hours in looking at a flower, in watching the water flow, in
gazing at the wonders in the depths of the clear, still river pools, at
the picturesque mosaic made up of pebbles and earth and sand, of water
plants and green moss, and the brown soil washed down by the stream,
a deposit full of soft shades of color, and of hues that contrast
strangely with each other.

"When I first came to the district the poor girl was starving. It hurt
her pride to accept the bread of others; and it was only when driven to
the last extremity of want and suffering that she could bring herself to
ask for charity. The feeling that this was a disgrace would often give
her energy, and for several days she worked in the fields; but her
strength was soon exhausted, and illness obliged her to leave the work
that she had begun. She had scarcely recovered when she went to a farm
on the outskirts of the town and asked to be taken on to look after the
cattle; she did her work well and intelligently, but after a while she
left without giving any reason for so doing. The constant toil, day
after day, was no doubt too heavy a yoke for one who is all independence
and caprice. Then she set herself to look for mushrooms or for truffles,
going over to Grenoble to sell them. But the gaudy trifles in the town
were very tempting, the few small coins in her hand seemed to be great
riches; she would forget her poverty and buy ribbons and finery, without
a thought for tomorrow's bread. But if some other girl here in the
town took a fancy to her brass crucifix, her agate heart or her velvet
ribbon, she would make them over to her at once, glad to give happiness,
for she lives by generous impulses. So La F