easures of fellowship and
the happiness of living. Rich and poor, old and young, share in this
glorified gladness. Jasmin had as yet known no sorrow. His companions
were poor boys like himself. They had never known any other condition.

Just as the noontide bells began to ring, Jasmin set out with a hunch of
bread in his hand--perhaps taken from his grandfather's wallet--to enjoy
the afternoon with his comrades. Without cap or shoes he sped' away. The
sun was often genial, and he never bethought him of cold. On the company
went, some twenty or thirty in number, to gather willow faggots by the
banks of the Garonne.

"Oh, how my soul leapt!" he exclaimed in his Souvenirs, "when we all set
out together at mid-day, singing. 'The Lamb whom Thou hast given me,'
a well known carol in the south. The very recollection of that pleasure
even now enchants me. 'To the Island--to the Island!' shouted the
boldest, and then we made haste to wade to the Island, each to gather
together our little bundle of fagots."

The rest of the vagrants' time was spent in play. They ascended the
cliff towards the grotto of Saint John. They shared in many a contest.
They dared each other to do things--possible and impossible. There were
climbings of rocks, and daring leaps, with many perils and escapades,
according to the nature of boys at play. At length, after becoming
tired, there was the return home an hour before nightfall. And now
the little fellows tripped along; thirty fagot bundles were carried on
thirty heads; and the thirty sang, as on setting out, the same carol,
with the same refrain.

Jasmin proceeds, in his Souvenirs, to describe with great zest and a
wonderful richness of local colour, the impromptu fetes in which he
bore a part; his raids upon the cherry and plum orchards--for the
neighbourhood of Agen is rich in plum-trees, and prunes are one of the
principal articles of commerce in the district. Playing at soldiers
was one of Jasmin's favourite amusements; and he was usually elected
Captain.

"I should need," he says, "a hundred trumpets to celebrate all my
victories." Then he describes the dancing round the bonfires, and the
fantastic ceremonies connected with the celebration of St. John's Eve.

Agen is celebrated for its fairs. In the month of June, one of the
most important fairs in the South of France is held on the extensive
promenade in front of the Gravier. There Jasmin went to pick up
any spare sous by holding horses