EPOCH THE FIRST
CHAPTER I
THE GRAND TOUR OF JEAN JACQUES BARBILLE
"Peace and plenty, peace and plenty"--that was the phrase M. Jean Jacques
Barbille, miller and moneymaster, applied to his home-scene, when he was
at the height of his career. Both winter and summer the place had a look
of content and comfort, even a kind of opulence. There is nothing like a
grove of pines to give a sense of warmth in winter and an air of coolness
in summer, so does the slightest breeze make the pine-needles swish like
the freshening sea. But to this scene, where pines made a friendly
background, there were added oak, ash, and hickory trees, though in less
quantity on the side of the river where were Jean Jacques Barbille's
house and mills. They flourished chiefly on the opposite side of the Beau
Cheval, whose waters flowed so waywardly--now with a rush, now silently
away through long reaches of country. Here the land was rugged and bold,
while farther on it became gentle and spacious, and was flecked or
striped with farms on which low, white houses with dormer-windows and big
stoops flashed to the passer-by the message of the pioneer, "It is mine.
I triumph."
At the Manor Cartier, not far from the town of Vilray, where Jean Jacques
was master, and above it and below it, there had been battles and the
ravages of war.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25