“Will you do me a favor, Denise?”
“Oh, yes! with pleasure, monsieur, if it’s anything I can do.”
“I have taken a liking to that child I met on the road yesterday. His pretty face, his little honest way, everything speaks in his favor.”
“You mean Coco Calleux?”
“I’m fond of him, too, but the poor little fellow’s had a hard time since he lost his mother. His grandmother’s rough and cross, and his father’s a drunkard, and they want that child, only six years old, to go to work so soon! Can you imagine such a thing? Why, he often has nothing but bread to eat, and he’s lucky when he doesn’t have a beating for his supper. So we in the village don’t like that drunken pig of a Calleux, and if the cottage wasn’t some distance from the village, Coco would be at our house more than he’s at home, I tell you.”
“Well, Denise, be good enough to keep an eye on the child and buy him whatever he needs—in short, take my place with him, will you?”
“Oh! with pleasure, monsieur!”
“Here, take this purse, and use the contents to the best advantage for my little protégé. When that is gone, I’ll give you more. I shall always approve whatever use you may make of it.”
“Ah! you’ve got a kind heart, monsieur! How glad I am! But such a lot of money as this will last a long time.”