"I have no father."
"Is he dead then?"
"I don't know."
"And your mother?"
"She is over there," said the child pointing to a poor little hovel which stood at the distance of two gunshots from the mill, and the thatched roof of which could be seen through the willows.
"Oh! I know," said Madeleine. "Is she the woman who has come to live here, and who moved in last evening?"
"Yes," answered the child.
"And you used to live at Mers?"
"I don't know."
"You are not a wise child. Do you know your mother's name, at least?"