"But you have not the choice between poaching and stealing only, Simon. You could work."
"And do you suppose I don't work? Many thanks! Who drudges more than I do? The whole night in the water! Those accursed policemen played a trick on me!"
"They caught you?"
"That's nothing. They made a fool of me, monsieur le maire. No, it can't be called anything else. I shall never forgive myself for being made a fool of——"
"What happened?"
"What happened is that those policemen laughed at me all the way up and down the river. They were half a mile away, and I could still hear them roaring with laughter. No, I never knew I was such a dunderhead."
"But, come to the point, what did they do to you?"
"Ah—the villains! Imagine, monsieur le maire, it was just before daylight, and I was quietly fishing below the mill of La Rochette. The idea, anyway, of forbidding fishing before sunrise! Is it my fault if fishes come out to play at night?"
"Well—what happened?"
"I was in my boat——"