cretinism. I determined to go through with my work, and came

officially in open day to take the luckless creature from his
dwelling. I had no sooner left my house than my intention got abroad.

The cretin's friends were there before me, and in front of his hovel I
found a crowd of women and children and old people, who hailed my

arrival with insults accompanied by a shower of stones.
"In the midst of the uproar I should perhaps have fallen a victim to

the frenzy that possesses a crowd excited by its own outcries and
stirred up by one common feeling, but the cretin saved my life! The

poor creature came out of his hut, and raised the clucking sound of
his voice. He seemed to be an absolute ruler over the fanatical mob,

for the sight of him put a sudden stop to the clamor. It occurred to
me that I might arrange a compromise, and thanks to the quiet so

opportunely restored, I was able to propose and explain it. Of course,
those who approved of my schemes would not dare to second me in this

emergency, their support was sure to be of a purelypassive kind,
while these superstitious folk would exert the most active vigilance

to keep their last idol among them; it was impossible, it seemed to
me, to take him away from them. So I promised to leave the cretin in

peace in his dwelling, with the understanding that he should live
quite by himself, and that the remaining families in the village

should cross the stream and come to live in the town, in some new
houses which I myself undertook to build, adding to each house a piece

of ground for which the Commune was to repay me later on.
"Well, my dear sir, it took me fully six months to overcome their

objection to this bargain, however much it may have been to the
advantage of the village families. The affection which they have for

their wretched hovels in country districts is something quite
unexplainable. No matter how unwholesome his hovel may be, a peasant

clings far more to it than a banker does to his mansion. The reason of
it? That I do not know. Perhaps thoughts and feelings are strongest in

those who have but few of them, simply because they have but few.
Perhaps material things count for much in the lives of those who live

so little in thought; certain it is that the less they have, the
dearer their possessions are to them. Perhaps, too, it is with the

peasant as with the prisoner-- he does not squander the powers of his
soul, he centres them all upon a single idea, and this is how his

feelings come to be so exceedingly" target="_blank" title="ad.非常地，极度地">exceedingly strong. Pardon these reflections on
the part of a man who seldom exchanges ideas with any one. But,

indeed, you must not suppose, sir, that I am much taken up with these
far-fetched considerations. We all have to be active and practical

here.
"Alas! the fewer ideas these poor folk have in their heads, the harder

it is to make them see where their real interests lie. There was
nothing for it but to give my whole attention to every trifling detail

of my enterprise. One and all made me the same answer, one of those
sayings, filled with homely sense, to which there is no possible

reply, 'But your houses are not yet built, sir!' they used to say.
'Very good,' said I, 'promise me that as soon as they are finished you

will come and live in them.'
"Luckily, sir, I obtained a decision to the effect that the whole of

the mountain side above the now deserted village was the property of
the township. The sum of money brought in by the woods on the higher

slopes paid for the building of the new houses and for the land on
which they stood. They were built forthwith; and when once one of my

refractory families was fairly settled in, the rest of them were not
slow to follow. The benefits of the change were so evident that even

the most bigoted believer in the village, which you might call
soulless as well as sunless, could not but appreciate them. The final

decision in this matter, which gave some property to the Commune, in
the possession of which we were confirmed by the Council of State,

made me a person of great importance in the canton. But what a lot of
worry there was over it!" the doctor remarked, stopping short, and

raising a hand which he let fall again--a gesture that spoke volumes.
"No one knows, as I do, the distance between the town and the

Prefecture--whence nothing comes out--and from the Prefecture to the
Council of State--where nothing can be got in.

"Well, after all," he resumed, "peace be to the powers of this world!
They yielded to my importunities, and that is saying a great deal. If

you only knew the good that came of a carelessly scrawled signature!
Why, sir, two years after I had taken these momentous trifles in hand,

and had carried the matter through to the end, every poor family in
the Commune had two cows at least, which they pastured on the mountain

side, where (without waiting this time for an authorization from the
Council of State) I had established a system of irrigation by means of

cross trenches, like those in Switzerland, Auvergne, and Limousin.
Much to their astonishment, the townspeople saw some capital meadows

springing up under their eyes, and thanks to the improvement in the
pasturage, the yield of milk was very much larger. The results of this

triumph were great indeed. Every one followed the example set by my
system of irrigation; cattle were multiplied; the area of meadow land

and every kind of out-turn increased. I had nothing to fear after
that. I could continue my efforts to improve this, as yet, untilled

corner of the earth; and to civilize those who dwelt in it, whose
minds had hitherto lain dormant.

"Well, sir, folk like us, who live out of the world, are very
talkative. If you ask us a question, there is no knowing where the

answer will come to an end; but to cut it short--there were about
seven hundred souls in the valley when I came to it, and now the

population numbers some two thousand. I had gained the good opinion of
every one in that matter of the last cretin; and when I had constantly

shown that I could rule both mildly and firmly, I became a local
oracle. I did everything that I could to win their confidence; I did

not ask for it, nor did I appear to seek it; but I tried to inspire
every one with the deepest respect for my character, by the scrupulous

way in which I always fulfilled my engagements, even when they were of
the most trifling kind. When I had pledged myself to care for the poor

creature whose death you have just witnessed, I looked after him much
more effectually than any of his previous guardians had done. He has

been fed and cared for as the adopted child of the Commune. After a
time the dwellers in the valley ended by understanding the service

which I had done them in spite of themselves, but for all that, they
still cherish some traces of that old superstition of theirs. Far be

it from me to blame them for it; has not their cult of the cretin
often furnished me with an argument when I have tried to induce those

who had possession of their faculties to help the unfortunate? But
here we are," said Benassis, when after a moment's pause he saw the

roof of his own house.
Far from expecting the slightest expression of praise or of thanks

from his listener, it appeared from his way of telling the story of
this episode in his administrativecareer, that he had been moved by

an unconscious desire to pour out the thoughts that filled his mind,
after the manner of folk that live very retired lives.

"I have taken the liberty of putting my horse in your stable, sir,"
said the commandant, "for which in your goodness you will perhaps

pardon me when you learn the object of my journey hither."
"Ah! yes, what is it?" asked Benassis, appearing to shake off his

preoccupied mood, and to recollect that his companion was a stranger
to him. The frankness and unreserve of his nature had led him to

accept Genestas as an acquaintance.
"I have heard of the almost miraculousrecovery of M. Gravier of

Grenoble, whom you received into your house," was the soldier's
answer. "I have come to you, hoping that you will give a like

attention to my case, although I have not a similar claim to your
benevolence; and yet, I am possibly not undeserving of it. I am an old

soldier, and wounds of long standing give me no peace. It will take
you at least a week to study my condition, for the pain only comes

back at intervals, and----"
"Very good, sir," Benassis broke in; "M. Gravier's room is in

readiness. Come in."
They went into the house, the doctor flinging open the door with an

eagerness that Genestas attributed to his pleasure at receiving a
boarder.

"Jacquotte!" Benassis called out. "This gentleman will dine with us."
"But would it not be as well for us to settle about the payment?"