"
"To tell the truth, we're not badly off here," said Germain, seating
himself close beside her. "The only thing that troubles me now is
hunger. It must be nine o'clock, and I had such hard work walking in
those wretched roads, that I feel all fagged out. Aren't you hungry,
too, Marie?"
"I? Not at all. I'm not used to four meals a day as you are, and I have
been to bed without supper so many times, that once more doesn't worry
me much."
"Well, a wife like you is a great convenience; she doesn't cost much,"
said Germain, with a smile.
"I am not a wife," said Marie artlessly, not perceiving the turn the
ploughman's ideas were taking. "Are you dreaming?"
"Yes, I believe I am dreaming," was Germain's reply; "perhaps it's
hunger that makes my mind wander."
"What a gourmand you must be!" she rejoined, brightening up a little in
her turn; "well, if you can't live five or six hours without eating,
haven't you some game in your bag, and fire to cook it with?"
"The devil! that's a good idea! but what about the gift to my future
father-in-law?"
"You have six partridges and a hare! I don't believe you need all that
to satisfy your hunger, do you?"
"But if we undertake to cook it here, without a spit or fire-dogs, we
shall burn it to a cinder!"
"Oh! no," said little Marie; "I'll agree to cook it for you in the ashes
so it won't smell of smoke.
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