little one slumbered. He was a fine child, pink and white
already; but only a father and mother could thus contemplate their
offspring. As the baby opened his eyes, which were still full of all the
mystery whence he had come, they raised exclamations full of emotion.

"You know, he saw me!"

"Certainly, and me too. He looked at me: he turned his head."

"Oh, the cherub!"

It was but an illusion, but that dear little face, still so soft and
silent, told them so many things which none other would have heard! They
found themselves repeated in the child, mingled as it were together;
and detected extraordinary likenesses, which for hours and for days
kept them discussing the question as to which of them he most resembled.
Moreover, each proved very obstinate, declaring that he was the living
portrait of the other.

As a matter of course, Master Gervais had no sooner opened his eyes than
he began to shriek. But Marianne was pitiless: her rule was the bath
first and milk afterwards. Zoe brought up a big jug of hot water,
and then set out the little bath near the window in the sunlight. And
Mathieu, all obstinacy, bathed the child, washing him with a soft sponge
for some three minutes, while Marianne, from her bed, watched over the
operation, jesting about the delicacy of touch that he displayed, as if
the child were some fragile new-born divinity whom he feared to bruise
with his big hands. At the same time they continued marvelling at the
delightful scene. How pretty he looked in the water, his pink skin
shining in the sunlight! And how well-behaved he was, for it was
wonderful to see how quickly he ceased wailing and gave signs of
satisfaction when he felt the all-enveloping caress of the warm water.
Never had father and mother possessed such a little treasure.

"And now," said Mathieu, when Zoe had helped him to wipe the boy with a
fine cloth, "and now we will weigh Master Gervais."

This was a complicated operation, which was rendered the more difficult
by the extreme repugnance that the child displayed. He struggled and
wriggled on the platform of the weighing scales to such a degree that
it was impossible to arrive at his correct weight, in order to ascertain
how much this had increased since the previous occasion. As a rule, the
increase varied from six to seven ounces a week. The father generally
lost patience over the operation, and the mother had to intervene.

"Here! put the scales on the table near my bed,