“Yes, my dear, but it seems to me that I feel better already.”
“Well! mother; it is always like that; when a person has all that he needs to get well, then the disease must go.”
“Oh! not always, my boy, for in that case rich people would never be sick; but the thing that relieves one is contentment, happiness. It requires so little to make poor people happy! and what has happened to us this evening is real good fortune.”
“Oh, yes! it is a kind of good fortune that the rich do not know, but that they can confer on others; and that must be a great pleasure too.—Good-night, mother; if you need anything, call me.”
VII
A DIFFICULT ERRAND
The next day, before six o’clock, Georget was up and dressed; he went first to inquire concerning his mother’s health; the invalid had slept, and felt better, although she was still too weak to rise. She smiled as she said:
“Up already, my dear?”
“I must earn a lot of money to-day, mother, in order to bring you all that you need.”
“But I need nothing, as I have the material for making herb tea.”
“Oh! nobody knows! if you get better, perhaps a little beef soup won’t be a bad thing for you. When a fellow is out on the boulevard early, he is more apt to find work. There are maids who have bundles to send, people who have to go into the country and are looking for a cab——”