"Poor man! How much he is to be pitied, sitting all alone up there!"
"Perhaps, madame, he is not so solitary as you imagine. The mountaineers of these parts seldom leave their village homes for the summer season without taking a Bible with them, so that I trust it may be said of this one, even if his solitude is not sometimes broken by a passing visit from a goatherd, that he is never quite alone, for God is always near them that fear Him."
"That is a blessed thing indeed," said the lady; "but is he not in danger from the wolves?"
"No, madame. First of all, the wolves are not so numerous about here as many persons think; and, even where they are more abundant, there are few, at this season, so pressed by hunger as to have the courage to attack a man; and besides, the fire itself would keep them at a distance. They have an instinctive dread of it."
"So far so good, Mr. Alfred. Still, if I were in the place of this man, I should not be quite at ease. I should every moment be expecting the approach of robbers."
"Robbers, madame, are very considerate people. They do not like to lose either their time or their labour. Now, what could they find worth stealing from this poor charcoal burner?"
"What? Why, his money, to be sure!"
"His money? If he happens to have any. He does not carry it with him into the forest, where he has no use for it, but leaves it at home with his wife."
"A very good husband! But his watch?"
"An article quite useless to him. He marks the time by the sun and stars; or, if the weather is cloudy, most of the mountain châlets are furnished with a small wooden clock, which holds out no great temptation to men whose thoughts are fixed upon the well-stored purses of travellers."