CHAPTER I

THE UNFINISHED WILL

Toward the middle of October, about the time of the beechnut harvest,
M. Eustache Destourbet, justice of the Peace of Auberive, accompanied by
his clerk, Etienne Seurrot, left his home at Abbatiale, in order to
repair to the Chateau of Vivey, where he was to take part in removing the
seals on some property whose owner had deceased.

At that period, 1857, the canton of Auberive, which stretches its massive
forests like a thick wall between the level plain of Langres and the
ancient Chatillonais, had but one main road of communication: that from
Langres to Bar-sur-Aube. The almost parallel adjacent route, from
Auberive to Vivey, was not then in existence; and in order to reach this
last commune, or hamlet, the traveller had to follow a narrow grass-
bordered path, leading through the forest up the hill of Charboniere,
from the summit of which was seen that intermingling of narrow gorges and
wooded heights which is so characteristic of this mountainous region. On
all sides were indented horizons of trees, among which a few, of more
dominant height, projected their sharp outlines against the sky; in the
distance were rocky steeps, with here and there a clump of brambles, down
which trickled slender rivulets; still farther, like little islands, half
submerged in a sea of foliage, were pastures of tender green dotted with
juniper bushes, almost black in their density, and fields of rye
struggling painfully through the stony soil--the entire scene presenting
a picture of mingled wildness and cultivation, aridity and luxuriant
freshness.