THE MILLER’S SECRET 133

world, to be with him. The poor
child was obliged to earn her own
living, and took service here and
there for the harvest, the olive-picking,
or the silkworm season. And yet
her grandfather seemed to love her
dearly. He would often walk twelve
miles in the burning sun to see her at
the farm where she was working, and
when he was with her he would sit for
hours gazing at her with tears in his
eyes.

In the parish, we thought that the old
miller was actuated by greed in send-
ing Vivette away, and it was no credit
to him to let his grand-daughter tramp
about from one farm to another, exposed
to the insults of the overseers and all
the hardships of a servant’s life. We
disapproved, too, of a respectable man
like Gaffer Cornille, and one who had
taken a pride in himself until these
days, going about the roads now like a
very gipsy, barefoot, with a hole in his
cap and a ragged coat. The truth is,