STOUT AND ROUND AND SMILING
Mother Yvelle was thin and pale and sad-looking.
You see, she and her husband had lived through the terrible World War.
There are, however, people whose dispositions are so jolly that they forget sadness. Philippe's father was one of these people. Though Papa Paul wore a wooden leg, it did not seem to affect his sunny smile. When he was in the war he had been shot in the leg, and now he wore a leg of wood. He had been a chef only since the war.
Before the war Philippe's parents had farmed and raised vegetables together. They had been happy farmers. But their farm had been blown to bits by the enemy.
Many stormy years passed, and many terrible things happened to these poor people. But finally the sunny smile won out. Here was Papa Paul cooking in one of the best restaurants in Belgium, while Mother Yvelle was the farmer.
Mother Yvelle looked forward to the day when Philippe should be old enough to help her drive the dogs to town with the vegetables.
Philippe, too, wanted that day to come. He wanted to drive the fine dogs to town.