Ballangier decided to sit down. Mignonne went on sewing and kept her eyes over her work.
"Well! have you still plenty to do? are they still satisfied with you? I am sure that they are; I can read it in your eyes."
"Yes; my employer is perfectly satisfied with me. If you knew how rich I am now! I am actually saving money! Can you believe that I have seventy-five francs put by?"
"Well done, my friend! As soon as a man has succeeded in saving something, it's like a snowball. It isn't so hard as people think to become well to do. Often nothing is necessary but determination; but it must be constant and immovable."
"Oh! that's the way it is with me now; there's no danger of my stumbling. Why, when I see a drunken man, it makes me blush for shame, and I say to myself: 'How could I ever take any pleasure in making a beast of myself like that!'"
"And your reading?"
"That gives me a great deal of entertainment, too. But there are some things I have to read over two or three times, because I don't understand them right away."
"Would you like me to give you some more books?"
"Thanks, not to-day. I am doing an errand for my employer, and I had to pass your door; that's why I took the liberty of coming up."
"You did well, for it's a pleasure to me to see you now."