that had been on the counter
for two or three days.

What did that matter? The great thing was that it was larger than the
little penny roll. It was worth two rolls.

As soon as it was in her hand her mouth filled with water. But she would
not eat it until she had got out of the village. This she did very
quickly. As soon as she had passed the last house, she took her little
knife from her pocket and made a cross on the piece of bread so as to be
able to cut it into four equal parts. She took one piece, keeping the
three others for the three following days, hoping that it might last her
until she reached Amiens.

She had calculated this as she had hurried through the village, and it
had seemed such an easy matter. But scarcely had she swallowed a
mouthful of her little piece of bread than she felt that the strongest
arguments had no power against hunger. She was famished! She must eat!
The second piece followed the first, the third followed the second.
Never had her will power been so weak. She was hungry; she must have it
... all ... all. Her only excuse was that the pieces were so tiny. When
all four were put together, the whole only weighed a half a pound. And a
whole pound would not have been enough for her in her ravenous
condition. The day before she had only had a little cup of soup that
Carp had given her. She devoured the fourth piece.

She went on her way. Although she had only just eaten her piece of
bread, a terrible thought obsessed her. Where would she next get a
mouthful? She now knew what torture she would have to go through ... the
pangs of hunger were terrible to endure. Where should she get her next
meal? She walked through two more villages. She was getting thirsty now,
very thirsty. Her tongue was dry, her lips parched. She came to the
last house in the village, but she did not dare ask for a glass of
water. She had noticed that the people looked at her curiously, and even
the dogs seemed to show their teeth at the ragged picture she presented.

She must walk on. The sun was very hot now, and her thirst became more
intense as she tramped along the white road. There was not a tree along
the road, and little clouds of dust rose around her every instant,
making her lips more parched. Oh, for a drink of water! The palate of
her mouth seemed hard, like a corn.

The fact that she was thirsty had not worried her at first. One did not
have to go into a shop to buy water. Anybody could have it. When s