tender-hearted; "he will not have a penny. I pity him with all my
heart!"

As soon as the notary had departed, Julien came to the determination of
transforming into a study the hall where he had been conferring with
Maitre Arbillot, which was dignified with the title of "library,"
although it contained at the most but a few hundred odd volumes. The
hall was spacious, and lighted by two large windows opening on the
garden; the floor was of oak, and there was a great fireplace where the
largest logs used in a country in which the wood costs nothing could find
ample room to blaze and crackle. It took the young man several days to
make the necessary changes, and during that time he enjoyed a respite
from the petty annoyances worked by the steady hostility of Manette
Sejournant and her son. To the great indignation of the inhabitants of
the chateau, he packed off the massive billiard-table, on which Claude de
Buxieres had so often played in company with his chosen friends, to the
garret; after which the village carpenter was instructed to make the
bookshelves ready for the reception of Julien's own books, which were
soon to arrive by express. When he had got through with these labors,
he turned his attention to the documents placed in his hands by the
notary, endeavoring to find out by himself the nature of his revenues.
He thought this would be a very easy matter, but he soon found that it
was encumbered with inextricable difficulties.

A large part of the products of the domain consisted of lumber ready for
sale. Claude de Buxieres had been in the habit of superintending, either
personally or through his intermediate agents, one half of the annual
amount of lumber felled for market, the sale of which was arranged with
the neighboring forge owners by mutual agreement; the other half was
disposed of by notarial act. This latter arrangement was clear and