"'If you will answer all the questions I ask you, that will be enough,' he said, evading my question. 'For example, what is the maximum force of this little stream we have just crossed, between this spot and the point where it empties into the Creuse?'

"'It is very irregular; you have just seen it at its minimum; but freshets are frequent and tremendous; and if you choose to inspect the principal mill, formerly the property of the religious community of Gargilesse, you will be convinced of the havoc wrought by the torrent, of the constant damage suffered by that poor old building, and of the utter folly of laying out much money on it.'

"'But by laying out money, monsieur, the unruly forces of nature can be confined! Where the poor, rustic mill goes under, the powerful, solidly built factory will triumph!'

"'True,' I replied, 'in every river the big fish eat the little ones.'

"He did not take up that suggestion but continued to question me as we drove along. I, being obliging as a matter of duty, and something of an idler by nature, took him everywhere. We went into several mills, he talked with the millers, examined everything with great care, and returned to Gargilesse, where he talked with the mayor and the principal men of the town, requesting me to introduce him to them at once. He accepted the curé's invitation to dinner, allowed himself to be made much of without ceremony, and hinted that he was in a position to render greater services than he received. He talked little, but listened eagerly and asked questions about all manner of things, including some that seemed to have little connection with business: for instance, whether the people in this neighborhood were sincerely pious or only superstitious; whether the bourgeois were fond of luxuries or sacrificed them to economy; whether the prevailing opinion was liberal or democratic; of what sort of men the general council of the department was made up—and Heaven knows what else! At night he hired a guide and went to Le Pin to sleep, and I did not see him again for three days. Then he drove by Châteaubrun and stopped at my door, to thank me, he said, for the courtesy I had shown him; but in reality I think to ask me some more questions. 'I shall return in a month,' he said, as he took leave of me, 'and I think that I shall decide on Gargilesse. It is central, and I like the place, and I have an idea that your little stream, to which you give such a bad name, will not be very difficult to subdue. It will cost me less to control it than the Creuse; and, moreover, the little risk that we ran in crossing it and that we overcame, makes me think that it is my destiny to conquer in this spot.'

"And with that he left me. That man was Monsieur Cardonnet.

"Less than three weeks after, he returned with an English mill engineer and several mechanics of the same nation; and since then he has kept earth and stone and iron constantly in commotion at Gargilesse. Being entirely absorbed by his work, he rises before daybreak and is the last to go to bed. No matter what the weather may be, he is in the mud up to his knees; not a movement on the part of his workmen escapes him; he knows the why and how of everything, and is pushing forward the construction of an enormous mill, a dwelling-house, with garden and buildings, sheds, dams, roads and bridges—in a word, a magnificent establishment. During his absence, his agents had managed the purchase of the property without allowing his name to appear. He paid a high price, but people thought at first that he didn't understand business and that he had come here to take it easy. They laughed at him still more when he increased the wages of his workmen, and when, to induce the municipal council to allow him to divert the course of the stream as he chose, he agreed to build a road, which cost him an enormous sum. They said: 'He's a fool; the extravagance of his plans will ruin him.' But after all is said, I believe he's as shrewd as most men, and I will wager that he will prove to be successful in his choice of a location and in the investment of his money. The stream troubled him a good deal last autumn, but luckily it has been very quiet this spring, and he will have time to finish his buildings before the rains come again, if we have no unusual storms during the summer. He does things on a large scale, and puts in more money than is necessary, that's the truth; but if he has a passion for finishing quickly what he has begun, and has the means and the inclination to pay a high price for the sweat of the poor laboring man's brow, where is the harm? It seems to me that it's an extremely good thing, on the contrary, and that, instead of calling the man a hare-brained fool, as some do, or a crafty speculator, as others do, we ought to thank him for bestowing on our province the advantage of industrial activity, I have said! Now let the other side take its turn."

IV
THE VISION

Before the peasant, who had continued to nibble at his bread with a thoughtful expression, was prepared to begin, the young man thanked Monsieur Antoine warmly for his narrative and for his generous interpretation of Monsieur Cardonnet's course. Without admitting that he was in any way connected with that gentleman, he seemed to be deeply touched by the judgment of his character which the Comte de Châteaubrun expressed, and he added: